25,000 additional families and businesses in Quebec will get access to TELUS high-speed Internet service by early 2021

TELUS wireless and PureFibre networks across Eastern Quebec boost the economy of the regions and businesses' vitality, while accelerating the digital shift in the health care and education sectors

RIMOUSKI, Quebec, Sept. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TELUS is actively expanding its advanced high-speed wireless and PureFibre networks in Quebec to reach an additional 25,000 homes in 45 remote, low-density communities in the administrative regions of Chaudière-Appalaches, Gaspésie, Lower St. Lawrence, and North Shore. This ambitious project will boost the economy in the Quebec region while providing local families and businesses with the digital tools they need to adapt their daily lives to the accelerating pace of digital activities during this unprecedented health crisis.

“Quebec's 6,000 TELUS team members are particularly proud of the confidence that the governments of Canada and Quebec have shown in them over the last years, and we applaud their active contribution to deploying high-speed services in Quebec’s remote regions,” says François Gratton, Executive Vice-President, Group President, TELUS, and Chair, TELUS Health and TELUS Québec. “We share more than 90 years of history with our customers here. Founded by Quebec entrepreneurs, our company has always kept the same vision: to be deeply anchored in the local communities we serve, and to focus on putting our customers first. With determination, innovation, and teamwork, we are accelerating the deployment of our networks across Quebec, and are eager to participate in the economic recovery of our province with our private investment.”

Over the last two decades, TELUS has invested nearly $27 billion in Quebec’s economy, notably in infrastructure, spectrum licences, and operations to improve the coverage, speed, and reliability of our world-class networks, with a special focus on serving remote communities. That includes an investment of $300 million since 2013 to deploy our PureFibre network in the eastern part of the province. Thanks to our long-standing cooperation with the governments of Quebec and Canada and their contribution of $72 million, 99 per cent of families and businesses in the regions of Quebec City and Eastern Quebec that TELUS serves will have access to high-speed Internet service by 2021, with 93 per cent enjoying PureFibre.