BC Business
Telecommunications giant Telus is charging ahead in its plan to strengthen its connections in B.C. and beyond
Today, Vancouver-based telecommunications company Telus—which has topped our annual ranking of the 100 biggest companies in B.C. by revenue for several years in a row—announced that it will be investing $148 million in Vancouver in 2024 to enhance wireless connectivity in the city. This is part of the company’s bigger plan of expanding and improving network infrastructure and operations in B.C. over the next five years.
“We are investing more than $17 billion in network infrastructure, operations and spectrum in British Columbia over the next five years, bringing our total commitment to $73 billion across Canada by 2028,” Telus president and CEO Darren Entwistle said in a release.
This year, Telus plans to double the number of new cell towers that were built in B.C. in 2023. It’s using AI and analytics to do this, with the goal of improving coverage and network performance.
READ MORE: How Telus mastered working from home long before the pandemic
Telus is also strengthening its relationships with people and communities in Vancouver. In fact, its objective is to engage with over 4,000 young individuals in Vancouver every year through different sports and community programs. Last year Telus became the premier partner and jersey sponsor of the Vancouver Whitecaps and collaborated with Ocean Wise through this partnership to collect over 100 kilograms of waste from Spanish Banks beach. It also funded Ocean Wise’s sea kelp nursery in West Vancouver as well as its drone technology that can monitor and restore kelp forests.
Furthering its efforts to deliver technological solutions and programs that have a positive impact on society, in 2023, the Vancouver and Coastal Community Board (one of Telus’ 13 Canadian community boards that help allocate local grants to charities) granted $900,000 to 49 youth charities, 28 health programs and 21 education programs. Since 2005, this particular community board has helped Telus donate over $15 million to different charities.
There is no doubt that Telus is a major contributor and driver of our economy—and we have high hopes that it will deliver on its promise to keep stirring innovation in B.C. and beyond.