Telus to boost capicity of copper(DSL) line with Alcatel gears:
Telus to Spend C$500 Mln to Expand Internet Service
(Update1)
By Steve Maich
Burnaby, British Columbia, Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Telus Corp., Canada's second-largest
telecommunications company, said it will spend C$500 million ($325.7 million) over the next
five years to make its high-speed Internet service available to more people in Alberta and
British Columbia.
The company will spend C$200 million next year and C$300 million over the subsequent four
years to expand its network and make the service available in 38 mostly-urban communities in
British Columbia and Alberta. By the end of 2005, 70 percent of the population in the two
provinces will have access to the service, the Burnaby, British Columbia-based company
said.
The service competes with high-speed Internet service offered by Shaw Communications
Inc., Canada's second-largest cable-TV company. Shaw@Home had about 283,000
customers at the end of August, more than three times the 80,000 customers Telus has now.
``We've been hearing frustration from customers that the cable service slows down during
prime surfing times,'' said spokesman Doug Strachan. ``We expect a lot of those people to
switch over to us as soon as we offer them the service.''
Telus expects to double the number of customers on its fast Internet service to 160,000 by
the end of 2001. It wants to raise that number to 500,000 by the end of 2005, said Strachan.
Telus shares fell 90 cents, or 2.3 percent, to C$38.35 in Toronto trading. The shares have
risen 9.1 percent this year.
About 70 percent of the C$500 million will be spent on equipment to boost the capacity of
copper lines for high-speed data transmission. Telus said it expects to buy the equipment
from Alcatel SA, its current supplier. Telus refused to say when they expect to recoup its
capital investment.
Telus will use about 20 percent of the money to extend its fiber-optic network further into
neighborhoods. The remaining 10 percent will be used to buy other pieces of equipment,
including modems for customers.
The C$500 million project will make the Internet service available on about 70 percent of
Telus's 4.5 million customer lines in the two provinces. That's about C$159 of capital
investment per customer line in that region.
That's 33 percent more than the $78 per customer line SBC Communications Inc. plans to
spend under its $6 billion Internet investment in the southwestern U.S.
TELUS Confirms Alcatel Platform as the Standard for
Its Broadband Infrastructure Alcatel Broadband
Solutions keep TELUS ahead of explosive traffic growth
BURNABY, B.C., Canada--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 10, 2001--Alcatel (NYSE:ALA - news; PARIS:CGEP.PA) today
announced that TELUS has confirmed Alcatel's platform will be the standard from which the telecommunications company
intends to launch its next generation broadband network.
TELUS will deploy Alcatel's industry leading 7670 Routing Switch Platform (RSP) throughout their core backbone, greatly
expanding the switching capacity of their Canadian broadband network infrastructure.
``TELUS has always been first to the market with the right broadband solution, and Alcatel has been instrumental in our
success,'' says Roy Osing, executive vice president, TELUS, and president, TELUS Advanced Communications. ``We count on
them for fully scalable and reliable products that at the same time simplify our network architecture and position us for the
introduction of additional innovative services in the future.''
As one of Canada's largest telecommunications companies, TELUS already relies on Alcatel's DSL and broadband switching
solutions -- the Alcatel 7470 Multiservice Platform (MSP) and the Alcatel 7350 ASAM (ASAM) -- to meet the exploding
demand for high speed Internet access. With the first deployment of the Alcatel 7670s in Calgary and Vancouver, TELUS will
be able to deliver consumer Internet, business enhanced data, and wholesale ISP services with increased efficiency and cost
effectiveness to their customers across Canada.
``Today's broadband products need to be designed with a firm eye on future needs and capabilities,'' says Hubert de
Pesquidoux, President and CEO for Alcatel Canada. ``Alcatel products evolve with these fast changing times, enabling our
customers to support ever increasing requirements for greater speed connectivity and the highest possible performance.''
About the Alcatel 7670 RSP
The Alcatel 7670 RSP, the latest addition to Alcatel's broadband services portfolio, is a next generation multiprotocol switch
that integrates ATM (asynchronous transfer mode), MPLS (multiprotocol label switching), and IP (Internet protocol). It can
support up to 500,000 connections, with 3,000 calls per second, and offers traffic capacity from 50 Gb/s to 450 Gb/s. The 7670s
protocols and interfaces can be added on an as needed basis without impact to existing services. The Alcatel 7670 is managed
by Alcatel's award winning network management system.
About TELUS
TELUS Corporation (NYSE:TU - news; TSE:T - news; TSE:T.A - news) is one of Canada's leading telecommunications
companies providing a full range of communications products and services that connect Canadians to the world. The company
generated $5.9 billion in revenues in 1999 and is the leading service provider in Western Canada. TELUS also provides voice,
data, Internet, advertising and wireless services to Central and Eastern Canada. With the purchase of QuebecTel and national
digital wireless company Clearnet Communications Inc., TELUS is rapidly strengthening its position as a leading national
service provider. For more information about TELUS, visit www.telus.com.
About Alcatel
Alcatel builds next generation networks, delivering integrated end-to-end voice and data networking solutions to established
and new carriers, as well as enterprises and consumers worldwide. With 120,000 employees and sales of EURO 23 billion in
1999, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. For more information, visit Alcatel on the Internet: alcatel.com
Contact:
Alcatel Public Relations
Sarah Miller, 613/784-4563
sarah.miller@alcatel.com |
