To: pat mudge who wrote (1801 ) 3/4/2000 1:34:00 PM From: J Fieb Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 2347
Shaw continues to upgrade the plant and push the area covered...... Friday March 3, 2:12 pm Eastern Time Company Press Release Shaw Dedicates $30 Million to New Fibre Networks Connecting B.C. Interior Prince George, Cariboo, Kamloops, Okanagan & Kootenays CALGARY, ALBERTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 3, 2000--Shaw Communications Inc. (TSE:SJR.B. - news; CDNX:SJR.B - news; CDNX:SJR.A - news; NYSE:SJR - news) today announced that it will dedicate approximately $30 million to build fibre optic networks connecting various cities and regions within the B.C. Interior as part of the company's $100 million network capital investment plan announced in Fall 1999. ``Our significant investment in the B.C. Interior is part of Shaw's ongoing commitment to bring cutting-edge technology to the communities we serve,' said Peter Bissonnette, President, Shaw Cablesystems. ``These new fibre optic networks will expand Shaw's network capacity for the benefit of our B.C. customers well into the future.' Shaw plans to build networks connecting Prince George and the Cariboo with its Southern Interior network, Kamloops and the Okanagan, and the Okanagan and the Kootenays. These regional networks will be connected to Shaw's Western Canadian backbone network that will span communities from Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland through to Winnipeg. Phase II of this backbone will extend to Toronto. Construction will commence this summer and provide residents of those areas with Shaw@Home high speed Internet access and a variety of business Internet services. ``It is exciting that our company will bring high-speed Internet to communities such as Kamloops, Quesnel, Williams Lake and 100 Mile House in the Central Interior and to the Kootenay communities of Nelson, Castlegar, Trail, Rossland, Fruitvale, Montrose and Warfield,' says Brad Shaw, Vice-President of Operations for B.C. and Atlantic Canada. ``These new services will provide economic opportunities to the B.C. Interior that, in the past, have been limited by the availability of high-speed networks -- but that's all about to change.' ``The large investment Shaw is making in British Columbia, in the Cariboo and Kootenay regions, is very significant from our perspective,' says B.C.'s Minister of Advanced Education, Training and Technology, Graham Bobrick. ``This investment advances our goals of providing robust Internet access to all British Columbia residents and encouraging the development of high-tech industry in all regions of the province.' Shaw Communications Inc. is a diversified Canadian communications company whose core business is providing broadband cable television and Internet services to approximately 1.8 million customers. Shaw also has significant interests in direct-to-home satellite and in Internet, interactive television, e-commerce and telecommunications companies. Shaw is traded on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges (Symbol: TSE - SJR.B, NYSE - SJR). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact: