Telus is investing (CAD 340) $260 million to bring fiber thousands of homes and businesses in a mix of rural and urban communities in Quebec as part of a broader (CAD 2) $1.53 billion program to improve network infrastructure and services across the province.
Beginning this year, the service provider will connect homes with fiber in Chaudière-Appalaches, Côte-Nord, Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie, creating a foundation to deliver 1 Gbps and above as demands dictate.
Additionally, Telus will connect nearly 10,000 homes in rural Quebec communities such as Lac-au-Saumon, Saint-Léonard and Saint-Anaclet-de-Lessard directly to fiber-based services by 2017 via its collaboration with the Canadian government's Connecting Canadians program.
Fiber-based broadband will also be complemented by Telus' ongoing expansion of its Optik TV IPTV service. The service provider plans to continue to roll out Optik TV as well as invest in enhancing its service while adding new content through television apps like Netflix and Tou.tv.
Quebec is just one of several areas where Telus is investing in FTTH.
The telco has made similar expansions in Vancouver and Edmonton, Alberta. In July 2015, Telus completed an $11 million fiber network build connecting business and residential customers on Northern Vancouver Island. In Edmonton, Telus is investing $813 million to connect over 90 percent of homes and businesses to its network over the next six years.
Broadband continues to be a highlight of the service provider's wireline portfolio.
During the fourth quarter of 2015, Telus added 22,000 new broadband subscribers, reflecting the ongoing expansion of broadband services in urban and rural areas, including FTTH and the pull-through effect of bundling with Optik TV. However, broadband additions remained flat and did not rise over the same period a year ago.
Likewise, Telus only added 25,000 new IPTV subscribers, down from the 28,000 it added during the same quarter a year ago, as the expansion of Telus' addressable high-speed broadband footprint was offset by slower industry subscriber growth, increasing competition from over-the-top services, and an increase in the customer churn rate.
For more:
- see the release
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