Telus (TSX:T) will invest $3 billion in B.C. over the next three years, adding 1,300 jobs in the process, the company announced at a press conference Friday.
The investment includes the $750 million Telus Gardens project, roughly $1.6 billion for new fibre optic and LTE (long term evolution) wireless infrastructure, and more than $10 million to make BC Place stadium the first fully digital sports stadium in Canada.
Conspicuously absent from Friday’s event was Premier Christy Clark. Equally conspicuous was NDP Leader Adrian Dix posing for a photo with Telus CEO Darren Entwistle.
When asked about the apparent political message that sends, Entwistle later told reporters that he wasn’t responsible for the invitation list.
“We invited people from both parties to the event today, which is the typical practice of Telus, and we were pleased that Adrian could join us,” Entwistle said.
With the Liberals’ prospects for re-election dimming, business leaders in B.C. have been seen recently apparently reconciling themselves to the liklihood of an NDP government a little more than a year from now and playing their cards accordingly.
One-third of the investment Telus is making in B.C. is directly tied to a $1 billion agreement it signed with the B.C. government to provide government telecommunications services and expand Internet and wireless services to rural areas of the province, including to remote First Nations communities that have no high-speed Internet. Telus will spend $350 million to extend high-speed Internet to 97% of the province and install fibre optics in 450 schools.
Telus’ three-year plan includes extending Telus Optik TV to Penticton and Nanaimo this year and LTE service outside Vancouver to the rest of the Lower Mainland, as well as to Victoria, Nanaimo, Whistler, Kamloops, Prince George, Dawson Creek and the Okanagan Valley.
Telus plans to hire 800 people this year, not counting 500 temporary jobs to be created while Telus Gardens is under construction.
Entwistle used Friday’s press conference to unveil the investment Telus has already made at BC Place. The company has installed 800 wi-fi access points in the stadium, 100 wireless sites and 1,150 high-definition digital screens, at a cost of $10 to $15 million.
Asked if that that will earn Telus naming rights at BC Place, Entwistle said that is a question for B.C. Pavilion Corporation (PavCo).
Friday’s press conference concluded with the start of demolition. A parkade adjacent to Telus existing building on Robson Street will be demolished to make way for the $750-million Telus Gardens project, which includes a 24-storey office building – to be built to LEED platinum standards – and a 53-storey residential tower. The project is slated for completion in 2015.
