Telus fibre optic comes to Kamloops

On Tuesday, Telus announced it will invest $60-million into Kamloops to give 90% of homes there access to lightning fast internet.

The investment will upgrade speeds on the fibre optic network to as much 100 megabits per second.

That means Kamloops residents will enjoy internet speeds to those somewhat comparable to Google Fiber, the fiber-to-the-premises service was introduced as a beta in 2011 in Palo Alto, California. The service launched in Kansas City later that year and then expanded to Austin, Texas, and Provo, Utah. A test of Google Fiber speeds in Kansas City confirmed download speeds of 236.45 Mb/s and upload speeds of 225.72 Mb/s. The U.S average speeds are 35.11 Mb/s and 11.2Mb/s, respectively.

Worldwide, Canada ranks a dismal 33rd, with average download speed of 16.6 Mbps.

“TELUS’ investment to connect homes, business, healthcare facilities and schools right here in Kamloops directly to our fibre optic network will make this community one of the most connected and technologically advanced places in Canada,” said TELUS Executive Vice-President and President of Broadband Networks Tony Geheran. “Kamloops is also home to our state-of-the-art Internet Data Centre, truly placing this community at the forefront of the emerging digital economy and making it an even more attractive city for investors and business.”

Telus fibre optic part of a $4-billion investment in BC

Telus says the fibre optic network will be installed underground in new neighbourhoods and through aerial lines in older ones. The company says it will immediately begin a door to door campaign asking if residents want the lines installed in their homes.

The investment into Kamloops is part of $4-billion infrastructure investment Telus says it will make in B.C. by 2018. Other communities getting fibre optic service include Creston, Osoyoos, and Kimberley.

Telus says it expects that 95% of Kamloops residents will opt for the installation, but in Port Coquitlam the service did not meet with universal approval. Some were concerned that the community was aligning itself with Telus in a manner that was inappropriate.

Below: Introducing Fibre – The TELUS Fibre Optic Network

About The Author / Nick Waddell

Cantech Letter founder and editor Nick Waddell has lived in five Canadian provinces and is proud of his country's often overlooked contributions to the world of science and technology. Waddell takes a regular shift on the Canadian media circuit, making appearances on CTV, CBC and BNN, and contributing to publications such as Canadian Business and Business Insider.

Comment

tang says:

April 19, 2015 at 4:33 am

knowing telus they’ll make you pay an arm and leg for such speeds then charge you extra for over using data
theshowmecanuck says:

April 19, 2015 at 11:01 am

There is a big difference between what Google and Telus are doing: Google is charging rates that are reasonable. Close on half of what Telus charges. So this doesn’t mean anything if they don’t change their ways and make it affordable. And I don’t see that happening.
Billy says:

April 19, 2015 at 11:01 am

Olds Alberta has had 10x faster Internet than that for quit some time. This is nothing special at all.
theshowmecanuck says:

April 19, 2015 at 11:02 am

You’re special.
Lance Douglas says:

April 19, 2015 at 1:36 pm

This is no where close to what Google Fiber is offering, and is false advertising. It is 1/10th of what google offers as its base service, and what people associate as “Google Fiber like”.
Drew Walsh says:

June 15, 2015 at 2:13 pm

What a joke. 100 megabits isn’t even close to what Google is offering. Fiber is 1000 megabits and it costs less. It’ll be great when isps stop ripping everyone off.
JB says:

February 16, 2016 at 2:12 pm

TELUS is bringing in Fibre? That’s AWESOME. Oh wait. Same speeds and pricing as DSL. Ahhh, that’s the TELUS that I know and hate.