TELUS to invest $500 million in B.C. focused on leading broadband technology including world class data centre

New ‘green' Internet data centre to have one of the lowest
carbon footprints in North America

Vancouver, B.C. – TELUS today announced a 2009 capital plan to invest $500 million focused primarily on advanced wireless and wireline broadband infrastructure in British Columbia. Since 2000, TELUS has made more than $19 billion in capital and operating expenditures in the Province.

TELUS' plans include a world-class Internet data centre that will have the capacity to support both B.C. and national clients. The facility, to be located in one of several B.C. communities currently under consideration, will be one of the “greenest” in North America and at least twice as energy efficient as existing data centres. It will be designed according to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) criteria.
The construction of TELUS' next generation wireless network is currently underway, using leading edge mobile broadband technology. TELUS expects to launch the new network, based on the latest version of High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) technology, in British Columbia and nationally by early 2010. This investment is expected to ensure a smooth transition to long term evolution (LTE) technology, the emerging worldwide standard for fourth generation or 4G wireless networks.
TELUS' broadband wireline investment plan will expand the reach of our high-speed Internet and digital TELUS TV service in B.C. and Alberta. The extension of new broadband services creates significant benefits and opportunities in the areas of healthcare, education, economic development and entertainment.

These investments build on the 2005 Connecting Communities partnership between TELUS and the Province of British Columbia, which brought broadband access to 366 communities by the end of 2006.

“Our 8,700 British Columbia-based team members and 9,200 retirees are proud of TELUS' legacy in this province and despite the challenging times, we are confident in making significant investments that benefit the economy, our communities, and our customers,” said Darren Entwistle, President and CEO of TELUS. “Our $500 million investment focused on leading broadband technology, including a world-class Internet data centre, will create sustainable employment opportunities, contribute to the province's future competitiveness, and support the launch of innovative new services for TELUS customers.”

The new flagship Internet data centre, scheduled to open in 2011, will protect TELUS business clients' critical information and support their need for a more powerful IT infrastructure while having one of the lowest carbon footprints of all data centres in North America.

It will be a LEED designed facility, which will be independently reviewed by the Canada Green Building Council's rigorous rating system. LEED is an internationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance sustainable buildings. The organization promotes a “whole building” approach to environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environment quality. In Canada, the rating system is administered nationally by the Canada Green Building Council.

Since 2000, TELUS, its team members and retirees have contributed more than $50 million and 1.5 million volunteer hours to charitable and community organizations in B.C.

The capital investment disclosed in this release is consistent with TELUS' overall capital expenditure guidance for 2009.

About TELUS
TELUS (TSX: T, T.A; NYSE: TU) is a leading national telecommunications company in Canada, with $9.7 billion of annual revenue and 11.6 million customer connections including 6.1 million wireless subscribers, 4.2 million wireline network access lines and 1.2 million Internet subscribers. TELUS provides a wide range of communications products and services including data, Internet protocol (IP), voice, entertainment and video. For more information about TELUS, please visit telus.com.


Forward-looking statements
This news release contains statements about expected future events and financial and operating results of TELUS Corporation that are forward-looking. By their nature, forward-looking statements require the Company to make assumptions and predictions about future events, and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. There is significant risk that the assumptions, predictions and other forward-looking statements will not prove to be accurate. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a number of factors could cause actual future results and events to differ materially from that expressed in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly this news release is subject to the disclaimer and qualified by the assumptions (including assumptions for 2009 targets including capital expenditures), qualifications and risk factors (including those associated with capital expenditures, and technology and network build) referred to in sections 1.5 and 10 respectively of TELUS' 2008 annual Management's discussion and analysis, and other risk factors referred to from time to time in TELUS' reports and other public disclosure documents including the 2008 Annual Report, Annual Information Form and other filings with securities commissions in Canada (on www.sedar.com) and in the United States(on EDGAR at www.sec.gov). Except as required by law, TELUS disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements, and reserves the right to change, at any time at its sole discretion, its current practice of updating annual targets and guidance.

For more information, please contact:
Shawn Hall
TELUS Media Relations
(604) 697-8176
shawn.hall@telus.com