Businesses and homes in Delta will be better connected to the digital world thanks to a $65-million investment in Telus’ fibre optic network.
An update on the project was announced Tuesday afternoon at city hall in Ladner where Mayor Lois Jackson was joined by Telus officials and an audience of Delta business leaders.
With the investment, more than 90 per cent of homes and businesses, including the Tilbury and Annacis Island industrial parks, will be connected to the network.
According to Telus, construction has been underway for the past several months with more than 50 per cent of single-family homes and businesses, including the industrial parks, having been connected. Telus anticipates the remainder will be connected by the fall.
“We had identified some time ago through our business community that we needed to connect our Tilbury and Annacis businesses with the world,” said Jackson. “Tilbury and Annacis are two of the largest industrial parks in Canada, so they are dealing with world-wide shippers, receivers, etc. We needed this and Telus responded.”
Jackson said the project is an exciting one for the whole community.
“There were business people who were not going to stay because we had no fibre optics for our businesses,” she added. “Telus got busy and went ahead very quickly and they are almost finished. It means a lot to the businesses in terms of connectivity and to have good, reliable service. This investment will provide the exceptional connectivity, speed and capacity needed for citizens to access broadband services in our increasingly connected world.”
According to Telus, its gigabit-enabled PureFibre network is among the most advanced communications infrastructure available today, enabling residents to immediately take advantage of faster Internet speeds of at least 150 megabits per second, while businesses, schools, health care providers and other institutions can access even more speed and capacity.
“Fibre is the future,” said Tony Geheran, Telus executive vice-president and president of broadband networks. “Delta continues to grow, and this new connectivity will boost the local economy by encouraging investment and helping local businesses thrive, whether they’re established large operations or small home-based start-ups. For households, a direct fibre connection will pave the way for next-generation home entertainment and innovative smart-home technologies.”
The Delta investment is part of the company’s plans to invest $4.7 billion throughout B.C. between 2017 and 2020 at no cost to taxpayers.
