Telus Secures 16.6 MHz Of Canadian National Spectrum For C$1.14 Bln

(RTTNews) - Canadian telecom company Telus Corp. (TU, T.TO) said Wednesday that it has secured 16.6 MHz of spectrum licences for C$1.14 billion in Canada's recently concluded 700 MHz spectrum auction.

The company noted that the highly competitive auction marks the first time 700 MHz spectrum has been made available to Canadian wireless carriers. This band of spectrum is prized for its ability to penetrate into buildings and propagate over long distances.

According to Telus, the licenses will enable it to deliver enhanced mobile broadband connectivity to its consumer and business customers nationwide. It will also enable the company to extend its national 4G LTE network coverage to 97 percent of the Canadian population from the current level of 80 percent, well in advance of the auction's build requirements.

Darren Entwistle, President and CEO of Telus said, "The acquisition of this spectrum will ensure Telus continues to deliver world-class speed, coverage and reliability. Canadians lead the world in wireless data consumption, and the deployment of next generation technology is critical to ensuring that we continue to provide advanced services to our customers."

Telus has already started to prepare its wireless cell sites to deploy 700 MHz spectrum, and plans to begin operationalizing the spectrum for the benefit of its customers as soon as it is made available to the company later this year.

Entwistle noted that Telus has invested more than C$2.4 billion in spectrum-related costs since the 2008 AWS auction and also invested more than $30 billion in technology across the country since 2000. Likewise, Canadian carriers have invested about C$10.5 billion in spectrum-related costs since 2008, equating to C$381 for each Canadian wireless subscriber.

Telus said it will continue to return significant amounts of cash to shareholders through its multi-year share purchase and dividend growth programs that will continue unabated.

TU closed Wednesday's trading on the NYSE at $34.22, down $0.39 or 1.13 percent on a volume of 143,675 shares.

On the Toronto Stock Exchange, T.TO closed Wednesday's trading at C$37.86, down C$0.07 or 0.18 percent on a volume of 887,734 shares.