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Telus to spend $100 million in Kamloops

The communications giant announced on March 5 that it plans to start construction on a data centre later this year

It's been talked about for years and now more details have been released on a Telus data centre planned for the Tournament Capital.

The communications giant announced on Monday, March 5, that it plans to start construction on the data centre later this year, with the $75-million facility opening sometime in 2013.

The centre will be built on former School District 73 land near Thompson Rivers University.

"In these economic times, investments of these types aren't common at all, so it's very significant," said Josh Blair, executive vice-president of human resources for Telus.

In total, the company is expected to invest $100 million in Kamloops during the next three years.

The data centre will employ 200 people during the construction phase and another 75 once complete.

The facility is being described as a giant centre filled with bays of equipment to store all kinds of data, from health information to business and banking data.

It will be one of two Telus data centres in the country, the other located in Rimouski, Que.

It's expected the two centres will back each other up in case of a problem.

Blair said Kamloops was chosen because of its access to talent at TRU, its proximity to other locations within the Telus infrastructure and the city's lack of seismic activity.

Telus will also be spending another $25 million to extend its 4G LTE network in Kamloops and to extend its Optik TV coverage area in the city by 6,000 households.

The company said the 4G LTE is the fastest wireless technology in the world.

Telus is also calling the facility one of the greenest data centres in the world, noting it will be built to LEED Gold standard.

Mayor Peter Milobar called the centre a "significant shot in the arm" for the local economy.

He said the centre sends a strong message to the investment world that Kamloops is a good place to do business.

 

The project is part of the company's larger $3-billion infrastructure investment recently announced for B.C.

– Kamloops This Week