Telus 2008 Annual Report Download - page 10

700 kilobits per second. In 2007 and the first part of 2008, TELUS continued the
enhancement of digital wireless capacity and coverage and continued its investment in
higher-speed wireless EVDO Rev A network technology, which now reaches 88 per cent
of Canadians, when Roaming/Resale Agreements are considered, and enables roaming
to more than 230 cities in the U.S.
TELUS also operates analogue specialized mobile radio (SMR) systems in most major
urban centres in Canada and paging networks in Alberta, B.C. and eastern Québec.
iDEN network
TELUS also owns and operates Canada’s only national enhanced specialized mobile
radio (ESMR) network. ESMR digital wireless business communications services are
offered under the Mike trademark using iDEN technology from Motorola. The Mike
network covers the larger population centres and surrounding areas in Alberta, B.C.,
Manitoba, Ontario and Québec, and many non-urban areas and transport corridors in
Ontario, Québec and western Canada. The Mike network utilizes frequencies in the 800
MHz range which have propagation advantages over higher frequencies such as those
used in digital 1900 MHz PCS networks, resulting in more cost effective geographic
coverage. While the amount of 800 MHz spectrum licenced to TELUS varies by region,
TELUS has ten to 17 MHz of ESMR spectrum available for its Mike network in Montréal,
Toronto and Vancouver, Canada’s three most populous metropolitan areas. The Mike
service is marketed primarily through independent and corporate-owned dealers to
businesses and other organizations as a digital PCS-like service with the added benefit
of Mike’s Direct Connect™ Push to Talk™ functionality, which provides low-cost instant
connectivity for work groups.
In 2006, Sprint/Nextel completed a mandatory shift of channels (rebanding) for its iDEN
service due to concerns from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) about
interference with public safety operations. Part of the TELUS Mike network utilizes
channels under control of the FCC and discussions are underway to determine if TELUS
will be required to shift some of the channels for its iDEN service to address similar
concerns in selected areas along the Canada/U.S. border. See “800 MHz Re-banding”
on page 29 of this Annual Information Form.
TELUS - wireline segment
TELUS operates as an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in Alberta, B.C. and
eastern Québec where it provides comprehensive local, long distance, data, Internet and
information services and is a CLEC (competitive local exchange carrier or non-ILEC),
offering services to businesses primarily in central Canada. TELUS’ ILEC operations
serve a population of approximately 7.8 million in its incumbent western Canada service
territory, and a population of more than 500,000 in its incumbent eastern Québec
territory. On a combined basis, wireline services accounted for revenue of
$5,021 million for the year ended December 31, 2008 ($4,810 million for the year ended
December 31, 2007) representing 52 per cent of the total revenue of TELUS for 2008
(53 per cent of the total revenue of TELUS for 2007).
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