Tag: telus

Telus finally upgrading broadband network

Post ImageDickson sent me this story today about Telus. I recently got rid of my Telus landline and while I am not a big fan of the company, I have been pretty happy with their mobile phone service, and until a couple years ago when I lost my static IP, I was happy with their ADSL service too. That said, the Internet offerings have always been truly “North American”, and by that I mean slow and expensive relative to the rest of the world. Finally though, Telus is going to make some changes:

Telus Corp. says it is investing nearly $800 million over the next three years to beef up its broadband network so it can offer its customers a wide range of new services, including high-definition television.

The company said its proposed infrastructure will allow it to double internet access, to speeds of 15 or 30 megabits a second.

That’s still a far cry from the 100 megabits/second you can get to your house in Hong Kong, for example, but it is markedly better than what we have now. Apparently the entire project will be completed by 2009 (at which time, the rest of the world will probably be faster still).

Read: CBC News

Thoughts on the Telus Labour Dispute

Post ImageI have given much thought to the Telus dispute over the last couple months, mainly because I see the workers on strike every day across the street from the office. An article in The Gateway (the University of Alberta’s student paper) today also made me think of the issue again. I’ve come to the following conclusions:

  • The labour dispute has only reinforced my desire to look for alternatives. Vonage is looking pretty good right now as far as my landline is concerned. I don’t want to get a new cell phone number though, so I am stuck with Telus Mobility for that.
  • I think Telus needs to look in the mirror and accept that they have not always acted appropriately. They have done some things wrong, and they need to own up and fix them.
  • No matter how much Telus the company might be at fault, I cannot bring myself to support the workers on strike. Never in my dealings with Telus over the last six years (I lived in the NWT before that) have I encountered an employee that was helpful, let alone polite. Ridiculous wait times on the phone only to be greeted by a rude, unhelpful employee is not my idea of a good time. And don’t give me that crap about how they’d be more polite and helpful if they were paid better, etc. I don’t buy it. People at McDonald’s aren’t paid very well, but at least they are usually more helpful and polite than Telus employees.

Clearly that last point is the most important, and it’s the one that I have thought about most.