Telus, a leading telecom operator in Canada, will soon begin rolling out its 5G network in select parts of the country. Telus will use 5G equipment from Huawei Technologies, the company’s Chief Financial Officer Doug French said on Thursday.
“It’s important for us to launch our network when the time is right…” Doug French said in a statement.
Telus is planning annual Capital expenditures (Capex) of $2.750 billion in 2020 as compared with $2.906 billion in 2019.
Capex of Telus increased 4.4 percent to $742 million in Q4 over the same period a year ago primarily due to increased investments in network and support IT infrastructure to improve its reliability and capability, in addition to increased 5G investments.
Telus PureFibre network covered approximately 2.22 million premises, or 70 percent of high-speed broadband footprint. This is an increase of approximately 330,000 fibre premises over the last twelve months.
The report said Canada is reviewing the security implications of 5G networks, including whether to allow Huawei to supply 5G network equipment.
Telus on Thursday warned of higher costs related to setting up 5G wireless network if the Canadian government banned Huawei.
Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou is currently in Canadian custody awaiting a decision on extradition to the United States.
The Conservative Party of Canada said in a statement Trudeau’s Liberal Party has refused to take a position on Huawei. “Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government must take immediate action to protect our national security and Canadians’ privacy and ban Huawei from Canada’s 5G network.”