All good things continue to evolve – transforming into something better.
That’s the case with the copper lines that have, for decades, served as the telecommunications infrastructure for many homes and buildings. While these lines have helped connect millions of homes to telephones and the internet, they’re more expensive, environmentally unfriendly and less resilient than fibre-optic cable, which is quickly becoming TELUS’ primary communications delivery mechanism across the country.
Over the coming years, TELUS will replace aging copper wires in B.C., Alberta and Quebec with PureFibre, delivering lightning-fast internet, through its copper retirement program. This service will deliver far faster and more reliable connectivity to homes, businesses and other buildings in your community.
Once the new network is installed, customers can call TELUS to get transferred to the TELUS PureFibre network, where they’ll immediately notice faster speeds, and more reliable and resilient internet.
There are plenty of reasons why people should embrace fibre optic. Here are the top five:
1. Faster speeds
Fibre-optic cables, which are thin flexible strands of transparent glass, transmit information as pulses of light. That allows huge amounts of data to travel across a network in mere seconds. Old copper wires have limitations. They can allow for high speeds – even 10s of gigabytes per second – but only over short distances. The big benefit of fibre-optic cables is their efficiency. They can transfer up to 55 terabits per second across a network today, with far more capability available in the future.
In other words, PureFibre will make it much easier to work from home while your kids and their friends play video games, watch an endless amount of movies and streaming shows, and connect with family overseas with video calling. Faster internet speeds also help businesses increase their productivity and efficiency, now and into the future, as fibre acts as the backbone to an exciting new generation of connected devices and services.
2. Increased reliability
Fibre-optic strands may be as thin as a human hair, but are incredibly durable. The strands don’t degrade and they’re extremely weather resistant. Specifically, fibre-optic cables are more robust against water, are physically stronger than copper cables of the same size and are not susceptible to interference.
Copper has withstood the test of time well, but this new technology will hold up even better, especially in more challenging weather events. That means less need to repair or replace fibre-optic infrastructure – and fewer service disruptions for you and your community.
3. Improved sustainability
One of the biggest reasons why TELUS and its customers are embracing fibre optics is that it’s a more sustainable technology than copper, making it Canada’s most sustainable internet technology. For starters, it takes less energy to send data over fibre than it does with copper wires.
At the same time, fibre optic cables are made from silicon dioxide, one of the most abundant elements on the planet and typically found in rocks, sand and water. TELUS PureFibre is up to 85 per cent more energy efficient than copper wires. All this supports TELUS’ commitment to improving its energy efficiency by 50 per cent from 2020 levels by 2030.
4. Better for Customers
The evolution of copper to fibre-optic technology brings many benefits to you, the customer. Not only does fibre require fewer repairs and have less interruptions than legacy copper networks, but, like copper, TELUS PureFibre also allows customers to be in the driver’s seat with the ability to self-install and make self-serve programming changes and additions.
And, as we move into a more connected world, the speed and reliability of fibre makes it easier to adopt next-generation products, such as wireless home phones, TELUS SmartHome Security and improved online security.
5. Safer for workers
For more than a century, copper has been an incredibly effective and sturdy material for all kinds of uses, but especially wiring. Starting in the mid-1880s, when the first long-distance phone call was made by transmitting voice signals over a copper wire, the metal has been synonymous with telecommunications. However, copper is a finite resource that must be mined. Not only could the metal one day run out, but mining copper can also impact the health of those working with it in its raw form and during manufacturing.
Bonus: As part of TELUS’ copper retirement program, copper wires removed from communities will be recycled – a double positive impact that reduces future mining efforts for this still-useful resource.
While copper has served your community well over many decades, with more innovative fibre-optic technology at the ready, it’s time to retire legacy networks and step into a faster and more environmentally friendly future.
TELUS is contacting customers who are impacted by the copper retirement initiatives underway. Learn more about TELUS’ network evolution and the benefits of retiring the copper network at TELUS.com/CopperRetirement.