Prince George, B.C.- While Telus has announced plans for a new   $750 million dollar headquarters to be built in Vancouver, there is still no word on where Telus will locate its planned Data Centre.

 

It has now been two years since TELUS announced it would spend $500 million to increase and improve wireless and wireline broadband infrastructure in B.C.

 

Part of that plan included the development of an internet data centre that would support B.C. and national clients.

 

Initiatives Prince George Vice President of   Kathy Scouten says Prince George did submit a detailed plan with hopes the centre would be located in this community. “We worked very closely with the site selector, who said our proposal was a good one.”

 

One of the key issues for the data centre is that it be in an area that is seismically safe.

 

When it was first announced, it was expected the site would be selected by the summer of 2009, and the first module up and running sometime this year.   Here we are in 2011, and no indication of any decision on a site in the immediate future. 

It has made some wonder if the project will ever advance.

 

TELUS spokesperson, Shawn Hall says the project is “still active” but he is not able to say when a decision may be forthcoming on where or when the data centre will be built . “There were two things that slowed this project down, one, the recession, it reduced the demand for services. Secondly,  there was a huge interest from people interested in being involved in this project.” He says it is taking some time to   examine all the possible locations and make the decision that will be the best for the project.

 

TELUS has indicated a commitment to Prince George in its expansion of the Prince George call centre. The company announced it would invest a further $1.5 million to expand the existing call centre and create 100 new jobs by June. There is a hiring session set for the Civic Centre on March 29^th.