MONTREAL — Telus Corp. (TSX:T) is spending more than $33 million on a new Internet data centre in the Montreal suburb of Laval.

Telus currently operates eight data centres across Canada - buildings housing powerful computer servers, with redundant power, cooling and security systems - connected to its Internet protocol network.

The country's second-largest telecommunications company said Wednesday the state-of-the-art facility will meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards.

Retrofitting of an existing structure has begun, with completion of the new centre set for 2010.

"This investment in Quebec will support our clients' growing need for more powerful IT infrastructure while having one of the lowest carbon footprints of all data centres in North America," stated Karen Radford, president of Telus Quebec.

Telus said the 44,500-square-foot facility, with room for expansion, will consume as much electricity as 5,000 homes.

Its heat exchange system will exploit the Quebec climate for free cooling during two-thirds of the year as the complex meets the LEED green-building standards.