Telus (TSX: T, NYSE: TU) is a national telecommunications company in Canada that provides a wide range of telecommunications products and services including internet access, voice, entertainment, video, and satellite television. The company is based in Burnaby, British Columbia, part of Greater Vancouver. Telus' wireless division, Telus Mobility, offers CDMA 2000, IDEN, and HSPA+-based mobile phone networks.

Telus is a member of the British Columbia Technology Industry Association.

Background[link]

Telus Communications (Alberta) was created in 1990 by the government of Alberta as a holding company in order to facilitate the privatization of a crown corporation, the Alberta Government Telephones Commission (AGT).^[1][2][3] In 1995, it acquired Edmonton Telephones Corporation (Ed Tel) from the City of Edmonton^[4] making Telus the owner of all telephone service in the province. In 1996, Telus was introduced to the public as the consumer brand, replacing AGT and EdTel.^[1][5] In 1998, Telus (Alberta) and BCTel announced a proposed merger.^[6] In 1999, Telus Corporation was created by the merger of Telus (Alberta) and BCTel with the new entity retaining the Telus name.^[1][7] As a result of the merger Telus became Canada's second largest telcom with 22% of market share compared to Bell Canada's 42%.^[7][8][9]

Large swaths of rural Quebec, mainly the Gaspé Peninsula and the north shore, were served from 1927 by an entity known as Corporation de Téléphone et de Pouvoir de Québec, and in 1955, this became known as Québec Téléphone. In 1966, the Anglo-Canadian Telephone Company, a subsidiary of General Telephone and Electronics of Stamford, Connecticut (later GTE), became a majority shareholder in Québec Téléphone. Anglo-Canadian also owned BCTel, and GTE (later merged into Verizon) also owned services in Barbados, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago. In 1997, Groupe QuébecTel was established to own Québec Téléphone. Following the merger of BCTel with Telus of Alberta, GTE sold its interests in Québec Téléphone to Telus in August 2000, which renamed it Telus Québec on April 2, 2001.

In late 2004, American telecom Verizon Communications sold its 20.5% stake in Telus. This was so that Verizon could focus more on its own services.^[10]

Acquisition of Clearnet Communications[link]

Clearnet PCS logo

In the 1999-2000 period, Telus acquired the high-performing Scarborough, Ontario based cellular company Clearnet Communications through merger, which gave it a foothold in the highly competitive central Canadian market in Ontario and Quebec, Canada's largest provinces in terms of population. The company had its origins in nearby Pickering, Ontario, and was by 1997 outperforming the other Toronto/Ontario-based cellular companies. Its phones were easily available at various retailers, and its marketing was fresh and innovative at the time, emphasizing bold, uncluttered simplicity (a concept gaining popularity today), and a bright future outlook through its nature and animals motifs.

Labour dispute[link]

Telus' labour dispute with the Telecommunications Workers Union (TWU) began after the previous contract, negotiated with BCTel before the Telus merger, expired at the end of 2000. After Telus made its final offer to the TWU, it informed the union of its intention to bring an end to the dispute by unilaterally implementing its April 2005, offer to employees in Alberta and British Columbia. The next day, the union was subsequently locked out by the company.

On July 25, 2005, Telus blocked its Internet subscribers from accessing a website supporting locked out union members. The company expressed concerns over content on the site, saying it identified employees crossing picket lines and encouraged disruptive behaviour,^[11] while the union alleged it amounted to censorship.^[11][12] The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association issued an official objection to the unilateral blocking on July 26, stating "Telus is leveraging its power as a telecommunications service provider to censor a specific group, shut down debate and limit the messages conveyed about the current labour dispute".^[13] An Alberta court injunction ordered the blocked website, Voices For Change, to remove postings of "Telus employee photos" and other "intimidating or threatening material". The site owner agreed to comply and Telus unblocked the website.^[14] Telus and the TWU ratified a tentative agreement on November 18, 2005, ending the dispute.^[15]

Telus International[link]

Telus has an estimated 9000 employees in the Philippines where it is known as Telus International, Inc. (formerly Ambergris Solutions) as part of its global expansion. Its regional office is located in Pasig City, while satellite offices can be found in Taguig City and a recently opened branch in Cubao, Quezon City.^[16] The majority of the workforce employed in the Philippines are used for Canadian customer service calls and business process services. Other regional offices are situated in Gyeonggi-do, Korea and in Burnaby. The main corporate office is headquartered in Singapore.^[17] Telus International expanded into the United States and in July 2009 opened a call centre in Guatemala with 300 employees.

Relaunch of Clearnet[link]

In April 2011, Telus Mobility relaunched the Clearnet brand as a limited market trial in Kelowna, British Columbia, and Red Deer, Alberta.

Reception[link]

In October 2008, Telus was named one of BC's Top Employers by Mediacorp Canada Inc., which was announced by The Vancouver Sun, The Province and the Victoria Times-Colonist.^[18]

In recent years, the company has been accused of taking actions to hinder the emergence of competition in Canadian telecommunications.^{[19][20][21][22][23][24]} This, along with other industry concerns, has led to consumer^[25] and industry^[26] pressure to reform the regulatory system governing the Canadian telecommunications industry.^[27][28][29]

Marketing strategies[link]

This section may contain wording that merely promotes the subject without imparting verifiable information. Please remove or replace such wording, unless you can cite independent sources that support the characterization. (February 2011)

A Telus store in Moncton, New Brunswick

Telus advertising has been noted for its use of whimsical, nature-themed imagery and the slogan, 'The Future is Friendly'. Many of the company's television, outdoor, in-store, and print ads feature animals including pot-bellied pigs, rabbits, a tree frog, a monkey, a lizard, a duck, fish, a hedgehog, a meerkat, an owl, and lately have been focusing on pygmy goats.^[30][31] Beyond traditional media, Telus has also extended its brand imagery to both its website^[32] and its online advertising.^[33] The foundations of the Telus brand originated with Clearnet Communications, including its colours, use of animal motifs and the "the future is friendly" word tag, which was developed and started by Clearnet in the late 1990s. The official Telus colours are green and purple.

Dodge Journey Telus vehicle.

2005 Christmas campaign[link]

For the Christmas season in 2005, an ad campaign was launched involving a hippopotamus named Hazina from the Greater Vancouver Zoo, accompanied by the song "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas". On May 31, 2006, the zoo was formally charged with animal cruelty for their treatment of Hazina.^[34][35] Telus pledged $10,000 towards the building of a new habitat for Hazina ^[36] and announced a plan to make available for 'adoption' plush hippopotamus toys through Telus dealers, with all proceeds from BC going towards Hazina and all proceeds from Alberta going towards the hippopotamus at the Calgary Zoo. The campaign raised an additional $20,000 for the Vancouver Zoo's hippopotamus enclosure.^{[citation needed]}

Sponsorship[link]

Since 2000, Telus and its team members have contributed more than $245 million to charitable and non-profit organizations and volunteered more than 4.1 million hours of service to local communities.^[37] Telus sponsors Science World in Vancouver, the Calgary Science Centre, and the Odyssium in Edmonton; all three science museums were subsequently renamed as Telus World of Science.^[38] Telus funds the annual Kokanee Crankworx freeride mountain bike and World Ski & Snowboard festivals, both held in Whistler, British Columbia.

Telus is also active in sponsoring sports teams and organizations. Most notably, Telus has been a premier sponsor and marketing partner of Hockey Canada since 2004 and the title sponsor of Canada's national midget hockey championship, the Telus Cup, since 2005.^[39] Telus has been a sponsor of Rogers Sportsnet's regional broadcasts of Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers games. Telus is active in Canadian professional golf as title sponsor of the Telus Open and the Telus Skins Game. In baseball, the naming rights to Telus Field, the home of the Edmonton Capitals of the independent North American League, currently belong to Telus.

Telus is the namesake tenant in several office buildings, including The Telus Convention Centre in Calgary, Tour Telus in Montreal and Telus Plaza in Edmonton.

See also[link]

Companies portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Telus

• Clearnet Communications
• Cybertip.ca
• Koodo Mobile
• List of Canadian mobile phone companies
• Mike (cellular network)
• Telus TV

References[link]

• Telus Selects CopperGate's HomePNA for IPTV Service

External links[link]

• Official website
• TelusMobility.com
• MyTelus.com
• TelusInternational.com

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