Telus

History

The company was formed in 1990 by the government of Alberta as TELUS Communications, a holding company, in order to facilitate the privatization of a crown corporation, the Alberta Government Telephones Commission (AGT). In 1995, it acquired Edmonton Telephones Corporation (Ed Tel) from the City of Edmonton making Telus the sole provider of telephone service in Alberta. In 1996, Telus was introduced to the public as the consumer brand, replacing both AGT and EdTel.

In 1998, Telus and BCTel announced a proposed merger. The merger was completed in 1999, with the corporate name slightly modified to Telus Corporation. While the merged company chose to retain the Telus name, it moved its headquarters from Edmonton to Vancouver. The merger created Canada's second largest telcom, with 22% of market share compared to Bell Canada's 42%.

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.

Acquisition of Clearnet Communications

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

After the Telus-BCTel merger, unionized employees voted to certify the Telecommunications Workers Union (TWU) as the sole bargaining agent for the expanded company's workforce. The TWU had previously been the union representing BCTel employees - it replaced the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) in Alberta. A labour dispute between Telus and the 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 went on strike, although (as is common in disputes where an employer attempts to unilaterally implement a new contract) the union consistently referred to the dispute as a "lockout."

On July 25, 2005, Telus blocked its Internet subscribers from accessing a website supporting striking union members. The company expressed concerns over content on the site, saying it identified employees crossing picket lines and encouraged disruptive behaviour, while the union alleged it amounted to censorship. 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". 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. Telus and the TWU ratified a tentative agreement on November 18, 2005, ending the dispute.

Telus International

Telus International is Telus’ global arm, providing global contact center and business process outsourcing services to corporations in the financial services, consumer electronics and gaming, telecommunications, energy and utilities industries.

Telus International has contact centers in the Philippines, the United Kingdom, Central America (Guatemala and El Salvador), and Eastern Europe (Bulgaria and Romania), where it is known as Telus International Europe

Relaunch of Clearnet

In April 2011, Telus Mobility relaunched the Clearnet brand as a limited market trial in Kelowna, British Columbia, and Red Deer, Alberta. The company again closed to new business in June 2012.

Non-voting share conversion

In February 2013, Telus exchanged all non-voting shares into common shares on a one-for-one basis.

Purchase of Public Mobile

In October 2013, Telus acquired minor mobile phone provider Public Mobile and relaunched it in 2015 as a "value brand" MVNO on the Telus network.

Reception

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

In recent years, the company has been accused of taking actions to hinder the emergence of competition in Canadian telecommunications. This, along with other industry concerns, has led to consumer and industry pressure to reform the regulatory system governing the Canadian telecommunications industry.

2005 Christmas campaign

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. Telus spokesman Shawn Hall said Telus was aware that concerns had been raised around Hazina's living conditions, which is why it stipulated that the $10,000 it paid the zoo for using Hazina go directly toward building a new enclosure for her.

Sponsorship

Telus sponsors the Calgary Science Centre, Science World in Vancouver, and the Odyssium in Edmonton; Both Vancouver and Edmonton science museums were subsequently renamed as Telus World of Science and Calgary was renamed to Telus Spark. Telus funds the annual Kokanee Crankworx freeride mountain bike and World Ski & Snowboard festivals, both held in Whistler, British Columbia.

Telus was a 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. 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.

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

Beginning in 2014, Telus began sponsoring Canada's largest nationwide technology education event: The HTML500.