Telus (TSX: T, T.A; NYSE: TU) is a national telecommunications company in Canada that provides a wide range of communications products and services including data, Internet protocol (IP), voice, entertainment and video. The company is based in Burnaby, British Columbia. Telus utilizes a CDMA 2000-based mobility phone network.

History

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).Wilson, Kevin G., Deregulating Telecommunications: U.S. and Canadian Telecommunications, 1840-1997, Rowman & Littlefield (2000) ISBN 0847698254 page 35Alberta Online Encyclopedia, "Alberta Government Telephones" Alberta's Telephone Heritage In 1995, it acquired Edmonton Telephones (Ed Tel) from the City of Edmonton 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.About Telus: Company history, Telus corporate website, accessed February 11, 2008 In 1999, Telus Corporation was created by the merger of Telus (Alberta) and BCTel with the new entity retaining the Telus name.Hunter, Jennifer, "BC Telecom/Telus Merger", Macleans Magazine, November 2, 1998 As a result of the merger Telus became Canada's second largest telcom with 22% of market share compared to Bell Canada's 42%.

In 2008, Telus discontinued its analog mobility phone network due to the lack of available parts for the equipment. A Telus spokesperson said they believed they were the last major mobility carrier to do so. Telus has offered a cost-sharing arrangement to bring landlines to customers who are effected by the analog network shutdown in rural areas as digital signals do not work as well as analog ones in such areas.

Advertising

Telus advertising has been noted for its use of nature-themed imagery and the slogan, 'The Future is Friendly'. Many ads feature animals including pot-bellied pigs, a tree frog, a monkey, a lizard, a duck, fishes and groundhogs. The themes originated with Clearnet Communications, a Canadian cellular telephone provider acquired by Telus in 2000.

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 pledged $10,000 towards the building of a new habitat for Hazina 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. Fact: date=January 2008