bc . type public traded as tsx t voting nyse tu voting s & p tsx 60 component industry telecommunications founded 1990 edmonton alberta 1 headquarters vancouver british columbia canada key people darren entwistle president and ceo alexander chark arki cfo products cdma 2000 hspa lte revenue cad 12.5 billion 2016 operating income 2.3 billion 2015 net income 1.38 billion 2015 number of employees 47 700 2015 divisions telus internet telus mobility telus tv subsidiaries public mobile koodo mobile website www.telus.com telus corporation stylized as telus is a canadian national telecommunications company that provides a wide range of telecommunications products and services including internet access voice entertainment healthcare video satellite and iptv television . the company is based in the vancouver british columbia area ; it was originally based in edmonton alberta before its merger with bctel in 1999 . telus s wireless division telus mobility offers cdma 2000 hspa and lte based mobile phone networks . telus is the incumbent local exchange carrier in british columbia and alberta and a major competitive local exchange carrier in ontario and quebec . telus is a member of the british columbia technology industry association . contents 1 history 1.1 acquisition of clearnet communications 1.2 labour dispute 1.3 telus international 1.4 relaunch of clearnet 1.5 non voting share conversion 1.6 purchase of public mobile 2 reception 3 marketing strategies 3.1 2005 christmas campaign 3.2 sponsorship 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit telus in markville shopping centre telus at hillcrest mall 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 . 2 3 4 in 1995 it acquired edmonton telephones corporation ed tel from the city of edmonton 5 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 . 2 6 in 1998 telus and bctel announced a proposed merger . 7 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 . 2 8 the merger created canada s second largest telcom with 22 % of market share compared to bell canada s 42 % . 8 9 10 large swaths of rural quebec mainly the gasp peninsula and the north shore were served from 1927 by an entity known as corporation de t l phone et de pouvoir de qu bec and in 1955 this became known as qu bec t l phone . in 1966 the anglo canadian telephone company a subsidiary of general telephone and electronics of stamford connecticut later gte became a majority shareholder in qu bec t l phone . 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 qu bectel was established to own qu bec t l phone . following the merger of bctel with telus of alberta gte sold its interests in qu bec t l phone to telus in august 2000 which renamed it telus qu bec 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 . 11 acquisition of clearnet communications edit main article clearnet communications 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 edit 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 12 while the union alleged it amounted to censorship . 12 13 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 . 14 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 . 15 telus and the twu ratified a tentative agreement on november 18 2005 ending the dispute . 16 telus international edit 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 the united states nevada central america guatemala and el salvador and eastern europe bulgaria and romania where it is known as telus international europe relaunch of clearnet edit main article clearnet telus mobility 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 edit in february 2013 telus exchanged all non voting shares into common shares on a one for one basis . 17 purchase of public mobile edit main article public mobile in october 2013 telus acquired minor mobile phone provider public mobile 18 and relaunched it in 2015 as a value brand mvno on the telus network . 19 reception edit 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 . 20 in recent years the company has been accused of taking actions to hinder the emergence of competition in canadian telecommunications . 21 22 23 24 25 26 excessive citations this along with other industry concerns has led to consumer 27 and industry 28 pressure to reform the regulatory system governing the canadian telecommunications industry . 29 30 31 marketing strategies edit this section contains wording that promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information . please remove or replace such wording and instead of making proclamations about a subject s importance use facts and attribution to demonstrate that importance . february 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message a telus store in moncton new brunswick 2005 christmas campaign edit 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 . 32 33 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 . 34 sponsorship edit 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 . 35 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 . 36 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 . 37 see also edit companies portal clearnet communications cybertip.ca koodo mobile list of canadian mobile phone companies mike cellular network telus tv references edit telus google search . google.ca . a b c about telus company history telus corporate website . retrieved february 11 2008 . wilson kevin g. deregulating telecommunications u.s. and canadian telecommunications 1840 1997 rowman & littlefield 2000 isbn 0 8476 9825 4 page 35 alberta online encyclopedia alberta government telephones alberta s telephone heritage crtc letter dated june 30 1998 . retrieved february 12 2008 . archived april 10 2008 at the wayback machine . feakins kathryn h. the telus story brand management strategies for a customer focused identity pdf . retrieved february 12 2008 . telus company history . retrieved 2010 11 11 . a b hunter jennifer bc telecom telus merger macleans magazine november 2 1998 canada s second largest telecommunications firm selects click2learn for learning initiative targeting 28 000 employees business wire november 19 2001 fact sheet telus and the company s r.o.b. placing telus corporate site . retrieved february 11 2008 . verizon sells stake in canada s telus techdirt.com . retrieved december 3 2011 . a b telus cuts subscriber access to pro union website cbc news july 24 2005 doctorow cory phone company blocks access to telecoms union s website boingboing july 24 2005 bccla denounces blocking of website by telus bc civil liberties association press release july 26 2005 alberta court grants interim injunction against posting telus employee photos telus media release july 28 2005 64 % of telus workers say no to continued labour action telecommunications industry news november 20 2005 trichur rita 25 january 2013 . telus share conversion plan underway . retrieved 11 may 2016 . hardy ian 23 october 2013 . telus to acquire 100 % of public mobile . mobile syrup . retrieved 28 november 2014 . hardy ian . telus rebrands public mobile as canada s cooperative wireless provider offers data only lte plans . mobile syrup . retrieved 5 february 2015 . reasons for selection 2009 bc s top employers competition . canadian mobile phone news & reviews cell phones and accessories . mobilesyrup.com . retrieved 2010 03 16 . warning keep broadband competitive in canada . consumersforinternetcompetition.com . 2009 12 11 . retrieved 2010 03