Telus

Telus Communications Inc. (TCI) is the wholly owned principal subsidiary of Telus Corporation, a Canadian national telecommunications company that provides a wide range of telecommunications products and services including internet access, voice, entertainment, healthcare, video, smart home automation and IPTV television. The company is based in the Vancouver, British Columbia, area; it was originally based in Edmonton, Alberta, before its merger with BC Tel in 1999. Telus' wireless division, Telus Mobility, offers UMTS, and LTE-based mobile phone networks. Telus is the incumbent local exchange carrier in British Columbia and Alberta. Telus' primary competitors include Shaw Communications (in the western provinces). It also competes in the mobile sector with Shaw Communications, Rogers Communications and Bell Canada. Telus is a member of the British Columbia Technology Industry Association. Telus Corp was formed in 1990 by the government of Alberta as Telus Corp, a holding company in order to facilitate the privatization of the Alberta Government Telephones (AGT), a crown corporation that provided telephone service to most of Alberta outside of Edmonton. In 1995, it acquired Edmonton Telephones Corporation (EdTel), the main telephone provider for Edmonton itself, 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 BC Tel announced a proposed merger. The merger was completed in 1999. While Telus was the nominal survivor, the merged company moved its headquarters from Edmonton to Vancouver. The corporate name was slightly altered to the present Telus Corporation. 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.