Telus
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| Telus Corporation | |
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| Type | Public TSX: T NYSE: TU |
| Founded | 1999 with the merger of Telus (Alberta) and BCTel |
| Headquarters | Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Key people | Darren Entwistle, President and CEO |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Revenue | ▲ C$9.074 billion |
| Operating income | ▲ C$1.974 billion |
| Net income | ▲ C$1.257 billion |
| Employees | 34,000 (2007) |
| Website | www.telus.com |
Telus (TSX: T, T.A; NYSE: TU) is a national telecommunications company in Canada, which provides a wide range of communications products and services including data, Internet protocol (IP), voice, entertainment and video. The company is based in Vancouver, British Columbia.
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[edit] History
Telus Communications (Alberta) was created in 1990 by the province of Alberta as a holding company in order to facilitate the privatization of crown corporation, the Alberta Government Telephones Commission (AGT).[1][2][3] In 1995, it acquired Edmonton Telephones (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 1999, Telus Corporation was created by the merger of Telus (Alberta) and BCTel with the new entity retaining the Telus name.[6][1] As a result of the merger Telus became Canada's second largest telcom with 22% of market share compared to Bell Canada's 42%.[6][7][8]
[edit] 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, and a duck.[9][10] The themes originated with Clearnet Communications, a Canadian cellular telephone provider acquired by Telus in 2000.
[edit] 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.[11][12] Telus pledged $10,000 towards the building of a new habitat for Hazina [13] 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]
[edit] Labour dispute
Telus' labour dispute with the Telecommunications Workers Union (TWU) began after the previous contract negotiated with BCTel before the two merged 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 offer to employees in Alberta and British Columbia. The union set up pickets the next day.
On July 25, 2005, Telus blocked its internet subscribers from accessing a website supporting striking union members, leading to allegations of censorship by TWU members.[14][15] Telus expressed concerns over content on the site, saying it including images of employees crossing picket lines and encouraged disruptive behaviour.[14] 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".[16]
On July 28, Telus issued a news release detailing an Alberta court injunction ordering 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 its subscribers from the website.[17]
Telus and the TWU reached and ratified a tentative agreement on November 18, 2005, ending the dispute.[18]
[edit] Sponsorship and naming
Since 2000, Telus and its team members have contributed more than $91 million to charitable and non-profit organizations and volunteered more than 1.7 million hours of service to local communities.[19][20][21][22]
Telus sponsors a minor league baseball stadium in downtown Edmonton called the Telus Field. Built in 1995, it was home to the now-defunct Edmonton Trappers of the Pacific Coast League and is now home to the Edmonton Cracker-Cats of the independent Northern League. Telus also donated $9 million to Science World in Vancouver under the terms that it was to be renamed Telus World of Science, $9 million to the Calgary Science Centre, and $8.2 million to the Odyssium in Edmonton; all three science museums were subsequently renamed as Telus World of Science.[23]
Telus is also the namesake tenant in several office buildings, including Tour Telus in Montreal and Telus Plaza in Edmonton.
[edit] Offshoring/Outsourcing
Telus has an estimated 1500 employees offshore in the Philippines where it is known as Telus International [24]. The majority of the workforce employed in the Philippines is used for call center support. Telus's internal support also known as SPOC (Single Point of Contact) has also been fully offshored to the Philippines. Telus's long term plans are to grow its offshore workforce in order to stay competitive in the marketplace. Call center work would be offshored to the Philippines, while development and QA work would be offshored to India.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c About Telus: Company history, Telus corporate website, accessed February 11, 2008
- ^ Wilson, Kevin G., Deregulating Telecommunications: U.S. and Canadian Telecommunications, 1840-1997, Rowman & Littlefield (2000) ISBN 0847698254 page 35
- ^ Alberta Online Encyclopedia, "Alberta Government Telephones" Alberta's Telephone Heritage
- ^ CRTC LETTER DATED JUNE 30, 1998, accessed February 12, 2008
- ^ Feakins, Kathryn H., The Telus Story: Brand Management Strategies for a Customer-Focused Identity, accessed February 12, 2008
- ^ 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, accessed February 11, 2008
- ^ Kirbyson, Geoff, "Telus Mobility animal instincts", brandchannel.com, February 2, 2004
- ^ Marck, Paul, "It's a jungle out there: Canadian telecom companies embrace the animal in them to hawk their products", Edmonton Journal, February 22, 2006
- ^ "Greater Vancouver Zoo Charged with Animal Cruelty Baby Hippo at centre of extensive BC SPCA Investigation", BC Society for the Prevention of Cruely to Animals (Press Release), May 31, 2006
- ^ "Zoo criticized for baby hippo barn", CBC News, August 13, 2005
- ^ "B.C. zoo charged with cruelty to hippopotamus", CTV News, June 1, 2006
- ^ 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
- ^ CATAAlliance Announces Telus Award for Public Sector Leadership in Advanced Technology
- ^ Telus—community
- ^ Telus Tour for the Cure sends message: Detection is your best protection
- ^ Telus debuts the Samsung m620: business in the front, party in the back
- ^ Science World facility renamed ‘Telus World of Science’ as part of $9-million sponsorship deal
- ^ Telus International
[edit] External links
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