History of Telus Facts for Kids

Telus Corporation, often called Telus, is a big Canadian company. It offers many services like phone, internet, TV, and wireless. Telus also helps with health, safety, and security. It's a "holding company," which means it owns many other companies. These include Telus Communications Inc. (for phone, TV, and internet), Telus Mobility (for cell phones), Telus Health (for health services), and Telus International (for customer service and tech help around the world).

By 2014, Telus was one of the "Big Five" telecom companies in Canada. These companies, including Bell Canada, Rogers Communications, Shaw Communications, and Quebecor Media, are huge. They offer many services like mobile phones and internet across Canada.

Timeline of Telus

1990: A New Beginning

In June, the leader of Alberta, Don Getty, said the government-owned phone company, Alberta Government Telephones (AGT), would become a private company.
In September, another company called NovAtel Communications Ltd. lost money. This made the privatization plan harder.
To help the plan, Alberta promised to cover NovAtel's losses. The government also gave Telus the option to sell NovAtel back to the province later.
Helmut Neldner, who worked at AGT for a long time, became the president and CEO of Telus Corp.
In October, Telus Corp. bought AGT for $951 million. This was the biggest stock sale in Canadian history at the time.

1991: Government Sells Shares

The Government of Alberta sold its remaining shares of Telus for CA$870 million.

1993: Josh Blair Joins Telus

Josh Blair started working at Telus. He held many important jobs until 2018.

1995: Telus Buys ED TEL

Telus Corporation bought Edmonton Telephones (ED TEL Inc) from the city of Edmonton for CA$467 million.

1996: One Brand, One Team

Telus decided to work as "one united team" under a single brand.
This meant stopping the use of the older names like ED TEL and AGT. They wanted a clear, consistent Telus identity.

1997: Multimedia Trials Begin

On May 8, Telus got approval to start testing new multimedia services. These trials happened in Edmonton and Calgary.

1998: Telus Becomes BCT.TELUS

On October 26, Telus was officially set up in British Columbia. Its new name was BCT.TELUS Communications Inc. (BCT).
It was described as a company with a "national network" for long distance, internet, and wireless services.

1999: A Big Merger

On January 31, the original Telus Corporation merged with BC TELECOM Inc.
This merger was worth CA$8 billion. It created Canada's second-largest telecommunications company, right after Bell Canada.
The new company was first called BCT.Telus Communications Inc. Later, it became just Telus. Its main office moved to Vancouver, British Columbia.

2000: New Name, New Leader, Big Purchase

On May 3, BCT.TELUS COMMUNICATIONS INC. officially changed its name to TELUS Corporation.
In July, Darren Entwistle became the president and CEO of Telus. He still holds this position today.
On October 19, Telus bought Clearnet Communications Inc. for $6.6 billion.
This purchase helped Telus grow from a regional company to a national one. Telus Mobility gained many new wireless customers.

2004: Verizon Sells Its Share

In May, Verizon Communications, Inc. decided to sell its 21% share in Telus.
In December, Verizon sold its shares for about CA$2.3 billion.
Telus kept the right to use Verizon trademarks and technology in Canada. Both companies agreed to keep working together.

2005: Telus Combines Services

Telus combined its phone and wireless services into "one operating structure."
In November, Telus launched its TV service, TELUS TV, in Edmonton and Calgary.

2007: Telus Health is Born

In December, Telus bought Emergis Inc. for CA$763 million.
This company was renamed Telus Health. It was divided into three parts: Telus Health Solutions, Telus Assyst Real Estate, and Telus Financial Solutions.
By the end of 2007, Telus Communications Inc. (TCI) was Telus Corporation's main subsidiary.

2008: Koodo Mobile Launches

In March, Telus launched a new, cheaper cell phone brand called Koodo Mobile. It was created to attract younger customers.

2011: Clearnet Returns (Briefly)

In April, Telus brought back the Clearnet brand as a discount option in Western Canada.

2012: Clearnet Stops Activations

In June, Telus decided to stop signing up new customers under the Clearnet brand.

2013: Public Mobile Joins Telus

In October, Telus got approval to buy Public Mobile. This added 280,000 customers in Ontario and Quebec to Telus.

2014: Public Mobile Changes and Market Share

In March, Telus decided to shut down Public Mobile's old network. Customers had to buy new phones to switch to Telus's faster 4G network. This caused some anger among customers.
A report in 2014 showed Telus was the third-largest telecom company in Canada. It had 15.9% of the media market share.

2015: Leadership Change

In August, Joe Natale, who was CEO since 2014, stepped down. He didn't want to move to Vancouver, where Telus is based.
Darren Entwistle, the former CEO, returned to lead Telus.

2017: Telus International Grows

In October, Telus International announced it would buy a 65% share in Xavient Information Systems. Xavient is a tech consulting company with 8,000 employees.

2018: Expanding Health and Security

In January, Telus bought the Western Canada operations of AlarmForce for about CA$66.5 million.
In August, Telus Health bought 30 medical clinics across Canada for over CA$100 million. These clinics included Medisys and Copeman Healthcare.
On June 26, Josh Blair, a long-time leader at Telus, announced he would leave at the end of 2018.
Telus stated it had $14.6 billion in yearly revenue and 14.2 million customer connections. It also said Telus Health was Canada's largest healthcare IT provider.

2019: More Acquisitions

In August, Telus bought Farm At Hand, a platform that helps farmers manage their inventory. It was renamed "Farm AT Hand driven by TELUS".
Also in August, Telus Health agreed to buy Akira Health, a company with a healthcare app and clinics.
In October, Telus announced it would buy the Canadian operations of ADT Inc. for about US$527 million (CA$700 million). This added about 500,000 customers. The company was renamed "ADT by TELUS".
In December, Telus bought Decisive Farming, an Alberta-based company that helps farmers with profitability and technology. It was renamed "Decisive Farming driven by TELUS".
Also in December, Telus International announced it would buy Competence Call Center (CCC) for about CA$1.3 billion. This would add about 8,500 workers to Telus International.
Telus Health also acquired DirectAlert in Quebec, expanding its medical alert services.

2020: Competence Call Center Acquisition Completed

On February 4, Telus CEO Darren Entwistle announced that Telus International had completed its purchase of Competence Call Center (CCC). CCC has 8,500 employees in 11 European countries.

History of Telus facts for kids

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