Telus History

Telus History

TELUS as we know it today is the result of a number of mergers and acquisitions along more than 100 years of history. Everything started in 1885 when the first telephone call took place in Alberta; from there the city of Edmonton bought the Edmonton district telephone company in 1904. In 1906 Alberta started a provincial telephone service by acquiring the assets of the Bell Telephone Company in the province; in 1958 the AGTC is formed. In 1990 TELUS Corporation is established, following the reorganization of the Alberta Government Telephones Commission (AGTC), Telus became the parent company of AGTC. The sale of TELUS shares marked the largest initial public offering in Canadian history up to this time, raising $896 million, and in 1991 the Province of Alberta sold its remaining ownership interest in TELUS for $870 million. By the year 1995 TELUS acquired the ED TEL from the city of Edmonton, and finally the actual company was created in February 1999, when the Alberta-based TELUS Corporation and BC-based BC TELECOM joined in a merger of equals, towards creating a national telecommunications company.

Current Strategy

In order to understand the present strategy of the company we have divide it into two main components the corporate strategy and the business strategy.

Corporate Strategy:

Telus has divided its corporate strategy in three different segments:

1. Product Scope and Diversification: TELUS has two particular services with a broad coverage in the Canadian market, on the one hand it offers is the voice service through its residential/business landline service (local and long distance service, call management services such as Voice Mail, Call Display and Call Waiting, sale, rental and maintenance of telephone equipment) in addition to the wireless voice service through is Telus Mobility division with a national coverage. On the other hand, it provides several internet services for homes, businesses, and wireless devices. Management of IT and infrastructure solutions delivered through TELUS' IP networks and connected to TELUS Internet Data Centers, private line, switched services, network wholesale, network, management and hosting Security solutions which include managed and non-managed solutions to protect business networks, messaging and data, in addition to security consulting services. Finally, customized solutions such as contact centre services including Call Centre Anywhere™, conferencing services (web casting, audio, web and video), and human resource and health and safety outsourcing solutions

Telus has also diversified into other categories such as TELUS TV, a fully digital entertainment service available in select neighborhoods with Video on Demand and Pay Per View and converged voice and data solutions - TELUS IP-One Innovation® and TELUSIP-One Evolution®

2. Collaboration with other companies and Vertical Integration: Telus has relied on a series of partnerships with different providers in order to maintain a competitive position in the marketplace, within the most important are: TELUS and Amp'd Mobile bringing next generation mobile entertainment services to Canada: Amp'd Mobile's highly interactive and customized mobile entertainment, information and messaging services will be offered in Canada operating on TELUS' Wireless High Speed network in early 2007.

TELUS Mobile Radio - powered by XM Canada boasts 100 per cent commercial-free music and the best in comedy, talk and entertainment

TELUS and Samsung Electronics Canada today announced the exclusive Canadian availability of the Samsung A950 featuring access to TELUS Mobile Music, TELUS Mobile TVTM, integrated MP3 capabilities, Bluetooth support,1.3 megapixel digital camera, video recorder and expandable memory and operating on the leading-edge Wireless High Speed network.

3. Geographical Scope: TELUS' fiber-optic and wireless networks deliver a complete portfolio of communications solutions to Canadians from coast to coast. Telus national fiber-optic backbone delivers traditional telephony, data services and IP-based solutions. With our two wireless networks, we provide digital coverage to 95% of Canadians, with more than 2,700 retail stores and dealer locations across Canada.

Current Business Strategy:

Ever since the deregulation in the telecommunications industry, Telus has focused a business strategy on communicating a strong positive brand. Telus recognizes its competitive advantage as being a unified and customer focused company. They have leveraged this competitive advantage to support their brand strategy, which aims to communicate a rich tradition of innovation, a breadth of competencies and a responsive, customer-friendly attitude. To provide an improved customer experience, the entire company was involved in a series of service-driven initiatives.

The current Telus business strategy was implemented in 2000 and consists of several key imperatives. Telus' strategic initiatives are to focus on data and wireless communication, partnering, acquiring and divesting, building national capabilities, going to market as one team in our communities and investing in internal capabilities. Thus far, Telus has used these strategic initiatives as a guide to enable many significant results. Firstly, the execution of Telus' national growth strategy has resulted in a distinct shift in revenue streams from mature voice businesses toward higher-growth wireless and data businesses. Leveraging Telus' wireless high-speed network platform, in the second quarter of 2007, will launch an exclusive partnership with Amp'd Mobile. Telus achieved significant scale in the Ontario and Quebec wireline business market, with $657 million in revenues and $32 million in operating profit in 2006. During 2006, the integration of wireline and wireless businesses into a single operating structure continued across the company. Streamlining systems, re-engineering processes and driving efficiencies remained priorities throughout 2006.

Environmental Analysis

Growing Canadian Telecom Market

The telecommunication industry in Canada, including the wireless segment, is poised for growth in the short to medium term. The growth of the telecommunication market ("the telecom market") is expected to expand from $41.2 billion in 2006 to approximately $47 billion in 2009. The Telecommunications Industry Association reports that demand for broadband and high speed services is growing year on year, with new broadband technologies such as fiber, satellite,