Telus Mobility
TELUS Mobility is a Canadian wireless network operator and a division of TELUS Communications which sells wireless services in Canada on its network. It operates 5G+, 5G, LTE, HSPA+, and LPWA on its network. TELUS Mobility is the third-largest wireless carrier in Canada, with 10.1 million subscribers as of Q2 2024.
Since 2008, TELUS has operated a flanker brand named Koodo Mobile, which is targeted at high school, college and university students.
History
1980s
In 1983, AGT Mobility was formed by Alberta Government Telephones to provide a 1G analogue mobile network for Alberta's natural resources industries. It was the first mobile phone network in Canada. Analogue services became available to the general public in 1986.1990s
In 1992, AGT launched North America's first digital mobile network. Following the merger of TELUS with BC Tel in 1999, TELUS Mobility expanded its coverage to British Columbia. The company's website went online on October 14, 1999. The following year, TELUS acquired Clearnet Communications and QuébecTel to expand its coverage to the central provinces. All these acquisitions, along with a tower-sharing agreement with then-primarily Eastern Canada based Bell Mobility, allowed TELUS Mobility to offer its CDMA network in all Canadian provinces. Bell and TELUS continued their partnership for future network construction.2000s
In 2007, TELUS Mobility launched mobile virtual network operator Amp'd Mobile Canada, but replaced it in 2008 with Koodo MobileIn February 2008, TELUS Mobility discontinued its AMPS analog network, and launched its HSPA+ network in November 2009. TELUS offered landlines to customers affected by the AMPS network's shutdown in rural areas, as digital signals are less reliable than analog ones in such areas. Following both events, TELUS began a slow phasing out of CDMA devices, especially those that support both AMPS and CDMA technologies.
2010s
In February 2012, TELUS launched its LTE network and it stopped selling CDMA devices, except those on clearance.In 2013, TELUS was approved by the Canadian government to purchase independent wireless carrier Public Mobile.
On August 8, 2014, TELUS shut down Public Mobile's CDMA network after informing customers that they would need to buy phones compatible with TELUS' network.
On March 31, 2015, TELUS shut down its pager network.
On January 29, 2016, TELUS shut down its Mike iDEN network.
On May 31, 2017, TELUS shut down its CDMA network.
Networks
TELUS Mobility partners with Bell Mobility to operate three different kinds of nationwide networks in Canada. These networks include a UMTS network, an LTE network and a 5G network. TELUS has the fastest mobile network in Canada as of 2020 according to Speedtest.net.UMTS
On November 5, 2009, TELUS launched HSPA+ services the day after Bell launched the services on their network; much of the 3G infrastructure is shared between the two carriers. This network operates on the frequencies of 850/1900 MHz.TELUS' single-channel 21 Mbit/s HSPA+ network is available to 97% of the Canadian population. About 70% of the Canadian population are located in TELUS' 42 Mbit/s dual-channel coverage areas.
TELUS' HSPA+ network coverage is in portions of all Canadian provinces and territories, but it is not possible to drive across Canada between the Pacific coast and the Atlantic coast without going through areas that do not have any cellular coverage, as there are gaps in cellular coverage in British Columbia and Ontario.
LTE
service for TELUS launched on February 10, 2012, through a partnership with Bell. TELUS advertises this network as having download speeds of up to 110 Mbit/s and its LTE Advanced network as having download speeds up to 225 Mbit/s.As of August 2016, LTE coverage reaches most of Canada's population, but there are gaps in coverage in smaller communities and between communities, where TELUS' HSPA+ network is available, but its LTE network is not available. Steinbach, MB is the largest Canadian community without LTE coverage from TELUS. Except near Canada's largest metropolitan areas, contiguous LTE coverage does not exist between communities.
Bell Mobility, which shares towers and coverage with TELUS, intends to expand LTE coverage to 98% of the Canadian population by the end of 2016. As a consequence, TELUS' coverage will similarly expand. In April 2015, TELUS announced that all of its wireless sites in British Columbia and Alberta will be upgraded to LTE. According to TELUS, as of March 31, 2016, it had LTE coverage available 97% of the Canadian population and LTE Advance coverage available to 50% of the Canadian population.
In May 2016, TELUS announced that by the end of the year, it would expand its coverage to 99% of British Columbians and expand its LTE coverage to 98% of British Columbians, expand its LTE coverage to 99% of Albertans, and expand its LTE coverage to 99% of Ontarians.
On April 18, 2016, TELUS launched Voice over LTE. VoLTE is supported throughout Canada.
Radio frequency summary
| Frequency range | Band number | Protocol | Class | Status | Note |
| 850 MHz CLR | 5 | UMTS/HSDPA/HSPA+/DC-HSPA+ | 3G | Active | Actively being re-farmed to LTE, and being decommissioned in certain areas. Covers all urban, and rural areas where LTE is unavailable. $3 monthly charge for using 3G-only devices. |
| 1.9 GHz PCS | 2 | UMTS/HSDPA/HSPA+/DC-HSPA+ | 3G | Active | Covers all urban, and rural areas where LTE is unavailable. $3 monthly charge for using 3G-only devices. Network to be decommissioned in Manitoba by March 31, 2026. |
| 600 MHz DD | 71 | LTE/LTE-A/LTE-A Pro | 4G | Active / being deployed | Mainly used in rural areas / rural coverage. Also being used to provide LTE Advanced coverage. |
| 700 MHz SMH A/B/C/E | 12/13/17/29 | LTE/LTE-A/LTE-A Pro | 4G | Active / being deployed | Mainly used in rural areas / rural coverage. |
| 850 MHz CLR | 5/26 | LTE/LTE-A/LTE-A Pro | 4G | Active / being deployed | Used for extra bandwidth within cities and rural coverage. |
| 1.7/2.1 GHz AWS | 4/66 | LTE/LTE-A/LTE-A Pro | 4G | Active / being deployed | Main LTE Band used across the country. Also being used to provide LTE Advanced coverage. |
| 1.9 GHz PCS | 2/25 | LTE/LTE-A/LTE-A Pro | 4G | Active / being deployed | Secondary LTE Band being deployed and used for LTE / LTE Advanced coverage. |
| 2.6 GHz IMT-E | 7 | LTE/LTE-A/LTE-A Pro | 4G | Active / being deployed | Found in select markets, but being developed slowly in new markets alongside to provide LTE Advanced coverage. |
| 5.2 GHz U-NII | 46 | LTE/LTE-A/LTE-A Pro | 4G | Active / being deployed | License assisted access. Additional capacity in select cities. |
| 600 MHz DD | n71 | NR | 5G | Active / being deployed | Being actively deployed in several markets alongside n78. |
| 850 MHz CLR | n5 | NR | 5G | Active / being deployed | |
| 1.7/2.1 GHz Extended AWS | n66 | NR | 5G | Active / being deployed | Secondary NR band. |
| 1.9 GHz PCS | n25 | NR | 5G | Active / being deployed | Secondary NR band. |
| 3.7 GHz C-Band | n77/n78 | NR | 5G | Active / being deployed |
Products
TELUS Mobility currently carries iPhone and Android smartphones, plus the ZTE Cymbal 2 feature phone. These types of smartphones were added to the TELUS lineup on November 5, 2009, coinciding with the carrier's launch of its 3G HSPA network. Since the launch of its 5G NR network in 2020, all devices sold by TELUS are compatible with its 4G LTE network, and most smartphones are also compatible with its 5G network.Former devices sold by TELUS generally used deprecated network technologies: 3G CDMA and HSPA/HSPA+, 2G CDMA and 1G AMPS. Of these, only the HSPA and HSPA+ networks remain in operation. In contrast to Verizon and Sprint in the United States, TELUS did not offer CDMA service with its iPhone and Android devices. TELUS formerly carried devices with the BlackBerry, webOS and Windows operating systems, which are no longer supported.
Services
Voice
TELUS Mobility sells a variety of voice plans. These include a fixed number of minutes plus unlimited calling on weeknights, weekends and with up to four other TELUS lines on the same account. Caller ID and a basic voicemail for up to three messages are also included as calling features, although airtime is charged for accessing the latter. All voice plans except for the least expensive one also allow the choice of one additional feature: double minutes, five favourite numbers or unlimited Canada-wide SMS/MMS messaging. For the five favourite numbers, unlimited calling is available in either local or Canada-wide options while messaging to these numbers is Canada-wide.Partners Skype and Telehop offer long-distance services for TELUS Mobility customers. The first service uses Voice over IP and requires a mobile broadband connection, while the latter uses traditional telephony through the dialing code No. 100. The Telehop service, which deducts minutes when used during weekdays, cannot be use for calls terminating in Canada or the United States.