Telus in Canada

These figures come from the annual information forms and reports Telus files with the SEC and from the spectrum records of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), each with its date.

When Telus built LTE and 5G

Telus began building LTE in cities in the second half of 2011 and opened it in 14 metropolitan areas in February 2012. That urban LTE ran on AWS spectrum from Industry Canada’s 2008 auction, with typical download speeds of 12 to 25 Mbps expected and a manufacturer-rated peak of 75 Mbps, and outside it Telus LTE phones worked on HSPA+. By the end of 2012 the LTE network reached more than two-thirds of Canadians, and its HSPA+ network covered more than 97% of the population. The first wave of Telus 5G followed in June 2020, in Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton and the Greater Toronto Area. At the end of 2021 that 5G reached over 26.2 million Canadians, or 70% of the population.

How far the network reaches

By 31 December 2024 Telus’s 4G LTE covered 99% of Canada’s population and its LTE Advanced about 95%. The LTE share had already stood at 99% at the end of 2020 and of 2021. Its 5G reached about 32.3 million people, more than 87%, up from more than 31.6 million, about 86%, a year earlier.

Spectrum from ISED

ISED’s 3500 MHz results of 29 July 2021 give TELUS Communications Inc. 142 licences for $1.95 billion, with a total population covered of 24,918,405. In the 3800 MHz auction it won 1,430 licences for $619.6 million, with results of 30 November 2023. Telus says the two auctions gave it about 100 MHz of mid-band 5G spectrum across the country, contiguous in 96% of it, at an average of $0.82 per MHz-pop.

Who runs Telus, and its ties to Bell

Telus’s telecoms business runs mainly through TELUS Communications Inc., part of TELUS Corporation, which has its executive office on West Georgia Street in Vancouver. In 2025 the group counted about 10.3 million mobile phone subscribers and 4.4 million connected devices, within some 21.2 million telecom subscriber connections. Its annual information form lists wireless network access agreements among the things its mobile rollout has relied on. ISED has approved subordinate spectrum licences in both directions between Bell Mobility and TELUS, in bands from about 627 MHz to 2690 MHz, while each primary licensee keeps control of its spectrum.

Jasper, and signal from space

When wildfire hit Jasper, Alberta, in August 2024, Telus set up three cells on wheels: one on a stretch of Trans-Canada Highway 16 without coverage, one at an RCMP checkpoint and one in the town. Where the fire destroyed a tower’s fibre link, it used a low earth orbit satellite connection instead and restored access to 9-1-1. Its crews kept refuelling back-up generators so the lines stayed up after commercial power was lost. In November 2023 Telus and TerreStar Solutions announced voice calls over satellite, and with Skylo, text messages between smartphones.

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