Telus announces 8,000 free WiFi hotspots for West

Telus Corp. announced on Monday that it will provide free WiFi at more than 8,000 hotspots throughout British Columbia and Alberta. These are provinces where Telus competes with Shaw Communications Inc. in the provision of landline phone, Internet and television services. Shaw operates more than 60,000 hotspots in Western Canada, according to its website. Shaw's hotspots are mostly for its own Internet customers, though it also partners with several municipalities to provide free WiFi to the general public. Telus said in a press release Monday that the public WiFi it is offering will be available to anyone, whether they are a Telus customer or not. However, it did say its own wireless subscribers' smartphones will automatically shift to a WiFi signal when they are within the reach of hotspots, allowing customers to reduce usage of their data allocations. Telus spokesman Ryan Bazeley said in an email that the company's WiFi network has been a work in progress since last year, and that the 8,000 hotpots cited are currently in operation. He added that they are placed mostly in major cities. Telus’ website shows hotspots are clustered mostly around Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary and Edmonton. Bazeley added that the hotspots are intended to be a "value-added service to our business Internet customers who want to offer WiFi to all of their customers, regardless of service provider. It’s also a great opportunity for non-Telus customers to experience the speed and reliability of the Telus network. The service is only offered in areas where we offer business Internet service." Telus said in the release that it is working with businesses, including convenience store chain 7-Eleven, tire retailer Fountain Tire and the Vancity credit union, to provide the hotspots. It added they are also available at high-traffic venues such as BC Place, the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary and the Whistler Blackcomb ski resort. The release also invited other businesses to contact Telus for opportunities to set up additional hotspots. Jeff Fan, a telecom analyst with Scotia Capital, said Telus' WiFi effort seems to be a defensive measure against Shaw, given that it's placing the hotspots in B.C. and Alberta, where it competes with Shaw for various landline services. He added that running an extensive WiFi network requires a reliable backhaul network, and it would be more expensive to do this in areas outside of Alberta and B.C., where it does not have a significant wireline infrastructure. Fan said providing the hotspot service helps Telus build on its reputation as "the customer-friendly company." "They understand that WiFi is becoming an important part of how people connect to the network," Fan said in a phone interview. "Providing that access, I think, will give their customers or the market the clear message that they're on their side." Fan said there is a risk that the hotspots will cut into demand for more expensive mobile data packages from Telus. However, he added: "In the grand scheme of things, they probably get a bigger benefit from the messaging and diluting their competitor's message ... than from the downside risk of cannibalizing their own data revenue." Fan noted that Shaw launched its WiFi network as an alternative to getting into the mobile-services market, which in turn prompted this competitive response from Telus. That has now resulted in two major telecom companies competing to provide public WiFi service in Western Canada. He said he can't foresee a similar dynamic developing in Central or Eastern Canada any time soon, given that major incumbent phone and cable companies in these areas, such as BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Quebecor Inc., would likely be worried about cannibalizing their own wireless services. There is also no WiFi network comparable to Shaw’s for those companies to compete with, Fan noted. Shaw declined to comment on Telus' newly announced hotpots. — With reporting by Derek Abma at dabma@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Telus announces 8,000 free WiFi hotspots for West

News | June 8, 2015

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Telus announces 8,000 free WiFi hotspots for West

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