KELOWNA and RED DEER – Telus has revived the long-dormant Clearnet brand in two western Canadian cities, Red Deer, Alta. and Kelowna, B.C.
However, the company is mum on what it plans to do long term, if anything, with the brand and the concept being tested. “It’s a limited market trial,” is all a Telus spokesperson would tell Cartt.ca.
Readers will recall that Telus purchased Clearnet in 2000, a move which dramatically changed the fortunes of a telco which had been relegated to just its home B.C. and Alberta markets. That $6.6 billion acquisition (Clearnet was launched and run by current Bell Canada CEO George Cope) propelled Telus into becoming a national player with a coast-to-coast wireless net.
In fact, Telus’ well known, easily recognizable advertising using critters of all shapes and sizes was developed by the Clearnet team and adopted by Telus after the purchase.
The company is testing Clearnet as a new, low-price brand in which customers would get a wireless plan with unlimited talk in their home province for $50 a month, or unlimited talk and text across Canada for $60 a month. Both plans include a home phone, too, for no extra cost and there are no contracts to sign.
Right now, the web site, which does not mention Telus, shows just three handsets on offer, the LG GB-255G for $49.99, the Samsung Evergreen for $79.99 and “coming soon” the Samsung Galaxy Apollo for $149.99.
If this works in the two cities (Red Deer has a population of about 90,000; Kelowna, 96,000), stay tuned for yet another brand in the Canadian marketplace.
