VANCOUVER – Telus is pulling the plug on its nomadic local VoIP service Telus Extend after the CRTC ordered it to add 9-1-1 emergency service by the end of the year.
“Enabling 9-1-1 on this service in such a short timeframe would be technically unworkable and cost-prohibitive”, a Telus spokesperson told Cartt.ca via email. “As a result, we won’t be able to continue the beta trial of Telus Extend, and customers will no longer have the option of making calls via WiFi on their wireless devices.”
Telus Extend is a downloadable mobile application available to select Telus mobility customers that allows them to use their same mobile number to make/receive calls or text messages over Wi-Fi. The company said that the free service was never designed as a replacement for cellular service, but rather was intended to act as a complementary service for customers with poor or non-existent indoor coverage and who otherwise would have no voice connectivity.
“We are disappointed by the CRTC’s decision, given that all Extend customers were able to make any 9-1-1 calls over their wireless service when in range of the network, and even when not, would still be able to access emergency services using 10 digit dialing”, continued the spokesperson. “From our perspective, Telus Extend complied with all regulatory requirements, and we have been clear with customers from the beginning that it did not support 9-1-1, as is the case with many other OTT voice applications like Facebook Messenger, Google Voice, or Skype, none of which have the added benefit of using your same mobile number.”
Telus said that it plans to turn down the service by December 30, 2016.
