Shaw launches mobile service for existing internet customers in Alberta and B.C.

Shaw is launching a wireless cellphone service for its customers in Alberta and British Columbia who buy high-speed broadband internet from the company.

In a press release, the Calgary-based company on Thursday announced the launch of Shaw Mobile, which allows existing fibre internet customers to add up to six mobile lines to their account, each with unlimited talk and texting capacity for $0 a month.

The service has an option to add 25 gigabytes of mobile data for $45 a month, plus an additional $10 for the same service in the U.S. or Mexico.

Shaw Mobile is different from most other cellular networks in that it takes advantage of the company's existing broadband internet service, including its in-home and out of home WiFi network. Customers will automatically connect to thousands of Shaw's WiFi hotspots across Western Canada, or access LTE service from Shaw or one of their roaming partners if they are in an area where no WiFI hotspot is available, which the comapny says results in uninterrupted service no matter where you go.

"Shaw Mobile customers will get the most cost-effective wireless experience in Canada by taking full advantage of our Fast LTE and our WiFi service, powered by Shaw Fibre+," CEO Brad Shaw said. "We are pleased to deliver what Canadians have wanted from their wireless carriers for years innovation and technology that helps them save money without sacrificing connectivity."

Shaw already offers wireless service through its ownership of Freedom Mobile, which has almost 1.8 million customers primarily in Ontario but also scattered across larger urban centres in B.C. and Alberta.But the new service seems targeted at creating new customers for their home-based fibre optic internet service by offering the wireless service as a perk.

"For B.C. and Alberta residents who don't yet have their internet with Shaw, we invite you to take advantage of our Fibre+ Gig speeds available to more than 99 per cent of our market, and bundle it with a mobile service that will give you unprecedented savings exclusively available for Shaw customers," Shaw said.