Telus defends cellphone porn offerings

Vancouver-based Telus says it has no plans to stop selling pornographic photos and videos to its cellphone customers, despite receiving more than 100 complaints since it started offering the adult content last month.

Canada's second largest phone company is charging $3 to $4 per photo or video.

Spokesman Jim Johanssen said Telus decided to start selling online pornography after tracking a significant portion of customers who were already using their phones to find adult material.

"We can't make adult content go away. It's on your TV, it's on your home computer, it's now coming to your cellphones."

But he defends the new offerings, noting that Telus has put safeguards in place to stop minors from viewing it, and to ensure that the content is legal.

Despite that, Johanssen said, 135 customers have registered complaints with the company.

Johanssen noted phone companies in Europe and Asia have been in the business of selling it for a while, and the North American telecoms have been lagging behind.

By one estimate, North American mobile phone users spent $400 million US in 2005 to download pornography.