100,000 Manitoba customers to move under Telus as part of Bell MTS takeover

More than 100,000 people in Manitoba will see their wireless service switched to Telus over the coming months under a $300 million deal with Bell that formally closed over the weekend.

Bell MTS customers affected by the agreement will be notified by mail and will keep their current phone numbers after the switch.

The two telecommunications companies reached the deal as part of the $3.9 billion friendly takeover of Manitoba Telecom Services by Bell, announced last May.

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At the time, Bell's parent BCEsaid it had agreed to sell about one-third of Manitoba Telecom's monthly contract wireless customers and one-third of the MTS stores in Manitoba to Vancouver-based Telus Corp.

Those agreements were subject to various federal approvals and Telus provided an update in February saying it would assume only about one-quarter of the MTS customers.

Telus says today that more than 100,000 Manitobans will be switched to its network. It will also acquire 15 locations from Bell MTS two more than announced in February.