Manitoba Telephone System

Manitoba Telecom Services Inc.

Formerly called	Manitoba Government Telephones (1905-1921) Manitoba Telephone System (1921-2004)
Type	Public
Traded as	: MBT
Industry	Telecommunications
Founded	1905
Headquarters	Winnipeg, Manitoba
Key people	David Leith (Chairman) Jay Forbes (CEO)
Revenue	$1.704 billion CAD (2013)
Operating income	$242.2 million CAD (2013)
Net income	$84.4 million CAD (2013)
Number of employees	4,849 (2013)
Website	http://www.mts.ca

Manitoba Telecom Services (MTS), formerly Manitoba Telephone System, is the primary telecommunications carrier in the Canadian province of Manitoba and the fourth largest telecommunications provider in Canada with over 5000 employees. It provides local and long-distance phone services, television service, Internet service and wireless services including digital PCS, cellular, and paging. Manitoba Telecom Services is the publicly traded holding company; it currently consists of an operating subsidiary called MTS Inc. The company's head office is located in MTS Place on Main Street, in Downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba.

MTS is the descendant company of Manitoba Government Telephones which went into operation in January 1908 after the government of Manitoba bought Bell Canada's Manitoba operations. The Crown corporation became Manitoba Telephone System in 1921, and eventually absorbed all private telephone operations in the province. In 1996, the Provincial government of Premier Gary Filmon decided to sell the Manitoba Telephone System to private shareholders. The decision to privatize was seen as controversial, as it marked a significant departure from the Progressive Conservatives' earlier position that MTS should remain provincially owned.

On May 2, 2016, Bell Canada announced its intent to re-acquire MTS in a deal valued at $3.9 billion, pending regulatory approval.

At midnight on June 21, 1959, Winnipeg was the first urban area in North America to implement the 9-9-9 emergency telephone number.

Also in the late 1950s, MTS located one of its administrative offices on Empress St. near the newly opened Polo Park Shopping Centre complex. In 2001 these employees were moved to 333 Main St., commonly known as MTS Place, where 1200 employees now work. This formed part of the Province's Downtown First strategy.