"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,” Telus spokesman Jim Johanssen said.
Telus last month rolled out its new child-safe porn service, charging $3 to $4 per photo or video.
“We've introduced — in a very responsible way — adult content that's behind proper age verification and that's compliant with provincial standards and regulations,” Johannsson said.
Johanssen said Telus decided to start selling adult material after the company tracked a significant portion of customers who were already using their phones to find it.
The spokesman noted phone companies in Europe and Asia have been in the business of selling it for years, and the North American telecoms have been lagging behind because of complex regulatory hurdles.
Spokesmen for Rogers Communications and Bell Canada, two other leading Canadian telecommunications companies, said their firms did not offer adult content.
But both firms said they would do what it takes to remain competitive, declining to comment ahead of time on new services that might be in the works.