Telus's problems may be related to a new network it is installing, which is expected to go live as soon as this month. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

Telus is having problems signing up and renewing mobile customers because of problems with its client-management system, a problem dealers say has been going on for months.

The company, Canada's third-largest wireless provider with 6.3 million customers, was on Wednesday performing emergency repairs and promised the system would be back up by 8 a.m. ET on Thursday.

Dealers have been unable to sign up new customers and renew contracts. The outage is also affecting customer activations on Telus's website.

The system was completely down on Wednesday and for most of Tuesday. Frustrated dealers said the system has been off and on for months now, with no explanations given.

"The problems went from chronic to acute last week. Over the weekend, maintenance on the system was conducted and from what we can tell, things have gone from bad to worse," said one dealer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The problems may be related to the company installing a new faster wireless network that will give it the ability to offer hot handsets such as Apple's iPhone and Google's Android devices, the dealer said. Telus is building the new network in conjunction with rival Bell and is widely expected to make it active soon, possibly as early as this month.

A spokesman for Telus did not immediately return a request for comment. The Toronto dealer said the problems were caused by tinkering with the system.

"We're doing a lot of upgrades to our system, that's why," she said.

Telus was offering customers an additional $50 credit on their bill for any purchases made online until Sept. 13. Dealers were being given the same compensation, which some were passing on to customers as credits for in-store accessories.