Bell announced their second quarter profit and loss the other day – and did quite well we might add – and now it is time for Telus to announce how they did in the second quarter. From all accounts, it looks like the wireless telecoms in Canada are racking in the dollars so far this year. Both Bell and Telus are benefiting from CRTC’s decision to put an end to three-year contracts. Many of those were freed from their contracts on June 30 and are now signing up of new contracts and many are purchasing new smartphones. Other causes for the increase in 2Q revenues seem to follow Bell’s – subscriber growth, increased data usage, increased data roaming and more customers are opting for a smartphone.
Telus also reported that for the eighth straight quarter with a churn rate of under 1-percent. A churn rate of only.86-percent means that customers are staying with Telus and not hopping to another network, in fact, Telus has the lowest churn rate of any of the Big Three in Canada. Darren Entwistle, Executive Chair said, “Our strong second quarter results demonstrate the significant benefits of the TELUS team’s unwavering focus of putting customers first, each and every day. Through our long-term and consistent approach to investing in core broadband technology and meaningful customer service and employee engagement initiatives, our team has delivered strong financial performance and unmatched customer loyalty, as illustrated by two consecutive years of wireless postpaid customer churn below one per cent.”
Telus’ subscriber base grew by 3.3-percent or 264,000 to 8.5 million compared to the same time last year – this beats out Bell’s 8.1 million subscribers. Just in the second quarter, Telus added 76,000 wireless postpaid customers – the best kind of customer that now makes up 86.5-percent of its total subscriber base. Another important statistic in the wireless business is the blended Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) and Telus’ grew by 2.9-percent to $63.48. Telus claims their ARPU has grown nineteen consecutive quarters – the best of the Big Three.
Telus President and CEO Joe Natale said, “The Telus team’s relentless focus on putting customers first has translated into industry-leading loyalty and retention that continues to underpin our solid financial performance…Over the past two years, this focus has allowed Telus to gain nearly 50 per cent of all net new wireless postpaid, high-speed Internet and TV customers versus its five major Canadian peers including an additional 115,000 in the second quarter. In this very dynamic and competitive Canadian marketplace, Telus’ consistent performance demonstrates how expecting more from ourselves translates into strong results for our customers and shareholders.”