Telus to Enter B.C. TV Market
Globe and Mail
Telus Corp. is ready to pit its new digital television service against cable giant Shaw Communications Inc. in Vancouver. Canada's second largest telecommunications firm said it will enter the television market in the coming months after quietly testing the service among 200 company employees in Calgary and Edmonton.
[!-- /Summary --] After the company's annual meeting in Vancouver yesterday, however, Telus executives weren't prepared to pinpoint the exact startup date or issue subscriber targets, saying only that it will be offered to select communities in the Vancouver area.
"This is a long-term undertaking for this organization," said Telus chief executive officer Darren Entwistle. "We are building a business that will deliver in the fullness of time, good value for our shareholders and excitement for our customers." The service, to be known as TTV, will differentiate itself from competitors by offering a 200-channel digital service including features such as "time shifting," allowing viewers in Vancouver to watch programs at the time they are shown in Toronto, for example.
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Telus plans to sell the new service, delivered over existing phone lines, in theme packages, such as news or sports, at a price tag of $79.95.
By adding television to its roster of services, Telus is going head to head with other phone and cable companies such as Shaw, Rogers Communications Inc., BCE Inc. and Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. It can offer television services thanks to IP technology, which converts voice and data traffic into packets and sends them together over a network.
The TTV launch is also part of a long-term effort to replace declining revenue from Telus's traditional phone service. News of the widely anticipated rollout comes after the company reported first-quarter financial results that were largely in line with Street estimates. Telus posted a profit of $210.1-million or 60 cents a share in the three months ended March 31, 2006. That was down from $242.2-million or 67 cents a share in the same period last year when earnings were boosted by the impact of tax-related adjustments and regulatory decisions.
Before the results were released yesterday, 11 analysts polled by Thomson First Call had been anticipating a first-quarter profit of 59 cents.
Telus revenue in the first quarter rose to $2.1-billion from $1.97-billion a year ago. It attributed the 5-per-cent increase to the strong performance of both wireless and high-speed Internet subscriber growth.
The company has added 92,500 wireless subscribers in the first quarter of 2006, an increase of 15 per cent from a year ago.
After increasing its high-speed Internet subscriber base by 38,600 or 74 per cent in the same period, the company said it is now on track to beat previous estimates: It will add more than 125,000 new high-speed subscribers in 2006, up from an earlier forecast of 100,000.
Yesterday, shares of Telus eased 59 cents to $47.70 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
