Telus has reported its fourth-quarter 2013 earnings. Canada’s No. 2 wireless player has posted a rise in consolidated operating revenue growth of 3.4% compared to a year earlier, reaching $2.95 billion, mainly driven by a 4.1% rise in wireless network revenue and 3.4% growth in wireline revenue.
During the past quarter, another 119,000 Canadians joined Telus’s growing network, of which 113,000 were postpaid wireless subscribers. With them on board, Telus now has 7.8 million wireless customers, up 15 basis points year-over-year.
Looking back to last year, the company CEO, Darren Entwistle, has pointed to Telus’ successful longstanding strategy, which has resulted in more than half a million new wireless postpaid subscribers.
During the past quarter, wireless network revenue increased 4.1% to $1.43 billion compared to a year earlier, while data revenue rose 14% to $648 million. The latter represents 45% of the wireless network revenue, as smartphone subscribers account for 77% of Telus’s postpaid subscriber base, up 11% compared to a year ago.
Blended ARPU (average revenue per user) increased 1.5% to $61.86, one of the other two big players, Rogers posted a decline during the same period last year.
