Telecom network operator TELUS Corporation today said its capital expenditure (Capex) during the third quarter of 2016 was C$787 million (+26.3 percent).
TELUS said its wireless capital expenditures increased due to ongoing investments in fibre-optic network in Canada to support its small-cell technology strategy to improve coverage and prepare for the evolution to 5G. TELUS also made investment on the deployment of 700 MHz and 2500 MHz spectrum licenses.
Wireline capital expenditures of TELUS increased due to strategic investments in broadband network infrastructure. TELUs connected more homes and businesses directly to TELUS’ fibre-optic network and made investments in system and network resiliency and reliability in Q3.
TELUS said it made investment of $2.2 billion in capital expenditures primarily in communities across Canada in the first nine months of 2016 and more than $30 billion since 2000.
TELUS Corporation’s operating revenue grew 2.6 percent to C$3.2 billion in Q3 2016 from a year earlier. The marginal growth in revenue reflects higher data revenue and subscriber growth in both wireless and wireline operations. EBITDA of TELUS increased 5.8 percent to $1.1 billion.
Darren Entwistle, president and CEO of TELUS, said: “Our team once again delivered industry-leading results in wireless customer loyalty, ARPU growth and lifetime-revenue, as well as strong consolidated and segmented revenue and EBITDA growth.”
TELUS achieved higher data revenue driven by demand for higher-rate two-year plans, adoption of larger data buckets, subscriber growth, favorable postpaid subscriber mix, and increased data usage from costly smartphones, data-centric wireless devices and data-intensive applications.
Wireline data revenue of TELUS grew due to growth in business process outsourcing revenues, an increase in Internet, TV and enhanced data service revenues from continued high-speed Internet and TV subscriber growth and higher revenue per customer.
TELUS added 115,000 (+23,000 sequentially) net wireless postpaid, high-speed Internet and TV customers. Net additions included 87,000 wireless postpaid customers, 14,000 high-speed Internet subscribers, and 14,000 TELUS TV customers.
TELUS wireless subscriber base of over 8.5 million rose 1 percent from a year ago, reflecting a 2.4 percent increase in the postpaid subscriber base to 7.5 million. TELUS high-speed Internet connections have increased 5.6 percent to 1.6 million, while TELUS TV subscribers are higher by 6.4 percent to over 1 million.
