Telus 2010 Annual Report Download - page 23

TELUS 2010 annual report . 19
How is TELUS competing with new
and existing wireless brands?
JOE NATALE: TELUS has made a number of investments and
innovations in recent years to significantly improve our competitive
position in the wireless market and prepare for new competitors.
Koodo, our postpaid value brand, was launched in 2008
with lower price points and a simplified, lower-cost approach.
This brand continues to successfully position TELUS against
new entrant service offerings, which
have largely focused on the
value segment of the wireless market.
The now widely recognized
and differentiated Koodo brand attests to TELUS’ best-in-class
brand and service development.
TELUS’ acquisition of Black’s Photo in 2009 strengthened
our wireless distribution network in premium mall locations,
particularly in Ontario. And early in 2011, we acquired Smart
Communications, a successful TELUS dealer in Western Canada
with 21 locations, which augments our exclusive retail presence.
Our extensive established distribution network represents
an important competitive advantage, particularly relative to
new entrant brands.
In late 2009, TELUS launched Canada’s fastest* coast-to-coast
mobile network based on high-speed packet access (HSPA+)
tech nology, now offering 97 per cent of Canadians access to
manufacturer-rated wireless data download speeds of up to
21 Mbps and international roaming in more than 200 countries.
The move to HSPA+ also enabled us to offer customers an
increasingly wide selection of devices, services and applications,
based on a variety of new mobile platforms. New entrants do
not have the same wide array of customer choices.
In early 2011, we launched HSPA+ dual-cell technology, which
we expect will further increase manufacturer-rated maximum
data download speeds to up to 42 Mbps to meet the growing
wireless needs of Canadians.
In late 2010, TELUS continued to expand our promise of
pricing and contract transparency, building on the Clear & Simple
rate plans first launched in late 2009. We introduced Clear and
Simple Device Upgrades, which offer customers a fair and simple
way to upgrade to a new device without waiting until the end of
their contract term. Our approach is working as indicated by the
addition of 447,000 new wireless customers in 2010, an increase
of 10 per cent in net additions from a year ago.
As well, with significant investments made in our networks,
TELUS can offer customers premium wireless, TV entertainment,
Internet and wireline local and long distance services.
Combined, all of these factors differentiate TELUS in the
wireless market, strengthen our competitive position and allow us
to successfully compete with existing and new wireless brands.
What is TELUS’ strategy regarding
its broadband networks and what
are the benefits for customers
and investors?
EROS SPADOTTO
Executive Vice-President,
Technology Strategy
Hyper-connectivity has the potential
to greatly increase network traffic and
has emerged as the key phenomenon
that is now driving network investments. Smartphones took
centre stage last year, and in 2011 we believe new options in
hardware and additional services will enable consumers to
do more in more places than ever before. This could include
posting on Facebook from your TV, video-gaming on powerful
smartphones and watching the end of last night’s TV show
on a tablet on the train. To enable this, TELUS continues to
make capital investments each year that extend the speed,
reach and capabilities of our advanced wireless and wireline
broadband networks.
The launch of Canada’s fastest* coast-to-coast HSPA+
network in late 2009 significantly enhanced our ability to com-
pete for new customers. We continue to maximize the potential
of our 4G HSPA+ network with the deployment of dual-cell
technology in large urban areas, which we expect to double
manufacturer-rated data download speeds in 2011 to up to
42 Mbps. Upgrading to dual-cell technology is a natural progres-
sion on our path to long-term evolution (LTE) technology, which
is expected to further enhance network speeds, capabilities
and efficiencies.