Telus Corp (TU), Canada’s second largest telecom carrier, has reportedly expanded coverage of its Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) services in western Canada. The company’s IPTV service is now available to the residents in Lethbridge and Medicine Hat in Alberta and Campbell River in British Columbia.
Telus offers its IPTV service (as Telus TV) which provides video and broadcast services to customers in selected markets in Canada. Telus TV, which is being positioned as an alternative to cable TV, offers more than 390 channels (including 35 High Definition TV channels), Video-On-demand service and a personal video recorder (PVR).
The company’s IPTV subscriber base exceeded the 100,000 milestone in April 2009, supported by increased adoption by high-speed Internet customers, aggressive promotional initiatives and attractive feature additions.
Telus expanded its IPTV service offering with the launch of Telus Satellite TV in British Columbia and Alberta (two major markets in western Canada) in June 2009 through a joint venture initiative with Bell Canada, the wireless subsidiary of BCE Inc (BCE).
The new satellite TV service has enabled Telus to offer a “Quadruple-Play” bundled service (fixed-line, wireless, Internet and video) to more than 90% of the households across British Columbia and Alberta. Moreover, the inclusion of satellite TV has also broadened the coverage of Telus’ IPTV services in urban areas as well as low-penetration rural markets.
Telus is also expanding its High Definition TV (HDTV) coverage through its broadband network enhancement program. This represents a part of the company’s more than $700 million investment to improve broadband infrastructure and advanced wireless services in Alberta.
Telus contends with a sluggish Canadian economy and stiff domestic competition, which would intensify with the entry of new wireless players in late 2009 and early 2010. The company continues to lose local phone access lines (both business and residential) to competitors such as wireless service providers and cable TV operators offering Internet phone (VoIP) services.
Telus has strategized to offset erosion in its core wireline business with IPTV and broadband data content services. The company registered healthy net additions of 22,000 video customers in the last quarter bringing the total IPTV subscriber base to 137,000 customers, representing an 83% year-over-year growth.
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