The company, which competes with BCE Inc , Shaw Communications and Rogers Communication, said operating expenses surged 8.2 percent to C$2.11 billion ($1.65 billion) in the first quarter.

Vancouver-based Telus added 48,000 wireless postpaid customers in the quarter, about 4,000 more than a year ago. Barclays analyst Phillip Huang expected postpaid additions of 39,000.

Wireless customers on average paid C$66.51 a month on Telus' network, up 1.5 percent from a year earlier. However, its postpaid churn — the amount of defecting customers — rose to 0.95 percent from 0.93 percent.

Telus's net income fell to C$412 million, or 69 Canadian cents per share, in the quarter ended March 31, from C$422 million, or 70 Canadian cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, Telus earned 73 Canadian cents per share, missing analysts' average estimate by 2 Canadian cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Operating revenue rose to C$3.38 billion from C$3.18 billion.

Shaw Communications last month posted a quarterly profit that easily topped analysts' estimates, boosted by investments in its wireless business which helped more than double subscriber additions.

(Corrects to "Vancouver-based" from "Calgary-based" in paragraph 3)

(Reporting by Ahmed Farhatha in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Maju Samuel)