The
Entwistle told analysts Friday that about 90 per cent of the accelerated spending plan will be on fibre optic networks, 5G wireless networks and improvements to business processes.
"Those are the three headlines in terms of the capex investment," Entwistle said on the company's first-quarter conference call.
"Furthermore ... the trajectory of our capex decline will be steeper than previously expected. Commencing in 2023, our annual capex is expected to decline to
The investments will also support long-term dividend growth, he added.
Earlier Friday, the company raised its quarterly dividend half a penny to
Telus also reported its first-quarter profit fell 5.7 per cent compared with a year ago as a number of higher expense items offset revenue growth at many of its business units.
Telus said its net income attributable to common shares totalled
On an adjusted basis, Telus said it earned
Operating revenues and other income rose to
Revenue from the Telus mobile network edged down 0.5 per cent, or
But those factors were partly offset by a higher subscriber base, which has grown 5.5 per cent over the past 12 months.
Telus chief financial officer
In the quarter, the wireless business — which operates the Telus, Koodo and Public Mobile brands — added 31,000 mobile phone subscribers and 63,000 subscribers to other connected devices.
In addition, Telus added 33,000 internet, 11,000 TV and 17,000 security customer connections to its networks in
"So we loaded significant wireline customers, or 51,000, in the quarter. And we've continued to have that kind of a run rate for the last little while," French said.
He added that internet subscriber additions was due to expansion into new neighbourhoods or winning customers from competitors.
In addition, he said, some customers have chosen to move from copper-wire based internet service once they can get faster fibre optics to the home.
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