THE STOCK
Telus Corp. invested heavily in its wireless infrastructure in 2009 and ended the year with a 45-per-cent slide in profit. Analysts are bullish on the year ahead, however, which should see Telus begin to capitalize on its massive investments - pulling lucrative smart phone users onto the new network it launched with BCE Inc.'s Bell Canada in November.
PERFORMANCE
Like other telecom companies, Telus has had to adjust to several trends. On the positive side, the company's total wireless revenue increased 1.7 per cent year over year, and growth from smart phone data has increased 12.8 per cent. But those numbers will need to offset big losses in residential and business land-line phone service.
MARKET SHARE WITH SHAW
In Shaw's fourth-quarter results, it lost 1,416 basic cable subscribers and talk bubbled forth of pressure from Telus's TV offering. But in the same quarter, Shaw expanded its phone and Internet customers by tens of thousands, while Telus lost 52,000 profitable land-line customers and saw slowing growth in its Internet product.