Telus CEO Darren Entwistle said that carrier competition in Canada negates the need for regulatory intervention from the federal government, during the company’s Q2 2018 investors call.
Entwistle said that there are “more competitors in the wireless industry in Canada than just about any country in the world.”
“I would say the competitive intensity is not just healthy, it’s bordering on the irrational,” said Entwistle.
Entwistle added that his company is also “ticking that particular box” when it comes to ensuring that low-income Canadians have access to affordable internet and data services.
“When you have a number of initiatives aimed at improving the affordability for key constituencies at a political level, such as income-challenged Canadians, I would say wow, in terms of the affordability component, ticking that particular box,” said Entwistle.
Telus launched its ‘Internet for Good” initiative in Alberta in November 2016, providing $10/350GB internet to approximately 15,000 single-parent families in the province.
The initiative later branched out to British Columbia.
Telus is also one of the internet service providers participating in Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada’s (ISED) low-cost internet plan initiative aimed at providing approximately 220,000 low-income families with access to $10/100GB internet at speeds of at least 10Mbps.
Bell, Cogeco, Rogers, SaskTel, Shaw and Videotron are the other participating service providers.
