The Canadian telecom giant, Telus, today posted [PDF] earnings for the first quarter of 2010.

The company reported total revenue of $2.375-billion for the quarter, which is essentially unchanged from the same period last year.

Despite revenue staying stagnant, total profit in the quarter was down almost 17-percent to $268-million, compared to the same period in Q1 ’09.

The company said it added 51,000 aggregate net subscribers across all of it’s services, but it had lost 57,000 land line subscribers in the period due to intensifying competition from other market competitors, primarily in Vancouver and western Canada.

The company currently has 11.89-million total customer connections, compared to 11.62-million in the same period in 2009, an increase of 2.4-percent YoY.

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Canada’s third-largest mobile telecom today confirmed the company will further diversify its product line by offering tablet computers.

The confirmation came from David Fuller, the VP of product marketing today.

The comments raise speculation as to whether Telus will offer the Apple iPad. The iPad is slated for an April 3rd U.S. launch, with the device being available in Canada by the end of the same month, according to Apple.

Mr. Fuller confirmed the iPad is in fact compatible on the new Telus network, but did not further elaborate.

We can confirm Microsoft Corporation is working on its own iPad competitor, dubbed Microsoft Courier, but the company has yet to officially acknowledge it is working on such a device. Judging from recent leaks, the device seems more advanced and intuitive than the iPad, but the iPad still has a major competitive advantage, the app store. Microsoft Courier is reportedly to launch by the end of this year.

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The top telecoms in Canada, including Bell, Telus, and Rogers, today completed testing a new video-calling service that will be compatible across all networks in Canada.

Video-calling in Canada is not as popular, or in the United States, for that matter, but in Canada, the feature requires both parties to be on the same telecom network to actually work.

The new system (3G-324M standard) that the big three telecoms today finished testing would allow users to video-call people across any of the networks, making it the largest video-calling network in North America.

No information relating to possible availability was released.

Canadian CDMA carriers Telus and Bell are set to launch the iPhone 3G S on Nov 5, and Nov 4, respectively. The companies have now announced pricing for the devices.

Telus will offer the 16GB (black/white) version for $199, the 32GB version will cost CND $299 and will be available in both black and white.

Both companies are not introducing exclusive monthly plans for the iPhone. Plans start at $50 per month at Telus, and at $55 per month at Bell.

At Telus, the most affordable plan will set you back $50 per month, and will give you 150 minutes with 500MB of data (with tethering included). All plans include unlimited messaging as well.

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We are able today to report with a high degree of confidence that the new Telus HSPA 3G network will launch on November 3, 2009.

Telus previously announced only a few days ago that it would launch the iPhone 3GS sometime in November.

The new launch date for the network indicates the iPhone is poised to launch sometime very early in November, compared to a closer end of month launch date.

The new Telus network will allow the company to offer higher-end GSM handsets in the future, including the unannounced BlackBerry Bold 2 (expected to launch in the U.S. on November 11 and shortly after in Canada), and possibly the HTC Hero smartphone.

Bell Canada and Telus Wireless have confirmed (Bell press release, Telus press release) both companies would sell the iPhone in Canada starting in November, in time for the holiday season, ending the iPhone exclusivity agreement with Rogers.

The companies in a joint effort were able to upgrade their wireless infrastructure to 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) in order to support the GSM standard and hence the iPhone.

They will offer both the iPhone 3G and the iPhone 3GS.

No pricing or exact availability was announced today. The new competition should help bring the price of the phone down. Prior to this news, the iPhone was offered by Rogers and Fido (owned by Rogers), so there was really no competition.

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The BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) today officially announced the new BlackBerry Tour smartphone.

“BlackBerry continues to be the top selling smartphone brand in North America and we are proud to add this powerful new 3G world phone to our successful product portfolio,” said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at Research In Motion.

The BlackBerry Tour supports 3G EV-DO Rev. A networks in North America, as well as 3G UMTS/HSPA (2100Mhz) and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM networks abroad.

The BlackBerry Tour features a chic black finish with chrome highlights (112mm x 62mm x 14.2mm and 130g). It includes a full-QWERTY keyboard. In addition, the large (2.44″), bright display (480×360 resolution at 245 ppi) delivers the highest resolution available on a BB smartphone.

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The second largest telecom in Canada, Telus, has announced plans today to invest up to $500 million in expanding infrastructure in British Columbia and parts of Alberta. The company also outlined plans to build a more eco-friendly datacenter likely to be located in BC.

Telus said, “This investment is expected to ensure a smooth transition to long-term evolution technology, the emerging worldwide standard for 4G wireless networks.” Read the full story

Telus has announced today that it expects a strong 2009. The company says total profits (before tax) should be up 4%-6% over 2008 with EPS ranging within $3.40-$3.75. EPS was previously forecasted in 2008 to be $3.30-$3.45 in 2009. The company says most of the profits will come from its wireless operations, direct wireless sales are only expected to grow by 2.5% to about $5.10 billion. The company said it expects EBITDA to be $3.9 billion in 09, up about 4% YoY. The company is expected to continue its joint plan with Bell to change its CDMA network to GSM across Canada. Robert McFarlane from Telus told Reuters “we’re not working on an acquisition of BCE.” BCE also failed a recent merger with private investors.

Telus was also the first to roll out the BlackBerry Storm in North America about a week ago. Please see the previous link for my thoughts on the BlackBerry Storm. Telus remains the only Canadian carrier that offers unlimited mobile internet in Canada. Please note that if you read the fine print of the terms of use, it is still capped, but no specific amount is stated. Some people have received notices concerning their excessive usage, but the service is still sufficient for the very heavy user.

Telus has also made significant recent investments, including the launch of its discount carrier Koodo more than a year ago. Koodo was the first to offer discounted rates, including no system access fees. Fido has also just offered phone plans without a system access fee after lost sales, more than a year after Koodo firstly did. The Canadian telecom industry remains somewhere between an oligopoly and a monopoly. Rogers has a monopoly over all GSM networks in Canada, while Telus and Bell control the CDMA networks. It may still be a long time before Rogers offers true unlimited internet on mobile phones as does the rest of the world.

Telus, the 2nd largest mobile telecom in Canada, has posted a Q3 profit of $285.3 million ($0.89 per shar), down from $409.3 million ($1.23 per share) year over year. The company earned $2.45 billion in revenue, down from $2.31 billion YoY. The lower profits were essentially expected. Telus now plans to materially cut costs even more than it originally planned. Telus recently has made varoius large investments, including in Koodoo, a subsidary discount telecom, has invested in network upgrades with Bell (who shared the costs – both use CDMA networks), and also spent $882 million in a government airwave spectrum auction. Telus has also lowered its expected fiscal 08 total revenue.

Telus currently offers the most smartphone selection in Canada, and is the only carrier to offer unlimited internet on mobile phones (however, there are still some restrictions in the TOS). Bell and Telus are believed to make the switch to the more desirable GSM mobile network standard from the current CDMA systems. This will help the companies offer more selection, and it will also bring some competition to the GSM Canadian mobile market space where Rogers (also owns Fido) currently has a complete monopoly over. The transition will likely take about 3 years to complete.