According to a Globe and Mail article, TELUS CEO Darren Entwistle is not happy with the way his wireless division is operating.
Churn is higher than he would like, blamed in part on the flexibility users have with wireless number portability (WNP). Number portability makes it easier for people to leave, but the corollary, of course, is that WNP provides an opportunity for carriers to attract customers from their competition.
Clearly this aspect of Telus’s performance is one that I am less than satisfied with.
How far will carriers go to keep customers from churning?
Canada is sitting at 61% wireless penetration. That translates into an opportunity of 6M additional users to just bring us to the 80% level currently enjoyed south of the border. TELUS’ fair share would be about 2M of those users and Darren likes to see his team “punch beyond its weight class.”
More specifically, how will TELUS improve its wireless performance? Watch for more news to emerge from potential suppliers for its next generation mobile network. A project this big will be tough to keep under wraps.
Although the company’s official position is that network enhancements are a continual evolutionary process, we might expect to see a more dramatic repositioning. As The Toronto Star suggests, perhaps the network investment will likely be timed to try to grab a significant share of the Olympic roaming traffic in 2 years.
From an organizational perspective, will we see a return to a stand-alone TELUS Mobility reporting to an executive responsible for the entire business unit?