TELUS Corporation (NYSE:TU) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Darren Entwistle: I think there is lots of opportunity within the TELUS Health arena. I think we have spoken at length on the cost synergy front and provided the specificity on the $327 million cost goal alone within the $427 million envelope, Stephanie. And we have already realized $194 million of the $427 million goal along the way. The revenue and the cross-sell funnel is voluminous in the TELUS Health space. All of our products are hunting well within all of our theaters of operation Canada, the U.S. and Europe. And I am particularly bullish about the opportunity, specifically within employer health solutions, both at the physiological level, but also at the mental health level. And it’s not just the remediation component of that, but what we can do to promote and optimize a wellness from an employer health perspective, which fits beautifully with our existing thesis on workforce productivity.

The AI from legacy – the generative AI opportunity in TELUS Health is extremely attractive. I talked about Fuel Ix on TELUS International and what we are doing with external clients, but TELUS and TELUS Health are also buyers of Fuel Ix in terms of what we can do to leverage our data thesis on steroids within TELUS Health and monetize that on a very, very attractive basis. And it’s all within the field of doability within the primary care ecosystem or dealing directly with employers along the way. And we set a goal for how fast and how significant we want to scale this business into an asset of consequence. And so the task that management has set for itself is what we call our 1450 program, where we are looking to take our monthly EBITDA within TELUS Health from the low $20 million to $50 million over the next 18 months.

That’s an exciting program. It’s going to be driven by revenue growth through new product opportunities, new markets and cross-selling as well. It will also be significantly aided and embedded by our efficiency programs. But when we accomplish this particular program and get to that $50 million per month level or $600 million on an annualized basis with the CAGR that would underpin it, I think the valuation implications are relatively obvious, and we are certainly excited by those. And that’s the type of aspiration that we have got for this asset. And I think it’s doable.

Stephanie Price: Alright. Thank you very much.

Robert Mitchell: Thanks Stephanie. Mihai, we have time for one more question, please.

Operator: Yes. The last question we have in the queue comes from Simon Flannery from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.

Simon Flannery: Great. Thanks very much. Thanks for fitting me in. Just a couple of follow-ups on 5G, if I could. You talked a bit about the opportunities here, IoT and other things. One thing we started to hear from the U.S. carriers more is a lot of interest in private networks. I was just wondering to what extent are you starting to see those deployments start to gain traction here? And then the other thing we are seeing a lot in is fixed wireless in the U.S. How are you thinking about using fallow capacity in 5G outside of your wireline footprint as a potential broadband alternative for bundling with your wireless service? Thanks.

Darren Entwistle: Simon, that’s a very fortuitous question to conclude with. I want to thank you for it. Navin, fast ball down the middle of the plate for you, given the traction that we have got on the private wireless network front, so I will hand that one over to you. And Tony, why don’t you talk about FWA and how we leverage that capability within our connectivity portfolio in terms of making smart choices on connectivity and the economics associated with that?

Navin Arora: Yes. Thanks very much, Darren, and Simon, thanks for the question. So, we have actually had significant success and had meaningful progress when it comes to commercializing a number of our private wireless network opportunities. Really, given our superior network leadership, we are very bullish on leading the market across all our segments when it comes to this important product set. We have a large funnel of opportunities to provide solutions, and they support critical use cases across many industry verticals. And interestingly enough, lots of ESG-related use cases to drive environmental efficiencies, as well as worker safety through autonomous vehicles, robotics, video analytics and security and safety device-type applications.

And while we are talking about monetizing 5G, as you saw, we had record loading on connected devices this quarter. And a lot of what we are doing with connected devices bodes well for the future. And as we build out greater industry solutions use case, we expect acceleration across that 5G monetization capability. So, specific areas would be smart building technology solutions. You may have read the release. And of course, in Darren’s comments, we talked about Slow as an important new customer, new win, where we are in the process of installing 60,000 intelligent electric vehicle chargers across North America. Previously, we did something similar with JOLT, up to 5,000 EV charging stations here across Canada. So – and then lastly, we have got a lot going on when it comes to smart cities as well.

So, this will be an important developing story and an important contributor to ARPU as we move into 2024. So, back to you, Darren, and then over to you, Tony, I guess.

Darren Entwistle: Go ahead, Tony.

Tony Geheran: Thanks Darren. Simon, great question, the – what you are seeing in the U.S. with the millimeter wave fixed wireless access is something we are excited about as a capability, not yet available in Canada as the spectrum hasn’t yet been released. But ostensibly, we would see broadband connectivity leveraging PureFibre, we are economically feasible as the first choice is, by far and away, the best technology to deliver a broadband experience or a wideband experience, if you will. We would leverage our 4G and 5G mobile assets for mobile broadband connectivity. And we have been using our mobile spectrum to support wireless high-speed Internet in some remote and rural areas. And that will continue to be an edge strategy, particularly in low-dense community environments.