As rival Shaw Communications fires, Telus Corp. hires.

Telus, the western Canadian phone giant, said it needs 250 people in Calgary to build out its Optik TV and wireless phone services, and plans an April 16 jobs fair to help find them.

“Optik TV is a game-changer ­ the customer response has been terrific and, as a result, we’re hiring in Calgary,” Monty Carter, senior vice-president of Telus Enterprise Solutions said Wednesday in a statement.

“To keep up with growing customer demand, we need 250 new technicians and customer care agents in Calgary alone by the end of June,” he added.

Telus signed up 48,000 new TV subscriptions during its latest financial quarter on the strength of its Optik TV offering introduced last June.

The phone giant said it now has a TV subscriber base of 314,000 customers, up 85% from year-earlier levels.

Shaw Communications has seen a corresponding fall in cable TV subscriptions as Telus’ new TV offering starts to peel away market share.

On March 24, Shaw Communications said it eliminated around 500 jobs in western Canada as part of a restructuring that will not impact the Shaw Media broadcast division.