Tellurite glasses were generally applied in rare earth optical materials due to their excellent physical and chemical properties. In this study, novel tellurite glasses composed of TeO(2)-TiO(2)-La(2)O(3) were prepared by conventional melting-quenching method. Some basic physical parameters such as density, refractive indices, transition temperature and crystalline temperature were measured. The structure was analyzed by Raman spectra. The absorption, upconversion and fluorescence spectra were measured by UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer and spectrofluorimeter. Under 980 nm laser excitation, upconversion luminescence centered at 531, 545 and 657 nm corresponding to the transition (4)H(11/2) -> (4)I(15/2), (4)S(3/2) -> (4)I(15/2) and (4)F(9/2) -> (4)I(15/2) respectively, were observed. The effects of TiO(2) concentration on structure and upconversion luminescence intensity were discussed. The result indicated that the upconversion intensity increased as the phonon concentration decreased. The fluorescence properties of Er(3+) doped glass were also studied. The dominant peak centered at 1531 nm and full width at half maximum (FWHM) was 64 nm. The Er(3+) stimulated emission cross-section was calculated on the basis of McCumber theory. The possible mechanism of upconvesion and fluorescence were proposed.