Reports from The Globe and Mail indicate that the iPhone will go multi-carrier next month in Canada, opening up to Bell and Telus. Previously only Rogers and Fido, both operating under Rogers, have owned the exclusive contract from Apple to sell the iPhone in Canada, under their GSM network.Bell and Telus, both companies recently joined to create a larger HSPA (high-speed packet access network) in Canada, will soon be able to offer consumers the Apple iPhone 3GS, as early as next month.
Currently both companies operate under the CDMA channels, while Rogers and Fido operate under the popular GSM/HSPA network. Bell is said to be building a $1 billion HSPA network, that will be ready in November for consumers, allowing them to sell the iPhone in Canada.
Canada will soon join other countries, such as the UK, who sell the iPhone through multiple carriers. AT&T still seems to hold an exclusive contract to the iPhone in the U.S., preventing other companies from offering the phone until the contract has ended.
i wonder if wind mobile will carry it...
i wonder if wind mobile will carry it...
A definite no. At least 50+ people have asked the same question on wirelesssoapbox and windmobile.ca.
The answer is always:
no, no, no, no, no
good bye rogers monopoly
It will be interesting to see a "dramatic" price drop for no reason from Rogers in the coming months. Probably call it a holiday bundle.
Also for those wondering if wind/DAVE will have iPhone, no. There are no AWS iPhones (as of yet), and there may never be.
Added:
Also, there is no evidence whatsoever saying that rogers had an exclusivity deal with apple. Rogers was the only one to carry it because iphones at the time were GSM only.
edit: spelling, grammer and clarity.
Last edited by Sumeet on 06 Oct 2009 - 03:36
I said GSM when I should of said HSPA.
Rogers/Fido use the GSM/HSPA network, while Bell/Telus are building a large HSPA network for Vancouver 2010 Olympics.
*edit*
sometime in 2010...
sigh...
Last edited by Moker on 06 Oct 2009 - 03:58
All Rogers 3G UMTS/HSPA handsets will work on the network, as Rogers also has a 3G UMTS/HSPA (7.2 Mbps) network on the 850/1900 band, in addition to their 2G GSM/EDGE network. Rogers has upgraded parts of Toronto to HSPA+ but plans to upgrade Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Montreal sometime in the future as well. Bell and Telus are launching HSPA+ across the country right off the bat, and the coverage will be significantly better than Rogers'
The iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS will work on the Telus/Bell network, but the original iPhone will not since it's 2G-only. No GSM-only phones will work, since this is not a GSM network. Only UMTS/HSPA phones on the 850/1900 band will work, which is pretty much every phone currently sold by Rogers.
if i read articles in the past correctly, this HSPA+ network would be running on top of Bell & Telus's CDMA networks.
Now if i'm not mistaken by this... HSPA+ is intended for data where gsm and cdma are for voice. I guess we'll see what Apple plans to do with their phone... and what the networks can do.
GSM/EDGE is the older 2G network used by Rogers. On a newer phone from Rogers, if the 3G UMTS/HSPA coverage is lost, the phone will fall back on the old 2G GSM/EDGE network. Bell and Telus have not installed the older network, so the phone will not have anything to fall back on, but thankfully their network coverage is the same as their existing CDMA network since they have installed the new UMTS/HSPA+ antennas next to their existing CDMA antennas, but they are not linked in any way other than being installed side-by-side.
"TORONTO (ON) September 14, 2009 Rogers Wireless today announced the commercial availability of Rogers' next generation super-charged High Speed Packet Access Plus (HSPA+) network in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, clocking in at maximum speeds of 21 Megabits per second (Mbps)"
GSM/EDGE is the older 2G network used by Rogers. On a newer phone from Rogers, if the 3G UMTS/HSPA coverage is lost, the phone will fall back on the old 2G GSM/EDGE network. Bell and Telus have not installed the older network, so the phone will not have anything to fall back on, but thankfully their network coverage is the same as their existing CDMA network since they have installed the new UMTS/HSPA+ antennas next to their existing CDMA antennas, but they are not linked in any way other than being installed side-by-side.
What about the remote areas that Telus currently offers service, say the north end of Vancouver Island. Will new antenna be going up there as well? Or just maybe sometime in the future?
Source:Bell Canada press statement
I wonder how they will allow existing customers to upgrade if they want.
Source: Telus Press Release
Based on my understanding so far, and this could change, existing customers on 1X/EVDO must wait until the end of their term to switch to UMTS/HSPA+ ... I don't quite know how they'll make that work, since if somebody renews a contract but is not at the end of their term yet, will they be forced to get a new 1X phone? That's just plain silly!
count yourself lucky, we only have Rogers, Bell and Telus
http://www.telusmobility.com/en/ON/home/
Regards
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