“An iPhone from Bell Canada Inc. or Telus Corp.? It’s possible as the two cellphone companies are about to announce a shift to network technology that is compatible with Apple Inc.’s hot-selling mobile device, according to reports that have surfaced over the past few days,” Peter Nowak reports for CBC News.
“Two cellphone companies – Canada’s second- and third-largest providers, respectively, after Rogers Communications Inc. – are poised to announce a conversion from their current wireless technology and toward the more popular kind used by their rival, according to a report Monday from UBS Investment Research,” Nowak reports. “Both companies have cellphone networks that run on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology, which is used by fewer than 20 per cent of the providers in the world, while Rogers uses the near-ubiquitous Global System for Mobile communications (GSM).”
“Bell and Telus are looking to switch to either Wideband-CDMA (WCDMA) or High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) technology, both of which are similar to GSM in how they transmit data, UBS said. Over the past few years, Bell and Telus have seen Rogers run away with signing up new customers, who are attracted to flashy GSM phones – including the iPhone – that are not available to CDMA carriers,” Nowak reports. “While a switch wouldn’t automatically mean Bell and Telus would offer the iPhone – or any other GSM-exclusive handsets – it would at least give them the ability to do so.”
“Multiple iPhone carriers would likely be music to the ears of the more than 50,000 people who signed an online petition against Rogers’ rates ahead of the device’s launch on July 11. Australia, with its three carriers including Telstra, has some of the lowest prices on the device in the world, according to CBCNews.ca’s iPhone iNdex. Switzerland, with two iPhone carriers, also ranks well in pricing,” Nowak reports.
“A switch would bring the networks of Canada’s three big cellphone providers into closer alignment and allow customers to take their phones with them when switching providers, rather than buy new ones as they currently do. It would also give the cellphone companies access to a greater variety of handsets, including the iPhone,” Nowak reports. “Rogers’ iPhone, meanwhile, ranks roughly in the middle of the pack in terms of monthly pricing but is the second-most expensive in the world in terms of total commitment by virtue of its mandatory three-year contract, the longest offered by any carrier in any country.”
More in the full article here.
Good-bye Rogers!
With everyone complaining about the iphone pricing plan on Rogers it still amazed me to be in line with people that were buying Rogers Iphone plans. I simply added the 6G data bundle to my family plan and my wife and I both got Iphones. Anyone that isn’t smart enough to look seriously at the plans and make wise choices deserves what they end up with in the end.
$35 +$30 for data was the minimum package that you can sign up on. If you add these numbers they make the Iphone in Canada one of the cheapest places to buy it. Instead of complaining it was just easier to wait for the solution to present itself and take advantage of it while it is available.
I switched from Telus. It is unlikely they are going to be getting the GSM product for a long time. Even if they transition their network it will still take a really long time to roll this thing out.
thank god i informed MDN!
One other interesting note…
Since Friday the 11th of July I have used a total of 75mb of data.
Good thing I got 6G I might be approaching it sooner than I thought! I have been using it for MLB clips, GPS, Safari, E-mail (both push and pull) viewing documents with File Magnet and so on.
The data requirements are not what the naysayers led us to believe.
Maybe Sprint and Verizon will do the same? Or is the new product going to be a CMDA iPhone?
@ Middilay
Yah, nice for you. How many minutes does that $35 voice plan give you?
And their “promotional” data package is set to expire at the end of August, but I don’t qualify to upgrade until October, so what will my data options be at that time?
Wait and see. And fight them to lower their prices.
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It’s also worth noting that if Telus and Bell switch, they’ll be in a good position to get a substantial chunk of change for roaming charges when Vancouver hosts the 2010 Olympics.
@ Middilay,
The data requirements may not be as drastic as the naysayers led *you* to believe, but with my 12 email accounts, and life as a web developer that needs to constantly be checking client sites, I’ll be using a lot of data. I didn’t have a price with the high package prices, but what the packages included and what the over-usage charges are. I will *not* pay Rogers their high prices for the service without a fight.
My minutes are 600 weekday unlimited evening and weekends, unlimited incoming and I don’t remember how many long distance minutes. While I know the minute plans are not as cheap as the US carriers they really aren’t that bad. I have been with Telus for over 5 years and my bills were always more than $200 for my minutes and two blackberries. When I did all the cost analysis the Rogers plans were going to cost me less overall. Regarding the data usage… I have noticed that the device seems to be efficient at it’s use of data. I wasn’t implying some wouldn’t need the amount of data. But, as one person commented about 12 email addresses and so on. In canada there aren’t any plans that would be cheaper than what Rogers is offering for data. Not a single blackberry would allow you to do what you can on an Iphone and your data would run out pretty quick on those devices if you were opening large attachments constantly.
That transition sounds like it’s going to be a LOT of fun for somebody. And by fun I mean Dilbertian He||
Is it possible that this one product, the iPhone, is the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back and that finally got Bell Canada and Telus to update to current (rather than last decade’s) cellular technology? For the sake of Canadian consumers, let’s hope so.
And for the sake of us American consumers, let’s hope that the carrier lock-in to AT&T;goes away. (Is the Canadian lock-in only due to technology?) I’ve been perfectly satisfied with AT&T;’s service, but I believe it’s anti-consumer to lock a phone to a carrier.
Apple’s at it again, changing industries, not b/c they’re forced to, but b/c they want in on the Apple ecosphere.
Middilay, That sounds like an awesome setup from Rogers, however, I cannot find any plan on there site that is 35 dollars for 600 weekeday, unlimited evenings and weekends, unlimited incoming and long distance minutes to boot.
Please do inform me, as this sounds like an awesome deal and I’d like to be able to get that myself
Looks like Ted Rogers is finally the one who will be bending over.
Any competition to Rogers is welcome indeed, but will Apple even allow us to switch carriers without jailbreaking? That’s the big question. Come-on Apple, unlock the iPhone!!!
Well it’s about time that Bell and Telus switched to GSM! I can’t believe it took them this long to finally decide they should do this.
Rogers currently makes about $500 million per year from the roaming charges for international GSM users who come to Canada as tourists. Not to mention the roaming fees that Rogers makes off Canadians who travel off the North American continent. For that reason alone Bell and Telus should have become GSM so they could get a slice of that pie, too. I can’t believe it took the iPhone to finally convince them.
It is not Rogers’ fault that Canadians are screwed by Rogers, it is Bell and Telus’ fault. They have literally handed everything to Rogers on a silver platter simply by staying CDMA and not giving them competition. Bell and Telus having been competing for a shrinking CDMA pie. How stupid is that?
By the time the current iPhone contracts run out in three years maybe there will be some viable competitors to Rogers and we should FINALLY see improvements. Canadians will not forget the poor treatment they have received from Rogers, and the tide will flow the other way!
It’s too bad …cuz CDMA is a way better tech than GSM. just like BETA and VHS…the inferior tech took over the market…
I agree with CDMA, but it worked for VHS, and microsoft……so far. I’m glad they are switching, even if the coverage isn’t as good it will still bring a standard that will allow cheaper phones.
It should also be noted that a recently completed spectrum auction just opened the doors for more competition (and put 4.2 billion into the govt’s pocket). Perhaps that has a little bit to do with it all. There could be several new carriers in the country and some of the smaller existing companies other than the big 3 snapped up some spectrum as well. Hopefully it bodes well for the consumer and coverage gets better along with some high speed internet options for those people in the nether regions.
Have no fear of Telus or Bell interrupting the profitable wireless market. Look for them to add about 5% and each keep 1/3 of the market. You’d think the head offices were in the same building. Corruption nah, just fair smart competition.
The three telcos spent about the same amount for the recent wireless auction. Look for Shaw and Videotron to sell (partner) their wireless space in the future (within 5 years) into a company that just happens to be 49% owned by some or all of Telus, Bell and Rogers. Think Interac by the Canadian banks. I might have the % wrong, but I’ll bet my first months cell plan the strategy is already in motion.
This market is so corrupt the Telus CFO even said it live at a telecom conference. ~Rogers will have to use more stable pricing to maintain their 1/3 market share or Bell and Telus will be forced to react.~ They didn’t even have to use a telephone for the price fixing.
Without question, this is one of the most ‘controlled pricing environments’ in the free world for mobile voice and data. Cellular is controlled (not) by Industry Canada, not the CRTC. In reality it is only controlled by Telus, Bell and Rogers. This wireless auction was a charade to allow the current marketing strategies to continue. Everyone is happy in Canada telecom as we type.
Rogers took a huge chance when they switched to GSM. They received lots of new customers bc of it. Having a GSM phone means having the lastest phones… for gadget people like myself…. In the end its a win win situation and glad Bell and Telus finally woke up… It will cost them a lot of money, but when they do… they will reap the rewards like Rogers…
@ Woody…
GSM is in fact the older and lesser technology than CDMA. Its just that GSM is used more globally, has a higher market proliferation and is just plain easier when it comes to switching phones (and getting local numbers when you travel).
Rogers use to also only offer CDMA. Fido was the only provider in Canada that had GSM for a long time. Rogers just realised sooner than Bell & Telus that there was more $$ to be made with GSM and so they now offer both. Not to mention they also bought Fido to increase their GSM network.
The ONLY reason why crappy GSM is more prevalent is that Europe, in TOTAL violation of WTO rules, blocked CDMA from getting a toehold in Europe…. CDMA is WAY better technology that GSM… Hence why the Europeans STOLE it, made it MUCH more spectrally INEFFICIENT, and recast it as UMTS or HSPA (which is really CDMA EV/DO spread over a 5 MHz carrier)…
The other problem is, the 2 biggest CDMA network vendors (Nortel & Lucent) were too wimpy in having the US Govt filing a complaint at the WTO an filing anti-trust charges against ETSI. Now both companies are facing desperate times…
Meanwhile, the European vendors were going around the world paying bribes to foreign officials to block CDMA from being allowed…. What do you think the Siemens foreign bribes probe is all about? Siemens execs are in prison, Siemens has paid large fines… and most of this has been from their TELECOM infrastructure division (now part of Nokia)…
The ubiquitous nature of GSM had nothing to do w/ open & fair technology competition, and had everything to do w/ sanctioned European policy….