“Rogers Communications Inc. will roll out an even faster wireless network this year to serve its mobile phone and mobile laptop users, effectively beating its rival Telus in the race to have the fastest network,” LuAnn LaSalle reports for The Canadian Press. “Vancouver-based telecom operator Telus is planning to roll out its own LTE network in 2012. Bell has announced it’s also testing the technology.”
“Rogers will roll out the network in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Vancouver with speeds that will be three to four times faster than the telecom giant’s existing advanced network, chief executive Nadir Mohamed told Rogers annual shareholder meeting in Toronto,” LaSalle reports. “By the end of 2012, the network technology, called Long-Term Evolution or LTE, will be extended to Canada’s top 25 markets.”
LaSalle reports, “Rogers will first deploy the LTE network on radio spectrum that it already owns. But Mohamed also called on the federal government not to put any conditions on the next auction for 700 megahertz radio waves that cellphone networks can use to better reach rural and remote areas and to better penetrate city buildings with fewer dropped calls.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “_phil_i_am_” for the heads up.]
I’m sick of Rogers cherry picking the major cities and a few highways that interconnect those cities.
Grow a pair Rogers and cover the rural lower populated areas like Telus, SaskTel, MTS and Bell Mobility/Aliant does.
Roger’s doesn’t “cherry pick” major routes.
All Telco based services have the advantage of using existing telephone wire infrastructure that long preceded the advent of the internet or cell coverage. Roger’s has a handicap being limited to their own historical cablevision wires which, unlike telephones, were not run to rural locations because of massive expense and lack of customer desire. Today they are gradually attempting to expand their coverage via wireless wherever customer affordability allows.
…or as we like to call them here….Robbers
I switched to Bell as I got so pissed at Robbers for not having decent rural signals. Now at the cottage I use my iPhone 3gs and tether it to my computer for pretty fast internet usage with my wife looking on holding her inactive iPhone 4 that is reduced to an iPod.
I learned a long time ago not to gloat (externally that is)
I’ve been fairly happy with my Rogers service (except for their price gouging, but that’s not unique to them). I consistently use my iPhone 3G to tether my laptop without any problems. I can drive from my town down to my hometown here on Vancouver Island (3 hour drive) and not lose a single on the highway.
Let’s hope the LTE network makes it to Vancouver Island before too long. Victoria and Nanaimo are hopefully considered two of their major markets.
Lost a “signal”… darn MDN and the lack of editing posts.
I live an hour and a half north of Toronto in a rural area. Still can not get regular high speed at my house, but Rogers 3G work fine where I live very happy with the service. If I go visit my sister who just live outside of Barrie Ontario she can not receive any service, she live in a dead zone. With Rogers it about where they place their towers. Hope this service is network wide and not just in the big cities, and yes they should clean up the the dead spots.
Aside from the 3 year term and expensive data package, I have been very happy with Rogers. However, as the first poster noted, Telco based services will likely be more reliable if you live in small towns, rural areas, or in-between.
I live north of Toronto and love my Rogers’ service. I would love it to be cheaper, but who wouldn’t.
Just came back from Boston and got speeds a third of what I get at home. And at my wife’s cousin’s home outside of Worcester their top internet speed is 1.4 Mbs and costs nearly twice what we pay here. Because they live in the country, they don’t have cable and to put up a tower at $150,000, there just isn’t enough concentration of folks to cover the limited range that the geographical issues would impose upon it.