Sat 18 Oct 2008
About a week an half ago (October 10) TELUS Inc. announced that they will be upgrading their network to the next stage in CDMA technology which is called HSPA. To many TELUS followers dismay they will not be changing to the ever popular GSM, BUT (and that is a big BUT) most cell phone carriers will be switching over to HSPA technology in the near future also. So take that ROGERS and FIDO.
If you want to read more about this go to http://telusmobility.com/network/
October 20th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
You are a little bit misinformed my friend.
1) HSPA is not the evolution of CDMA, it is the evolution of GSM, it’s actually 3G GSM. More info on GSM World (http://hspa.gsmworld.com/about-hspa/default.asp). So yep, your Telus HSPA phone will be a dual GSM/HSPA phones with a SIM card which will allow you to roam anywhere in the world, granted that Telus obtain the appropriate roaming agreements. However Telus will not install a GSM network as well, so you won’t be able to switch back to GSM here in Canada. And at the actual moment, with the battery life that people get on 3G phones, most rather deactivate the 3G functionality on their phone and use the 2G GSM network instead to, in some cases, double their battery life. This also means that if Apple decides not to renew their exclusivity agreement with Fido/Rogers, Telus could launch the iPhone 3G. But that would be really surprising.
2) Rogers actually deployed their HSPA network about 2 years ago and launched it around April 2007 if I’m not mistaken. The commercial name for the product at the time was Rogers Vision, I think they changed the name now but its still HSPA. And I believe they were the first in North America to launch HSPA.
3) Fido, since they are using Rogers network, have been commercializing the HSPA network under the brand name “Fido 3G High-Speed Experience” since November 2007.
So by the time Telus/Bell rolls out their HSPA network in 2010, it will be 3 years that Rogers had their HSPA network. By then, Rogers could easily already be at the LTE stage that Telus plans to be in 2012.
October 21st, 2008 at 8:26 pm
thank you for the feedback here is what TELUS communicated:
TELUS announced the next step in its evolution towards building a fourth generation (4G) wireless broadband network, the most advanced mobile broadband network in Canada. This new wireless network, based on the latest generation of High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) technology, will enable TELUS to easily transition to long term evolution (LTE) technology, the emerging worldwide LTE technology standard. The new network will ‘futureproof’ our technology and position TELUS for an easy transition to LTE/4G technology.
Building will begin immediately and is expected to be complete by early 2010. When up and running, it will be one of the leading networks in the world.
The addition of HSPA to Canada’s largest high-speed network will enable TELUS clients to take full advantage of the widest choice of wireless solutions that best suit their needs. TELUS will have the ability to deliver the best and latest devices, Smartphones and PDAs, regardless of technology. The new network also will enable TELUS customers to experience enhanced international roaming and continued superior wireless broadband performance. And of course we will continue to offer our customers the best service possible.