TELUS to soft-launch HSDPA network in Fall 2009?

By on May 15, 2009 at 11:05 AM
Exclusive May 15, 2009

Over the past few weeks, we’ve spoken to quite a few people in the know who have casually mentioned that TELUS is soon going to be flipping the switch on its HSDPA network in a few major Canadian markets. The focus of the soft-launch will apparently be on the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. This information is further corroborated by a tip we received recently from a TELUS engineer who claims that September 2nd is the date that TELUS is eyeing for the soft-launch. The move will not only allow the company to iron out the kinks before a nationwide release, but it will also ensure that it has ample time to get everything thoroughly tested for February 12th, 2010 when all of the world comes to Vancouver and Whistler for the 2010 Winter Olympics (oh hi, HSDPA roaming fees). What makes this even more interesting is the fact that the same people also mentioned a Fall launch for Bell, the official cellular carrier of the 2010 Winter Olympics and a company that happens to have a Canada-wide tower sharing agreement with TELUS. Who’s excited to see Rogers’ HSDPA monopoly come crashing down?

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  • http://seriousmobile.wordpress.com Donny

    TTune … not GSM! you MUST have a 3G phone to detect Telus’ or Bell’s 3G network.

    GSM/GPRS/EDGE use old standard networks.
    3G/3.5G use W-CDMA or UMTS based off the CDMA standard technology and algorhythm’s so your BB 8100/8120/8110/83xx/88xx/89xx phones will NOT find it at ALL!

    I’m in downtown Toronto and on 2 seperate nights I picked up BOTH Telus & Bell’s 3.5G network on my unlocked Rogers E71-2 phone! I couldn’t connect though.

  • Rav

    Rogers is ripping off consumers in Canada. Whoever tries to compete with them Rogers buys them out. I would love to see tough competition in Canadian GSM wireless industry so that consumers get benefits from competition.

  • Rav

    Rogers is Robbers as one person mentioned above. Robbers needs to be taught lesson.

  • Bebo

    I have seen both Telus and Bell test networks on my Bold here in Montreal, QC.

  • Brad

    To save me the trouble of researching tech can anyone tell me if this means the iPhone will be functional on the Bell/Telus network? If it is, it’ll probably still be quite some time before they iron out a deal. But perhaps an unlocked iPhone. In either case, if anyone can shed some light it would be great!

  • D_Mackdaddy

    Your nuts!

    Rogers customer service is the worst of the 3!!!

    They’ve hung up on me twice and same with others I know.

  • TG

    That would be awesome news for cosumers in the hopes that the prices would drop (unrealistic). But in the end Rogers still has the HSPA advantage. If the Rogers HSPA (3G essenatially) goes down for whatever ever reason Rogers consumers have a very minimal interupt time while their 3G reverts back to the Edge network. What happens if the Telus HSPA crashes? They have nothing to fall back on and those people that thought they were getting the best from their provider are now screwed until that network comes back up. I would hate to be one of them.

  • Jordan

    Will be happy to see the end of Rogers monopoly. We’ll switch the first day anybody else offers HSPA service here in Canada.

  • Bob

    Bell is a bunch of crooks! went in to get a phone upgrade and was told that all credits were taken away. They have some new phones coming out in the next few months and want full price. Some customer service!!

  • Nacho_s

    So a funny thing happened today. I’ve been roaming my AT&T iPhone in Canada and it’s always been on Rogers. However, today it started roaming on Telus.

  • Brett

    To Nacho:
    Telus started upgrading their network as of Sept 2 to the new HSDPA standard.

    While there are still plenty of bumps in the road, the new telusbell network should be up and running shortly.

    The reason telus does not have the IPHONE was simply a matter of cost. Rather than spend a billion dollars outbidding rogers/at&t on an exclusive iphone deal, they spent it on a wisely timed network upgrade. With their existing CDMA coverage enhanced with the HSPDA upgrade Telus and Bell will have unprecedented national 3G coverage. Fewer towers and better range.

    Now that apples exlusivity agreement on the iphone is near its end, it is only a matter of time before telus will be able to provision the next generation iphone. HPSA style too.

  • king

    THEY ARE ALL GARBAGE , TELUS HAS THE BEST PLANS THO

  • Mike

    All Canadian providers are thieves…compare the plans and services offered by US providers and be amazed

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