Telus to offer GSM HTC Hero

By on Oct 31, 2009 at 9:41 AM
General October 31, 2009

telus-hero-teaser

A couple days ago, HTC tweeted the Hero would be anointed with Android 2.0, just like the DROID, and now, HTC’s website is showing us that the Hero will be offered on Telus’ network in GSM/HSDPA goodness. No specification surprises in the GSM variant: Telus’ Hero will have the same Qualcomm MSM7200A 528MHz processor, WiFi b/g, BlueTooth 2.0, and 5 megapixel camera as its CDMA cousin. There has been no indication from HTC as to whether the GSM Hero will ship with Android 1.5 or 2.0 in tow, but we’re sure it will make its way onto the handset eventually. Think HTC has developed a bit of a complex from all the Motorola DROID hoopla?

Thanks, Juicy47!

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33 Comments

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  • alejovh1

    is Telus the same 3G frequencies as ATT?

  • Brad

    Yep, Bell and Telus share the same network and I believe Bell and ATT (as well as Telus) have signed a roaming agreement for when us Canadians take our shiny new HSPA devices south.

    • alejovh1

      cool, thanks.

    • VZW

      Good luck with trying to find it. AT&T is slow at rolling out 3G in the US, and with so many problems they are having, you may want to stay on EDGE.

      • rctennis

        I’m guessing most Canadians travel to major US metropolitan areas, which are covered by at&t’s 3G. ;-)

  • rambo6

    I may have to pick up the hero and give it a spin. I finally got the Tilt 2 and miss the D pad.

  • Justin

    Sorry BGR, but this news is really old. It’s been on officially on the Telus site for about a week.

    The Mobile Ninjas reported this a while ago: http://themobileninjas.com/official-telus-hspa-phone-list

  • b

    Sorry BG but I have to correct you telus won’t support ANY GSM phone as they don’t have a GSM network. Telus will support HSPA+ phones on its new HSPA+ network. Title is missleading but good info though.

  • Brad

    No they are correct. It is a GSM phone but uses HSPA for 3G (loosley using the 3G term). Telus doesn’t reference GSM because its all HSPA but most of the Telus phones will operate on GSM when roaming in the US on ATT in 2G (edge) areas for example.

  • Mutantblack

    Brad is absolutely correct. It is GSM phone and it will be able to use on AT&T. Just won’t get HSPA.

    • rctennis

      When Bell and Telus users come to the US and roam on at&t, they will be getting 3G, just at HSDPA 3.6 (or 7.2Mbps depending on the city) with HSUPA 1.4. It’s HSPA (3G), just not HSPA+ (the 21Mbit speeds in Canada.

  • Handler

    Well here are the specs directly from the HTC site.

    Looks like to will pick up AT&T 3G

    Dual mode UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA
    (900/2100MHz for EU/Asia, 850/1900 for US and 850/2100 for Telstra)
    and GSM/GPRS/EDGE (Quad-band
    850/900/1800/1900Mhz)

    • nate

      yes the TELUS hero when out..will support ATT 3G here in the states..cuz of the 1900 band that is does have…damn cant wait to get one unlocked..grrrrrrrrr

  • dr662

    Yes but will it use HTC’s Sense UI? Doesn’t look like it from the pictures.

    • Rand

      I only see the one pic shown and it shows the phone running HTC widgets, so I think it’s likely it will be running HTC’s Sense UI.

      Actually, I’m not sure the HTC Hero has ever been released without the Sense UI on it, has it? Everything I’ve ever read about it and all the pix I’ve ever seen always have it running Sense.

      At any rate, I’m hoping to pick one of these up unlocked, in white, so I can use it here in the States with AT&T. I’ve been running an unlocked Rogers HTC Magic with MyHero ROM 1.1.3 and it’s worked very well, but being able to have an actual Hero handset that would work on AT&T would be awesome! I really want the 3.5mm headphone jack it offers, plus I like the looks of the white phone, and I really like how it offers the oleophobic screen protection (one of the few things I from the iPhone 3GS).

  • Steven

    Will this hero work on T-mobile 3g network???

    • Anonymous

      No, T-Mobile USA’s 3G network uses the 1700 (AWS) band. This Hero will use either 850/1900 or 850/2100.

  • Will

    I have the Sprint CDMA version, and I’ve never been more satisfied with a mobile phone before as I have with this one. All things can be improved upon, and the first Hero, whether it be CDMA or GSM, could benefit from a more powerful processor, a slightly larger screen and a camera flash, but other than those mostly trivial things, I’m super satisfied. Plus, I’m on Sprint’s “Simply Everything” plan, which only costs like $100 a month, and they give you access to pretty much all that the phone can do, unlimited. While the Droid is nice on VZW, AT&T might get a Hero, and T-Mobile started the Android revolution by introducing G1 last fall, no carrier will give you everything like Sprint does, on a network that’s worth a damn anyway, for the price, bad customer service or not.

    • Handler

      I had the Sprint Hero for a week, while I loved the phone, I could not live with the poor reception here in Baltimore and returned it. I am currently with AT&T using an original Tilt. Unless AT&T comes out with an Android device soon, I will be buying the Telus version and unlocking it. Hell, it will save me $15-20 per month by not having to use the Smartphone data plan. Thats what AT&T gets for ignoring it’s customers.

      • nate

        I agree.I have a IPHONE 3GS with ATT right now..but I really want a htc hero phone..I really hope ATT gets one or if not I will be getting one unlocked also..and hopfully the 3g will work..you can get the unlocked htc hero now on ebay.but the 3g doesnt work here in the US ..and i cant live with just Edge….I will try and be petience

  • Jack

    For all the people that are talking about unlocking the Telus version of the Hero, you might not have to. I was talking to a relative that works at Telus about the Hero and I mentioned that I wanted to buy one and unlock it for use on Rogers. He told me that I wouldn’t need to because it would already be unlocked. Can’t confirm the accuracy though so take it with a grain of salt.

    • Handler

      Might be true as the the pics I saw today show no Telus branding on the phones!

      • http://pmlf.net k386

        Unforunately after reading this I just tried dropping my rogers sim into my brand new Telus Hero and was prompted to unlock the sim.

        So looks like a no go.

        But one thing to be thankful of: no Telus branding

  • Morgan

    So how would you go about unlocking the sim for use on another network?

    • Rand

      I don’t think anyone knows a for sure method yet. I’ve been snooping around on the Net the last couple of days hoping that I’d be able to find someone who is selling these unlocked, but there doesn’t seem to be anybody yet. (Didn’t even get a hit with eBay).

      There is someone, however, from Canada that’s selling unlock codes for Telus’s HTC Hero via eBay, but I have no idea if it’s legit or not. And each code is like $25 which is pretty pricey, IMO.

      Hope some online vendor will start carrying these suckers in the near future because I want one!!

      • gt

        You mind keeping us posted on that situation? I’m in the exact spot, hoping to use the Telus Hero on Rogers. I also saw the $25 unlock code which is alright I think, if he can prove it works. The search continues granted its only been around for a few days.

      • Rand

        Sure, if I come across anything in my searches I’ll be sure to share it here.

        And I’ll make the same request to anyone else that manages to find something. We obviously have multiple people here interested in getting their hands on this phone, so if you find it available for sale online somewhere (or can verify that the unlock code from eBay works), then please post that info here! :-)

      • Rand

        Just to follow up like I said I would — it’s looking like this site: http://www.unlock-hero.com/ is legit and works for unlocking the Telus Hero. I have NOT used it myself but two different people from howardforums have used it successfully on their Telus Hero phones, and I plan on using the same site myself when I get my Telus Hero next week.

        If anyone finds any other reputable sites for unlocking this phone then please be sure to share and let the rest of us know! :-)

  • Carl

    Can you use the Telus Hero on the Rogers network and receive 3G service? Ive heard different responses…so im a little confused.

  • Rand

    Okay, one last update on unlocking the Telus HTC Hero — I got my phone today and ended up using this guy from eBay to get my unlock code:

    http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250505521003&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

    Another guy on Howardforums recommended him, and he had the cheapest price I could find, so decided to give him a try and everything went great. Made my payment, got the code within a few minutes and it worked on my phone without a hitch.

    • JP

      Thats great news! but do you still have to get the hero rooted in order to buy apps??

    • JP

      Also do you get 3g service?

    • JP

      Also do you get 3g service? and 3.5? or 2g?

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