Put this one in the “Win” column for GSM fans. It looks like within a couple of years, Canada will be a fully GSM country. Bell and Telus have announced, independently, that they will be striving to “achieve HSPA GSM service by 2010 with the intention of an eventual 4G LTE network”.
This is a pretty neat shift if you ask me. Both Bell and Telus plan to layer the upcoming HSPA networks over their current CDMA networks, in the hope that the transition to GSM technology will be as painless as possible for their customers.
From the RCR Wireless Announcement;
Bell’s transition to the global 4G LTE standard with a combined EV-DO and HSPA network path aligns us with more than 30 major carriers worldwide planning a similar move to LTE,” said Stephen Howe, CTO for Bell. “This broad global technology ecosystem will mean a fast, efficient and cost-effective network transition to 4G LTE, and access to the broadest possible range of next-generation phones and data services
I wonder if we will see this kind of action from wireless carriers here in the United States. With Verizon hitting the new device market as hard as it is, it is doubtful that they will be dropping their 3G CDMA networks any time soon.
Nikolaus Not Registered
Posted: October 21, 2008 at 4:07 PM EST
I care more about if T-Mobile will come to Canada!!
DavidB Not Registered
Posted: October 21, 2008 at 4:14 PM EST from my BlackBerry 8830
Verizon has said they’re going to LTE too, so no surprise Bell and Telus did too. Seems the only ones not are WiMax folks.