Bell announces roll out of 3G HSPA, future LTE 4G commitment


Combobellhspa In a move whose time has certainly come, Bell Mobility will be adding HSPA technology to their existing EVDO wireless network.

The announcement has profound significance for the wireless landscape in Canada, where customers have often needed to make the choice between the handset they wanted and the wireless carrier they wanted to do business with.

Most recently, Apple’s introduction of the iPhone to Canada, was a bitter-sweet event for some. Initial excitement was tempered by the realization that Rogers and Fido were the only carriers capable of supporting the ground-breaking new device.

With Bell’s announcement, smartphones like the iPhone and handsets from Sony Ericsson and others, will soon be available to a much broader range of mobility subscribers.

The move to HSPA technology, not only puts Bell Mobility’s network in direct competition with Rogers, but also signals the path they will take to get to 4G, using an emerging global platform known as LTE.

Bell will be handling the roll-out of HSPA in conjunction with Telus, which presumably will give both mobile operators enhanced network coverage for both sets of customers.

In addition to greater compatibility with existing handsets on the market, HSPA means that Bell and Telus will no longer need to wait for handset manufacturers to provide EVDO versions of their products. New handsets entering the global market will now operate on all major carriers in Canada.

Disclosure: Sync is published by Sympatico / MSN, a partnership between Bell Canada and Microsoft.

What are your thoughts on this announcement?

14 comments

  2. Simon Cohen

    Looks like the roll out will be complete some time in 2010. My guess is that they'll want their coverage maxed out in time for the Vancouver Olympics seeing as Bell is an official sponsor.

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  3. Shawn Mitchell

    When will the 3g rollout be complete? From everything I've seen the 2010 dates are for the 4G network.

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  5. Jeff Lewis

    That's cool – but.. does this mean they're switching to GSM over CDMA? That would be even cooler still.

    And having a 3G network is pointless if no one can afford to actually use it (like owning a Ferrari in a town where all the roads are 100m long – doesn't get you far even if you do go faster…)

    And how will this fit into Bell's WiMAX plans?

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  11. Rob Thomas

    This is exactly why I got away from Bell Mobility. They are, as usual, behind the times. I switched to Rogers 7 years ago and never looked back. Even then, Bell's serivce was behind what Rogers was capable of. I was able to make calls on Rogers system with out being charged the long distance rates that Bell would have charged me for the same call. From my office I could call home, and from home I could call my office. With Bell, calling home from the office was cool. But to call my office and not get charged long distance, with Bell I had to be at least 1/2 way to the office before I could make that call. Bell and the others better learn to catch up fast. Otherwise by the time they get this up and running, Rogers will have moved up to LTE and will still be ahead of the game. AS USUAL!!

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  12. Julian

    Finally, this is long overdue … i remember being pissed at bell because of the shitty phones they had as compared with rogers :D

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  13. AKT

    Check this. Bell will be announcing and switching to the new HSPA 4G frequency by this fall. Due to the whole 2010 Olympic games, they don’t want Rogers to take over all their sales. Therefore, both Telus and Bell, will switch by this fall. Sometimes later is better because look at it. Apple screwed over everyone when they announced the new 8GB version of the iPhone LOL plus, since Bell and Telus is switching to the HSPA 4G frequency, they now have the advantage to provide customers with the latest iPhone and other devices from other manufacturers, including Sony Ericsson, Nokia, Palm, and many more. As mentioned before, Now customers will have the choice of cell phone they want, and the provider they want. In my vision i see that Bell and Telus will take over Rogers sales, because they will possibly provide with existing customers with a $250 hardware upgrade and a SIM card, by next year or sooner. I am not shitting you people i know this for a fact. and i can guarantee that Bell has a wider coverage then Rogers in Canada, Because they have been around longer and in all rural areas Bell is the one and only provider that has FULL coverage in their wireless service. Plus many people has Rogers is all because of the SIM card, but soon enough, things will be changed and i don’t think Rogers will last much longer in this game when time comes. The ironic thing is, when Mobile Portability was announced, everyone from Bell and Telus went to Rogers, but by this summer everyone wants to come back to Bell. So soon we’ll know who is going to rise up on top.

    And another tip, if you get a chance to buy stock in Nortel now, do it. Because it is low time, and if you have time and patience, within the next 2-3years for sure it will double and in fact, triple.

    If you don’t believe me, then thats okay, but if it does happen you know who was wrong.

    take care and goodnight.

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  14. Shooter

    I upgraded 3 of our family phones to the BlackBerry 9000 on the new HSPA network with Bell Mobility, had nothing but problems from the time we turned them on. Call failed…. My wife’s was the worst she couldn’t make, receive, text nothing. After numerous trips into the bell retail store, calls to customer service etc… we finally got someone to admit they are having an issue with the 9000 working on their new network and are working on a fix. We also got them to replace our phones. They were supposed to send us a Blackberry 9700 and 2 8GB iPhones, I later emailed the service rep back and wanted to change to 16GB iPhones instead and pay the difference. The Customer service rep said the a prepaid shipping box will be sent to us to return our 3 9000’s and our new phones would arrive in a few days.
    Here’s what we got!!! 2 – 8GB iPhones, 2 – 16GB iPhones, 1 – BB 9700, no shipping box so we still have the 3 – BB 9000’s an new sim cards for them all. We haven’t been charged for the upgrades, I have been credited back almost $1000 over the last 3 months in cellular charges.
    What do I do with all the extra phones. Sell them! Will the ESN be flagged, I don’t believe so because They don’t even know I am using my 16GB iPhone. Give them back! I like to think I am an honest person but I have been screwed over by Bell for so many years and I keep staying with them… well it feels real good to think I may have gotten a little more even now.

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