# Who has the better network for iPhone? Bell/Telus or Rogers



## hwitten (Jul 14, 2008)

I'm planning to upgrade to the iPhone4, currently on Rogers of course.

Pondering on wether I should consider a switch of networks.
My usage area is Lower Mainland but occasionally travel to the Interior of BC and Alberta so mainly Western Canada. Pricing (and early cancellation fee) will come into play but coverage is first on the list. I currently use data and text much more than voice.

I'm hoping that someone has iPhone experiences on both networks that has experiences to share.

Any/all comments re a switch would be greatly appreciated. I'll be 2 years in August so should be eligible for a hardware upgrade then but not adverse to paying early cancellation assuming it's within reason  to make a switch.

TIA


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## Joker Eh (Jan 22, 2008)

hwitten said:


> I'm planning to upgrade to the iPhone4, currently on Rogers of course.
> 
> Pondering on wether I should consider a switch of networks.
> My usage area is Lower Mainland but occasionally travel to the Interior of BC and Alberta so mainly Western Canada. Pricing (and early cancellation fee) will come into play but coverage is first on the list. I currently use data and text much more than voice.
> ...


Well Rogers has EDGE so when you leave the 3G area you go to EDGE. If you go to Bell and Telus and any other they don't have EDGE, so when you leave their 3G area you get nothing.


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## Paul82 (Sep 19, 2007)

That's a good point about edge coverage. Though in my experience in alberta at least telus and by extension bell have FAR superior coverage to Rogers. A quick glance at a coverage map should show you what I mean but I've found Rogers / fido only has decent coverage in urban areas while telus covers large swaths of the province ( presumably to service the oil industry ).


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## iphoneottawa (Apr 21, 2010)

Costco has a map of all the carriers in their phone section.


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## andreww (Nov 20, 2002)

Was in Fenelon Falls last week. Mine and my wife's Rogers iPhones get no bars, my daughters cheapy telus phone works fine all week with full bars.


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## daniels (Jul 27, 2009)

i'm going with fido since they have edge unlike bell and telus, and they have the cheapest plans compared to others and don't charge the system access fee like rogers for $3.00 on each bill. I see that your in Langley, i'm in maple ridge im planning on lining up at the haney place mall this friday if you know where that is.


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## okcomputer (Jul 18, 2005)

See, at least on the East Coast, the whole non-Edge thing is a big non-issue.

Telus/Bell upgraded their entire network to 3G. So you have coverage wherever you would have had coverage with a non-3G phone.

If there are areas in Canada where Rogers' EDGE coverage is better than Bell/Telus' overall coverage, then going with Rogers might make sense.

Here in NS, Rogers' service is fairly terrible, especially outside of the major urban centres (Halifax and Truro). So, even though there is no EDGE coverage, Telus/Bell's coverage is much better overall. Sitting in my basement, I get No Service or one bar of EDGE on Rogers, whereas my Dad's Telus iPhone gets five bars of 3G. No contest.

But each part of the country is different.


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## Beemer (Jul 26, 2010)

I travel quite a bit and have found Rogers is not very available when you leave metro areas. I looked at Telus's map and Bell's too but they all look identical. I know someones not telling the truth because when I was up in Prince George last week I got no coverage from Jasper onwards. Others in our group had speratic coverage along highway 16 but not me. Also when I am in Sask I only seem to get coverage when in Regina or Saskatoon.


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## ras.lucas (Oct 9, 2008)

I have a rogers iPhone and have since 3g release, I have lived in Vancouver and Victoria. My girlfriend has also lived in both and has a Bell iPhone, also 3g. 

My experience has been that is these two locations, Rogers has had better experience. Rogers network is already establishes and the bugs of urban areas are all worked out. the Bell/Telus network may work is popular places in cities and lots of other places but may cut out at your house where is hasn't been tested much. 

I'd also like info on what hsupa speed the two networks support.


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## sheamus (May 20, 2010)

Just noticed that Telus has a pretty good deal on right now, on their cheapest v/d plan. Normally it is 150mins, natmy5|double mins|free sms, 500MB data, visual voice mail. Up until August 3rd, they are upping the minutes to 450, and the data to 1GB for signing a 3yr. 

Plus I don't live in a major city, so I can't really use Rogers or Fido.

I recently switched from Rogers to Telus on month to month, and have been happy with customer service, and love the coverage, I guess I know where I am going... unless a 6GB plan comes out with someone.


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## jeepguy (Apr 4, 2008)

andreww said:


> Was in Fenelon Falls last week. Mine and my wife's Rogers iPhones get no bars, my daughters cheapy telus phone works fine all week with full bars.


The cheapo telus, is probably on the CDMA network. I travel all over rural northern Ontario for business, and have both a Rogers 3g and Bell 3g, and both are sketchy at best.


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## Meiso (Jul 27, 2010)

I've got friends with iPhones on Bell and Rogers. The general consensus (among my crew) is the Rogers network is best in Metro areas, and Bell is better out in the sticks. I have a 3GS on Rogers and it NEVER drops calls. I don't go out of Montreal very often (unless I"m going overseas) though so I can't speak for the rural areas personally.


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## sheamus (May 20, 2010)

jeepguy said:


> The cheapo telus, is probably on the CDMA network. I travel all over rural northern Ontario for business, and have both a Rogers 3g and Bell 3g, and both are sketchy at best.


Telus has 3G HSPA everywhere that they have CDMA now I believe.


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## canteaus (Apr 19, 2010)

sheamus said:


> Telus has 3G HSPA everywhere that they have CDMA now I believe.


If this is true, then telus is far superior to Rogers


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## haber (Sep 29, 2009)

A few phones back, I was still insisting to the Bell store employees that I needed a dual analog/digital phone. They thought I was crazy, that analog was completely unnecessary...until I explained that I camped a lot. They shut up and found me an analog phone.

Now I'm looking to buy the iPhone on Friday. Recommendations for a provider that will occasionally give me a bar or two if I climb a tall tree on the top of a cliff on a clear day wearing a tin foil hat? Most of my camping is in Ontario and Quebec.


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## harpoon (Sep 7, 2006)

I'm in Langley too and have Robbers on my 3GS, my reception's up and down throughout town (I live in Murrayville where it's pretty bad in spots). I work downtown where it's rock solid.

My wife's on Telus and it's totally fine, never drops a call. She's getting iPhone 4 very soon so we'll see but it'll likely be as good, my sister's Palm Pre and Android phones I've had here are fine.


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## daniels (Jul 27, 2009)

i live right by Langley too my iphone 3G bars did go up and down but there was never a time it had no service unless i was in a sound proof recording studio that had foam walls even them i sometimes did get a bar.


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## sheamus (May 20, 2010)

canteaus said:


> If this is true, then telus is far superior to Rogers


Bell is the same. They had a big push to get it done for the olympics so that they could soak the Euro's on roaming charges.

So the argument that Rogers/Fido can fall back to edge is not really valid, as where Rogers is rolling with edge (or nothing) Belus has 3G... but Edge can be nice if you want to save battery, say near the end of a charge.

~S


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## bsenka (Jan 27, 2009)

sheamus said:


> Telus has 3G HSPA everywhere that they have CDMA now I believe.


Unfortunately, that's not the case. The initial rollout wasn't as extensive as was announced, and they've since backtracked and have no immediate plans to complete it. Large areas that have Telus CDMA coverage still are not serviced by their HSPA network. Areas such as ALL of Saskatchewan and Manitoba.


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## Joker Eh (Jan 22, 2008)

sheamus said:


> So the argument that Rogers/Fido can fall back to edge is not really valid, as where Rogers is rolling with edge (or nothing) Belus has 3G... but Edge can be nice if you want to save battery, say near the end of a charge.
> 
> ~S


I am sorry I think you are wrong. Bell didn't put GSM network everywhere they had service before. And they had so called 3G network before but different type. SO you will be out of luck when you leave the GSM network area.


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## Joker Eh (Jan 22, 2008)

Bell and Telus built a 3G HSPA/HSDPA network, only. They already had an existing 3G CDMA network, which is not part of this discussion at this isn't supported by the iPhone (any generation).

What Rogers/Fido have, is an existing GSM/Edge network (2-2.5G), which Telus/Bell do NOT have.

On a Rogers network, when you go out of range of the 3G (HSPA) network, the iPhone drops back into 2G mode (GSM/EDGE)

In a Telus/Bell network, when you go out of range of the 3G network (HSPA), the iPhone will show NO SERVICE, as Telus/Bell do not have a 2G (GSM/EDGE) network to fall back on. The only other network they have is a CDMA network, which is NOT supported by the iPhone.


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## ras.lucas (Oct 9, 2008)

agreed on that one, the advantages of having the edge available is that if you are walking down the street listening to internet radio with the iphone, switching the thing to edge will save battery life, which I do occasionally. let's also not forget how much more time rogers has had with both its networks, penetrating hard to reach areas and etc... It isn't like many of us had Bell technicians walking through our houses and workplaces with iphones with field test apps. (not that rogers technicians do, I'm just saying that it's been around for longer, dead spots have been worked on) I can't imagine that Rogers has as many dead spots in Urban centres like Bell does. 

And I've seen them!

I live in Vancouver


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## yollim (Jan 28, 2010)

ras.lucas said:


> *switching the thing to edge will save battery life, which I do occasionally.*


Wow! So anyone on Rogers can turn Edge ON/OFF when wanted? I stream about 4 hours a day myself but have never had an iPhone, will be buying one in 2 days and haven't made up my mind yet about the carrier. I'm in Ottawa but I think I'm leaning towards Rogers now! 

Please confirm this nifty battery saving advantage fellahs.


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## Joker Eh (Jan 22, 2008)

yollim said:


> Wow! So anyone on Rogers can turn Edge ON/OFF when wanted? I stream about 4 hours a day myself but have never had an iPhone, will be buying one in 2 days and haven't made up my mind yet about the carrier. I'm in Ottawa but I think I'm leaning towards Rogers now!
> 
> Please confirm this nifty battery saving advantage fellahs.


No you turn off 3G and your still good to go with EDGE. You do that with Bell/Telus or any other except Rogers/Fido you are dead in the water.


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## yollim (Jan 28, 2010)

Joker Eh said:


> No you turn off 3G and your still good to go with EDGE. You do that with Bell/Telus or any other except Rogers/Fido you are dead in the water.


Excellent, yeah, that's what I meant. LOL So Edge just kicks-in when you turn 3G OFF. I wonder why anyone would be with BELL on an iPhone? Why the hell are people on Bell when you can save battery life AND have wider coverage with Rogers and their Edge? Something I'm missing here?


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## Joker Eh (Jan 22, 2008)

yollim said:


> Excellent, yeah, that's what I meant. LOL So Edge just kicks-in when you turn 3G OFF. I wonder why anyone would be with BELL on an iPhone? Why the hell are people on Bell when you can save battery life AND have wider coverage with Rogers and their Edge? Something I'm missing here?


People always hate the company they were with before. Like myself I was with Bell and will never go back.

Bell customer service is terrible imho. Rogers well sometimes screw up on their billing they are quick to fix it give me a free movie or free month for my troubles bell wasn't for me until I threaten to cancel then they start begging.


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## ras.lucas (Oct 9, 2008)

Edge will also kick in if 3g reception dies. I think the big thing is that edge is much slower so when the choice is Rogers' edge vs bell's 3g it's obvious. But for city dwellers.... Rogers is better. But think that's the standard. Rogers focuses most on cities while bell has to worry about covering our vast country.


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## okcomputer (Jul 18, 2005)

yollim said:


> Why the hell are people on Bell when you can save battery life AND have wider coverage with Rogers and their Edge? Something I'm missing here?


Because Rogers' coverage is NOT wider in every area. Here in NS, Bell/Telus has a much better network that is completely 3G. You'd be hard-pressed to find an area where Rogers has service and Bell/Telus do not here.

But like I said, it's different in every city and town, and every province.


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## Joker Eh (Jan 22, 2008)

okcomputer said:


> Because Rogers' coverage is NOT wider in every area. Here in NS, Bell/Telus has a much better network that is completely 3G. You'd be hard-pressed to find an area where Rogers has service and Bell/Telus do not here.
> 
> But like I said, it's different in every city and town, and every province.


Thats true. I was in NS last year and on one side of Cape Breton I had service and the other side nothing.

But that doesn't mean Bell has the GSM network there either which is required for iPhone.


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## canteaus (Apr 19, 2010)

bsenka said:


> Unfortunately, that's not the case. The initial rollout wasn't as extensive as was announced, and they've since backtracked and have no immediate plans to complete it. Large areas that have Telus CDMA coverage still are not serviced by their HSPA network. Areas such as ALL of Saskatchewan and Manitoba.


All of manitoba and Saskatchewan ???!! Are you serious? Are telus/bell iPhones non existent there?


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## okcomputer (Jul 18, 2005)

Joker Eh said:


> But that doesn't mean Bell has the GSM network there either which is required for iPhone.


Bell and Telus have converted their entire network, have they not?

I only see one coverage map on Telus' site - not one for CDMA and one for 3G.


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## tilt (Mar 3, 2005)

I live in Burlington ON and according to Bell, my house is in a "marginal coverage" area while one block South onwards it is "full coverage". My iPhone 4GS (and my wife's) usually display "No Service" more often than "Bell 3G".

I knew this only after calling Bell to find out why our phones constantly go out of service. And all the agent had to say was "You should have asked about this before buying the phone".

Cheers


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## bsenka (Jan 27, 2009)

canteaus said:


> All of manitoba and Saskatchewan ???!! Are you serious? Are telus/bell iPhones non existent there?


Literally not available at all. All mention of iPhones is gone from the website if you have Manitoba or Saskatchewan checked as your location.



okcomputer said:


> Bell and Telus have converted their entire network, have they not?
> 
> I only see one coverage map on Telus' site - not one for CDMA and one for 3G.


They announced that they did the conversion, but they actually stopped when the Olympics started with only a fraction of the conversion complete, and then abandoned plans to continue with it.

Telus' coverage map is mostly CDMA, and even that is based largely on sharing agreements with local carriers. They have very few of their own towers outside of major cities in most areas of the country.

Even with the big push towards HSPA, CDMA still dominates Canada (especially in the prairies). Our (Rogers) 3G iPad gets no signal at all almost everywhere I go, but our old CDMA phones work pretty much everywhere.


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## kkritsilas (Mar 1, 2010)

Joker Eh said:


> Bell and Telus built a 3G HSPA/HSDPA network, only. They already had an existing 3G CDMA network, which is not part of this discussion at this isn't supported by the iPhone (any generation).
> 
> What Rogers/Fido have, is an existing GSM/Edge network (2-2.5G), which Telus/Bell do NOT have.
> 
> ...



Hi,

I think this posting looks very familiar to one I made a week or two ago. It is on this page:

http://www.ehmac.ca/ipod-itunes-iphone-apple-tv/88166-caanda-gets-iphone-4-july-30th-11.html

Kostas


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## sheamus (May 20, 2010)

Bell and Telus are waiting on Sasktel to finish their conversion to get HSPA in SK. They should have it done this summer, and then Bell and Telus will have HSPA coverage there. I don't know about MTS's schedule for HSPA, or if they have one. There was talk that Sasktel was going to try and have their network ready for the iphone 4 launch, but seems like the didn't get that far.

It should also be noted that you can no longer get a SK number with Bell, even on CDMA (though your Bell CDMA phone will work there). From what I remember when I lived there, Bell came to SK in a big way, using Sasktel towers. Then they had a falling out so bad they actually cut the others customers off of their towers. It is worth noting that Bell has the lowest customer service rating of the providers in the country, and Sasktel was the highest (only behind Virgin). Maybe they disagreed on business practices . I am pretty sure you can get a SK number with Telus though.

Bell's coverage map shows SK as having EDGE coverate in Roger's zones. So I think a 3G phone will actually fall back to Roger's EDGE in SK. I have asked a Bell rep at a few retail stores when I was thinking about going with Bell, but all they would say is Bell has 3g everywhere! Meatheads. I live in the maritimes, so I guess I shouldn't expect them to know, but it was annoying having them be so affirmative with their wrong answer. When I showed them their own coverage map of canada (on the pamphlet they just gave me) they said oh yeah. Then I showed them their digital "2ndary coverage", and said this coverage pattern is identical to Roger's are you guys roaming on EDGE with Rogers in SK? To which they replied "Bell has the best coverage in canada, let me tell you about our great plans". Two different reps did the same thing to me, at different stores.

Another note. I believe all the carriers will let you out of a contract if you live in an area which they have ZERO coverage. Rogers actually has an tech test it too. But my sister just moved to SK, and is on a Bell contract. Bell can't give her an SK phone #, but they won't let her out of her contract.


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## polywog (Aug 9, 2007)

Having been both a recent Bell subscriber and a current Rogers subscriber, I can offer the following personal observations for the National Capital region:

1. I have dropped far more calls on Rogers in my 10 months with them, then I did with Bell in 8 years. 
2. I've found far more regions with no coverage at all on Roger, particularly on my way to the cottage (near Lac Simon.)
3. When I do have a signal, Rogers tends to be the stronger one (even after 4.0.1)
4. Data wise Rogers feels faster.


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## okcomputer (Jul 18, 2005)

bsenka said:


> Telus' coverage map is mostly CDMA, and even that is based largely on sharing agreements with local carriers. They have very few of their own towers outside of major cities in most areas of the country.
> 
> Even with the big push towards HSPA, CDMA still dominates Canada (especially in the prairies). Our (Rogers) 3G iPad gets no signal at all almost everywhere I go, but our old CDMA phones work pretty much everywhere.


I dunno... Look at their coverage map PDF:

http://www.telusmobility.com/en/common/pdfs/coverage/hspa_national.pdf

It's all HSPA+.

I was under the impression that their CDMA network still exists, and that the HSPA network is piggy-packed on top of it.


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## Joker Eh (Jan 22, 2008)

okcomputer said:


> I dunno... Look at their coverage map PDF:
> 
> http://www.telusmobility.com/en/common/pdfs/coverage/hspa_national.pdf
> 
> ...


You need to compare that map to Rogers EDGE and HSPA map. Because once you leave Bell/Telus HSPA you phone is dead. Where as in Rogers when it leaves HSPA it goes to EDGE. The main difference I see it that I EDGE network in SK where Telus nothing.

http://www.rogers.com/web/content/w...umer-_-Network_1109_Eng-_-Network_LowerBadge#


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## okcomputer (Jul 18, 2005)

Joker Eh said:


> The main difference I see it that I EDGE network in SK where Telus nothing.


Exactly why I have said that it really depends on where you are. But a few people here have basically discounted Bell/Telus because they do not have EDGE, and what I am saying is that the lack of EDGE doesn't matter in most of the country.

Look at the eastern part of the country. From Toronto eastward, Telus has the same coverage as Rogers, except it is ALL 3G+. A huge chunk of that same section on Rogers is EDGE-only. And there is little to no service in Newfoundland on Rogers outside of St. John's and a few other areas.

The coverage in Alberta appears to be similar. Ditto with BC. Really the only edge (ha!) Rogers has is in SK, MB, and a few other areas like Thunder Bay. But it probably equals out when you account for Rogers poor coverage and service in NS and Nfld. 

NS may look like it's blanketed in coverage, but I am sitting in an area that is completely covered in both yellow and red on that map, just outside of Halifax proper. And right now I have one bar of EDGE. Sometimes I have no service. This is repeated throughout the province. Telus/Bell on the other hand delivers out here.

All I have been saying is that it's different in every town, city, and province, and that there is no black and white, definitive, blanket answer as to who has the better network for iPhones.


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## MacUnited (Nov 1, 2009)

hmmm.. wait I'm confused now. so If I'm with bell/telus and decided to use the wifi to connect the iphone rather that using the 3G data, I can't make phone calls??
I was going to go with Bell, now I'm worried!! lol.. I live in Toronto, so I suppose the dropping calls issue should not be an issue with me since downtown Toronto should have a good signal from bell.. 
or am I getting it all wrong..??


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## okcomputer (Jul 18, 2005)

MacUnited said:


> hmmm.. wait I'm confused now. so If I'm with bell/telus and decided to use the wifi to connect the iphone rather that using the 3G data, I can't make phone calls??


Whoah, wait. What? Haha.

Wifi has nothing to do with this convo! You'll be fine haha.


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## MacUnited (Nov 1, 2009)

well that's what I thought I knew before.. maybe I should just stop reading lol


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## ras.lucas (Oct 9, 2008)

Ya. There should be a button to move comments into a new thread for these situations 

Oh ya...

Rogers is best in Vancouver and Victoria.


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## bsenka (Jan 27, 2009)

okcomputer said:


> I dunno... Look at their coverage map PDF:
> 
> http://www.telusmobility.com/en/common/pdfs/coverage/hspa_national.pdf
> 
> ...


Two things.

One, the map is wrong. Telus is flat out lying about how much of that map is actually operational. That was the PLANNED rollout that they never completed.

Second, take a look at it. Even if it was true, you'd still have no coverage at all outside of the major metropolitan areas. The only provinces with *good* HSPA coverage are Alberta and the smaller maritime provinces that only need a few towers to cover them. 

Look at Rogers map that Joker Eh posted. See all that grey area on the southern area of Manitoba? If there is HSPA coverage there, how come my iPad can't get a signal at all outside of the city most of the time, and when it can, it's usually GPRS?

Take a look at MTS' coverage map:

MTS Mobility Manitoba Coverage Map

I really can use my CDMA phones (Telus or MTS) everywhere that there are people or roads in the province. Everywhere. Most places, people with GSM phones get no signal. I've seen it, time and time again.

I had a similar experience in Northern BC where Air Canada stranded a bunch of us in Kitimat and refused to make any arrangements to get us to our actual destinations. We needed our cell phones to make call to find a way home. Everyone with GSM had no signal at all, everyone with CDMA had 4 bars.


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## DrMarlin (Jul 30, 2010)

bsenka said:


> They announced that they did the conversion, but they actually stopped when the Olympics started with only a fraction of the conversion complete, and then abandoned plans to continue with it.
> 
> Telus' coverage map is mostly CDMA, and even that is based largely on sharing agreements with local carriers. They have very few of their own towers outside of major cities in most areas of the country.


Actually, I'll politely correct you that this isn't the case. The HSPA+ network map does accurately reflect the network availability. The network went live in November 2009, well in advance of the Olympics.

TELUS runs 3 networks: CDMA, iDEN (Mike) and HSPA+.


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## bsenka (Jan 27, 2009)

DrMarlin said:


> Actually, I'll politely correct you that this isn't the case. The HSPA+ network map does accurately reflect the network availability.


Polite is good. The map, however, is disingenuous.

That map shows HSPA service is available in Winnipeg. Please show me where I can sign up for that:

TELUS Mobility - Canada's top wireless phone company |  TELUS Mobility

Also, please tell me why the Telus L&R reps I've spoken to have told me point blank that the iPhone (nor any other HSPA smartphone) will not be available in Manitoba within any planned timeframe, specifically because the network in the area is not equipped to run it. I told them straight up that my contract with Telus is up in August, and I will be getting an iPhone at that time. After 6 years with them, you'd think they'd offer me the service if it was available. Instead, I was told that they are sorry that they can't help me because the network is not there.


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