Bell / Telus iPhone Network coverage question

[ken0042]

(Great, another apple thread in Tech Talk.....)

I'm seriously looking at an iPhone this week, but I was hoping to hear from people who can answer this specific question for me. I was under the impression that Telus and Bell are sharing the same infrastructure with respect to towers, so their coverage should be the same. However looking at the coverage maps I see that Bell seems to be offerring coverage through Saskatchewan and Manitoba; whereas Telus just has Winnipeg covered:

Bell:

http://www.bell.ca/shopping/PrsShpWls_Coverage.page

Telus:

http://www.telusmobility.com/en/AB/network/about.shtml

So, here are my questions:

- Is it possible Telus has the same coverage, but just hasn't updated their maps yet?
- Has anybody confirmed that there is coverage in Saskatchewan or rural Manitoba?
- What kind of coverage would this be? Voice only, or similar to 1X voice, text, and really slow Internet?

I really appreciate any help!

[silentsim]

If you don't need the iPhone now, apparently the new one will be out in June.

[CFENT]

I work for Bell so I should be able to answer this.

Bell and TELUS share towers. ie TELUS built western Canada and Bell built eastern Canada. While Bell and TELUS are waiting for Saskatchewan and Manitoba to be built Bell is roaming off another provider allowing your HSPA phones to work in these provinces.

[ken0042]

Thanks guys. I guess for me waiting for the new model isn't that big of a thing- I guess I just don't plan on multi-tasking and right now I have a pretty decent offer sitting in front of me from Bell.

CFENT- that is what I was hoping was the case. Do you know what kind of coverage is being offerred in those areas?

[HeartsOfFire]

Originally Posted by CFENT

I work for Bell so I should be able to answer this.

Bell and TELUS share towers. ie TELUS built western Canada and Bell built eastern Canada. While Bell and TELUS are waiting for Saskatchewan and Manitoba to be built Bell is roaming off another provider allowing your HSPA phones to work in these provinces.

And I work for TELUS. Here's my input:

Saskatchewan is leaps and bounds ahead of all the other provinces in terms of telecom, because their telecom company is still publicly run, SaskTel is a crown corporation.* TELUS owns no towers in Saskatchewan, nor do they lease any from Sasktel. Apparently, Bell does.

In Manitoba, it used to be the same way, but in 2004 Allstream bought it up from Manitoba and now it's MTS Allstream. Still, the same situation applies. TELUS owns no towers nor leases any in Manitoba.

East of Manitoba: Bell Territory. They scratch our back.
West of Saskatchewan: TELUS Territory. We scratch theirs.

The information in this post is my personal opinion based on my own knowledge, and may or may not be 100% accurate. It should not be taken as official from TELUS or TELUS Mobility, even if completely accurate.

* = I say this with a hint of sarcasm because telecom companies as crown corporations are a double-edged sword. Within their own provinces, there is absolutely nothing better than a government run phone company. The days of AGT were some of the best Telecom days this province has ever seen. However, this dampers interprovincial progress in terms of things like wireless information transmission. One province does things one way, another province does them another. Both work perfectly fine independently, but cannot work interdependently, like if everyone in B.C. spoke English and everyone in Alberta spoke French. We'd work just fine amidst ourselves, but wouldn't be able to understand anything our neighbor says. Basically, I'm of the opinion that all of Canada's telecom should be a federal crown corporation and let that be the end of it.

[sclitheroe]

I have a question about Telus coverage too - does anyone know if there is cell phone service in the Alberta portion of Cypress Hills provincial park? Specifically the Firerock campground if it makes a difference.

Thanks!

[Azure]

Pretty sure Telus has HSPA coverage in Winnipeg.

[ken0042]

Yeah, and that is consistant on both maps too. My concerns are with the purple areas on the Bell map. Most of the time I go to Winnipeg I drive, so it would be nice to be able to have cell coverage all along the highway. As well, our family cabin is about an hour north of Winnipeg so it would be good to know if I have any Internet capabilities while I'm there:

[Temporary_User]

Even if you aren't looking to get the new Iphone that should be coming out, prices of the old (or current) iphone will drop quite a bit as soon as the new one comes out. Something to think about.
Also you are going to presumably have the phone for 3+ years (life of contract).

[ken0042]

Yeah, the deal I'm currently being offerred is pretty good- good enough that Telus told me there was no way they could match it.

[CFENT]

Originally Posted by ken0042

CFENT- that is what I was hoping was the case. Do you know what kind of coverage is being offerred in those areas?

Rogers coverage

[redforever]

My husband has an iPhone and while there is no 3G coverage with Telus in Saskatchewan as of right now, he was told there would be coverage by this July or August.

Our friends were told the same thing.

The accuracy of this information I guess will unfold when August comes along.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Yeah, and that is consistant on both maps too. My concerns are with the purple areas on the Bell map. Most of the time I go to Winnipeg I drive, so it would be nice to be able to have cell coverage all along the highway. As well, our family cabin is about an hour north of Winnipeg so it would be good to know if I have any Internet capabilities while I'm there:

And you're on Telus?

I'm heading down there two weeks from now. I'll check and see how the coverage is on the #1 highway HSPA wise with Telus. I doubt there is any, but you never know.

Pretty sure its just in Winnipeg. On your map, on the other side of Winnipeg lake just south of Gimli, I worked for for a millwork the past few years, and the EVDO signal from Telus was in and out. Sometimes I got it, sometimes I didn't.

Once you got 'near' Winnipeg it was perfect.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by redforever

My husband has an iPhone and while there is no 3G coverage with Telus in Saskatchewan as of right now, he was told there would be coverage by this July or August.

Our friends were told the same thing.

The accuracy of this information I guess will unfold when August comes along.

That is what Telus has told me as well.

Alberta is pretty much covered with HSPA right now, Sask is being worked on, as well as Winnipeg area, just a bit broader....and they should be ready summer, fall this year.

Who knows what that means in reality though.

Granted the HSPA network was ready ahead of schedule so who knows.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Azure

And you're on Telus?

I'm heading down there two weeks from now. I'll check and see how the coverage is on the #1 highway HSPA wise with Telus. I doubt there is any, but you never know.

Pretty sure its just in Winnipeg. On your map, on the other side of Winnipeg lake just south of Gimli, I worked for for a millwork the past few years, and the EVDO signal from Telus was in and out. Sometimes I got it, sometimes I didn't.

Once you got 'near' Winnipeg it was perfect.

Yeah, right now I am on Telus- but I will be going with Bell for the iPhone. And yeah, Telus' EVDO coverage outside of Winnipeg is pretty crappy. I think it must be the deal they have with MTS- they were able to secure EVDO in the city but not outside.

I was doing some testing at the cabin with a mobile stick, and because I could only get 1X on the Telus stick I was getting 20 kbps speeds. However my brother in law was using his MTS blackberry and was getting an EVDO signal.

My guess is that a big part of all this is how Telus tried to screw over MTS and Sasktel with the "Bell Canada" agreement (or whatever it is called; the sharing of networks.) Because Bell does not try to sell Bell phones in Manitoba, Bell may be in MTS' good books.

[ken0042]

I'm actually surprised that there's nobody on Bell who has posted in the thread. I would have thought that somebody would have them for cell service. Or did the "service" from ExpressVu scare everybody away?

[Azure]

Well, I had no coverage at ALL, not voice, not data.....once I got past the Alberta border.

Winnipeg has HSPA, so I got all my messages, voicemails and emails there, but everywhere else I had nothing.

Ridiculous I guess, but whatever.

Hopefully Telus gets something up and going soon.

[Madman]

Originally Posted by Azure

Well, I had no coverage at ALL, not voice, not data.....once I got past the Alberta border.

Winnipeg has HSPA, so I got all my messages, voicemails and emails there, but everywhere else I had nothing.

Ridiculous I guess, but whatever.

Hopefully Telus gets something up and going soon.

Their map does show that coverage stops at the border, so I hope this wasn't a surprise to you.

Thankfully on my trip to SK, there was both HSPA and CDMA phones on board.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Madman

Their map does show that coverage stops at the border, so I hope this wasn't a surprise to you.

No, he was answering my question in the OP. I also got an answer in writing from Bell to confirm what CFENT said earlier in this thread, so I guess this confirms that currently Bell's coverage of the Prairies is better than Telus'.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by ken0042

No, he was answering my question in the OP. I also got an answer in writing from Bell to confirm what CFENT said earlier in this thread, so I guess this confirms that currently Bell's coverage of the Prairies is better than Telus'.

For the timing being it seems like that.

But once Telus has HSPA in Manitoba/Sask....their coverage will pretty much be top notch.