Bell confirms HSPA launch on November 4
Posted Nov 2nd 2009 4:01PM by Chris Ziegler
One-half of the worst-kept secret in all of Canada over much of the last year -- the HSPA networks being prepped by Bell and Telus -- is finally launching in just two short days' time. Bell has announced that its shiny new 21Mbps airwaves will be available to the public at large starting November 4, along with a host of devices ready to take full advantage of it; perhaps most impressive, though, is that they'll be covering fully 93 percent of the country's population out of the gate, which should make the new network a viable option immediately for would-be switchers. Your move, Rogers.[Thanks, Shawny]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jcar302 @ Nov 2nd 2009 4:09PM
93% at launch?
Not sure what the coverage map looks like up there, but that sounds like quite a feat.
Had Tmobile done this, soon i'd be using an n900, instead i have to stick to ATT.
TouchMe @ Nov 3rd 2009 8:47AM
Bell launched their 1xev-do network like 6-8 years ago, and they still don't have 93% coverage. The chances of this 93% being accurate are pretty slim.
Let's not forget that bell was trying to sell off its company to the highest bidder less than 1 year ago, before becoming the biggest buyout in history to ever fall through, because they had so much debt they were essentially bankrupt. If they're saying they managed to go from bankrupt to building the biggest cutting-edge network faster than any other carrier in the world, it's going to take a little more than a press release to convince most people.
Neither bell nor telus has a coverage map online so let's see what that looks like on launch day.
kooper @ Nov 2nd 2009 4:57PM
This will blow rogers 3G coverage out of the water
LB @ Nov 2nd 2009 5:18PM
Let's not forget they already have the towers built. I know the towers in my area grew an unexpected second set of antennas a few months back.
But if the leaked pricing is accurate i'm still not impressed.
Po Panda @ Nov 2nd 2009 7:32PM
I guess there will be a lot of Yanks heading North of the Border to become Canadian citizens now! =-P
Shawny @ Nov 3rd 2009 1:31PM
I've seen the NEW coverage map & I can tell you that the HSPA coverage surpasses Rogers!
mike @ Nov 4th 2009 12:37AM
AT&T Sucks! In Chicago they drop more calls than a crappy bluetooth headset in a faraday cage.