Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Free at last: Bell, Telus adopt GSM: iPhone launching next month

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Free at last: Bell, Telus adopt GSM: iPhone launching next month

    This is huge for Canada's telecoms.



    Bell, Telus to launch iPhone next month
    By Simon Avery
    Globe and Mail Update
    Move will break Rogers' year-long stranglehold; telcos set to launch next-generation wireless network ahead of schedule

    BCE Inc.'s BCE-T Bell Canada and Telus Corp. T-T will begin selling the iPhone next month, breaking the stranglehold on the device that their rival Rogers Communications Inc. RCI.B-T has held for more than a year.

    Both carriers hope the addition of Apple Inc.'s AAPL-Q groundbreaking smart phone to their lineups will help them sign up higher-value customers and shift the balance of power in Canada's mobile market.

    Bell announced on Monday that it will launch in November, months ahead of schedule, the next-generation wireless network it has been building with Telus. The build-out extends the companies' existing 3G (third generation) network to include the same technology standard employed by Rogers, the nation's largest cellphone company.

    Telus has yet to give an indication of when it will begin offering service on the new network.

    Until now, Rogers has enjoyed a Canadian monopoly on that standard, known as high-speed packet access (HSPA), as well as its precursor GSM, and with it, one of the hottest products of the IT age. The iPhone, which is a GSM-based device, has helped drive the company's wireless growth through the recession by 7 per cent this year. Rogers has said its iPhone customers spend 1 1/2 more than their average wireless subscriber.

    Neither Bell nor Telus would confirm that they would add the iPhone to their lineups. Apple also declined to comment. But people familiar with the matter said the two carriers will announce a working partnership with Apple as early as Tuesday or Wednesday and begin selling the device in time for the launch of their new network next month.

    Apple demands strict terms from phone companies carrying the iPhone, which limit the carriers' ability to cut prices or differentiate their subscription plans significantly. But for consumers, the news will mean at the very least greater supply of the device as well as more choice in service providers and bundled offers for other services, such as home phone, Internet or television connections.

    The iPhone has proved a double-edged sword for Rogers and other wireless operators around the world carrying the device. The smart phone attracts more customers, and specifically users who spend more money that the average mobile phone client. But it requires a heavy subsidy from the carriers, which eats into their profitability.

    For example, Rogers' revenue from wireless data increased 40 per cent in the first six months of the year to $611-million. But the company's profitability has been squeezed by the cost of subsidizing the iPhone and other smart phones. Rogers spent $479-million on handset subsidies in the first six months, an increase of 59 per cent.

    Apple's fortunes have soared with the iPhone. But the phone companies are realizing that they have to balance the cost of their subsidies with the value of the customers the device brings in.

    For Bell, which has managed to cut its wireless customer acquisition costs recently, the iPhone should help spur much-needed growth. The company added only 45,000 new mobile phone customers, compared with 142,000 for Rogers and 111,000 for Telus.

    For Telus, Apple's smart phone should help it bolster its average revenue per user, which declined nearly 7 per cent in the second quarter.

    Bell and Telus have rushed to get their new network in place before the holiday shopping season. Bell argues that its version is more advanced than Rogers' because it uses the latest version of the standard, called HSPA+, which is capable of download speeds of up to 21 megabits per second. Rogers, which has used GSM technology since 2001, is still in the process of converting its entire national network to the HSPA+ standard. Last month it said the new technology is in place in five cities: Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.

    Bell and Telus announced a year ago that they would put aside their historic rivalries to build the HSPA network together. They said the partnership would allow them to split the approximate $1-billion cost and to get to market sooner.
    "The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
    Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "

  • #2
    I'm a bit bitter I had to switch to Rogers in July, though.
    "The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
    Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "

    Comment


    • #3
      At first I thought this was a spambot selling phones.
      <p style="font-size:1024px">HTML is disabled in signatures </p>

      Comment


      • #4
        Your instinct isn't that far off.
        "The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
        Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "

        Comment


        • #5
          I wonder if Sasktel will switch to GSM as well? I can't imagine Sasktel can stick it out as the only CDMA company in Canada.

          Comment


          • #6
            I forgot that thing even existed.
            "The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
            Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "

            Comment


            • #7
              Apple demands strict terms from phone companies carrying the iPhone, which limit the carriers' ability to cut prices or differentiate their subscription plans significantly.
              That would seem to be anticompetitive behavior on the part of Apple. Someone should pass a law making such deals illegal. That way competition increases, prices drop, and consumers likely get better service.
              Try http://wordforge.net/index.php for discussion and debate.

              Comment


              • #8
                Apple doesn't have a monopoly, so it's more than legal.
                "The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
                Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "

                Comment


                • #9
                  I know it is legal. I'm say people should adjust the law to make it illegal. They obviously effect a carrier's ability to cut prices and offer different subscription plans which consumers might want so it harms consumers and should be outlawed. Hell, Rolex and most other luxury goods makers do the same and it is almost always designed specifically to keep prices higher then they would be naturally in a free market so they're harmful and should be outlawed.
                  Try http://wordforge.net/index.php for discussion and debate.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Asher View Post
                    I'm a bit bitter I had to switch to Rogers in July, though.
                    I was so glad to get away from them a couple years ago. Absolutely atrocious customer relations.
                    "I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." - Clarence Darrow
                    "I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      What kind of horrible name for a corporation is Rogers? Or Telus? Is this Candyland? Let's all just do the best we can and drop a pair. If you can't name yourself, how can you do anything? The world doesn't wait for you to pass Go.
                      Last edited by Wiglaf; October 7, 2009, 18:47. Reason: Canada is so faggy

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Oerdin View Post
                        Hell, Rolex and most other luxury goods makers do the same and it is almost always designed specifically to keep prices higher then they would be naturally in a free market so they're harmful and should be outlawed.
                        WTF?
                        “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
                        - John 13:34-35 (NRSV)

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Wiglaf View Post
                          What kind of horrible name for a corporation is Rogers? Or Telus? Is this Candyland? Let's all just do the best we can and drop a pair. If you can't name yourself, how can you do anything? The world doesn't wait for you to pass Go.
                          Rogers is names after someone whose surname was Rogers.

                          Telus is just a better name than Alberta Government Telephone (AGT).
                          "The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
                          Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            always designed specifically to keep prices higher then they would be naturally in a free market so they're harmful and should be outlawed.
                            This is the same Oerdin who wants high speed rail to be paid for by the other states for bankrupt California?
                            Scouse Git (2) La Fayette Adam Smith Solomwi and Loinburger will not be forgotten.
                            "Remember the night we broke the windows in this old house? This is what I wished for..."
                            2015 APOLYTON FANTASY FOOTBALL CHAMPION!

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Ben Kenobi View Post
                              This is the same Oerdin who wants high speed rail to be paid for by the other states for bankrupt California?
                              To be fair, you act like this is unheard of.

                              Isn't the US government the same one that withheld funding for highways until speed limits were set as they wanted?
                              "The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
                              Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X