(3 votes, average: 5.33 out of 10)
Loading ...Telus switching to GSM?
The rumour surfacing now is that Telus wants to switch to a GSM network from its current CDMA net. There’s good reason to think about it; the rest of the world is predominantly GSM. Telstra in Australia is shutting down its CDMA network to move to the GSM standard in April. SIM cards are handy. Your phone will work overseas (more revenue). Overseas phones will work here (more revenue).
(I’ve never understood why, when most of the rest of the world went GSM, two of the three carriers in Canada elected to go CDMA. We’re just contrarians, I guess.)
There’s more to consider, though. Moving to GSM would come at tremendous cost, and not just in infrastructure. What about all those customers with CDMA models? If Telus is to keep them, it means free or nearly free phones for everybody. And a customer changing phones is at a fork in the road — it’s an opportunity to consider switching providers.
Telus won’t just be taking on Rogers for market share. Yes, Rogers is the only GSM carrier in Canada. But there’s a spectrum auction coming up and a new player almost certain to be in the mix. The way the wind is blowing, an MTS Allstream or Videotron would likely want to play in the GSM pool as well.
When 4G technology hits the wireless scene, that’s another upgrade. (It’s also a disincentive to new entrants, but it won’t keep them out of the bidding.) Yes, CDMA has its drawbacks, but for time being, it’s hard to make the case that switching to GSM would be a good thing.
March 3rd, 2008 at 2:14 pm
It is not true, it would not be expensive to switch from CDMA to GSM. Rogers did the switch in 2001, they operated both networks for a few years while most people replaced their phones gradually as their contracts expired. So no extra cost there. Before 2000, Fido was the only company to offer GSM and received all the revenues from roaming fees from Europeans and Asians visiting Canada.
March 16th, 2008 at 2:36 am
Telus has no choice. $500 million is a drop in the bucket when you consider the additional roaming revenues after the GSM switchover. It’s a known fact that Telus paid an average of $100 more for its CDMA phones because there’s no economies of scale due to limited worldwide demand. The choice of CDMA phones are also limited.
The 2010 Olmpics is less than 2 years away. Telus has not committed to a GSM overlay on its CDMA system. I will be very concerned if I am a Telus shareholder. I think they should replace the CEO Darren Entwistle with someone who has guts to lead.
March 17th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
I agree, Telus should make the switch to GSM. Many phone manufacturers already prefer to make phones for GSM as opposed to CDMA. And by converting the phones to CDMA, it only costs telus extra money in the long run.
Also, more GSM providers equals better choice. More choice equals better customer satisfaction due to increased competition, and thus lower rates in the short and long run. I’m currently a rogers subscriber, but if Telus were to switch to GSM, I would definately consider making the switch to Telus…
I’m with Rogers b/c there is such a huge selection of wonderful GSM phones out there… and its hard to find something that Telus offers that would pry me away from my Nokia N95…
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:34 pm
PLEASEEEEEE TURN YOUR SYSTEM OVER TO GSM OR AT THE LEAST RUN CDMA AND GSM SO WE CAN TAKE AWAY THE MONOPOLY THAT ROGERS IS HOLDING FRANKLY IT MAKES ME SICK WITH ALL THESE DATA CHARGES FROM ROGERS, WHY CAN’T WE DO AT&T AND OTHER COMPANIES HAVE IN USA A $20.00 DATA PLAN WITH UNLIMITED USAGE.
ROGERS GO TO HELL AND SUCK THIS
April 7th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
I just bought a used Nokia E62 (I wanted an E61, but meh) and really the only current option is Rogers Wireless.
That being said, all the data plans on all the carriers suck. Complete lack of choice and options in their offerings.
As for KAM KALSI: My “anti-spam word” is ‘relax’. So, relax man. It’s not all that bad.
April 10th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Well considering all options, I think getting into the GSM arena would be good for Telus. They definitely dropped the ball on the Fido Option and Ted was only too glad to pick up the pieces. Telus did not think about iPhone. One of the major reasons for Telus to switch over to GSM would be the ability to offer iPhones. They are the hottest item out there. As a carrier that is a prestige symbol and it could very well carve a nice chunk of the market for Telus.
So the real question is — Ted what’s your next move? Ted wants to sell ringtones and other mobile content and Apple won’t let Ted do that on their iPhones. But Telus? They don’t have that problem now do they?
So yes, I am definitely looking forward to a new GSM Telus
— get free ringtones from Ringaholic DOT com
April 13th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
I bought an iPhone so I didn’t have the choice to switch to Fido(rogers). I’ve been with Telus for about 6 years and I was really satisfied… I would come back to them if they had
GSM (and a competitive data plan like Fido 7$/month unlimited).
Hope that come true!
April 20th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Hey all,
I been with telus for many years, over 10 years now. And yes their service is the best, but not the best phone. With the recent release of the 8830 CDMA/GSM phone, Telus has SIM Cards now. Just have to call *611 and ask them activate Global Roaming, and order a Global Roaming Kit… it will have a SIM Card programmed with your phone/ID… and use with any GSM (900/1800) phones… no system access fee for the card, just pay for the sim card… around 30 ~ 50 depends on which store you go to.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:22 am
My comment on March 16th was bang on ! Rogers & Apple just reached an agreement to introduce iPhone sometime in 2008. Chances are a lot of Telus subscribers will ditch their CDMA phone in favour of the trendy iPhone, especially the young and fashionable population.
Australia’s largest cell company, Telstra has officially shut dpwm their CDMA system today(April 30, 2008). Telstra runs 2 GSM based 3G system, one runs on 2100M Hz(the European & Asian frequency) and another called Next G, running on 850M Hz.(the North Amercian 3G frequency). Hats off to Telstra !
I think Telus’s management should take their head out of the sand to get some fresh air once in a while - AND SMELL THE COFFEE(or ROSES). CDMA is on life support and nobody’s there to rescue them !
June 11th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Rogers will sell the iPhone on July 11 as part of the world-wide roll out of the v2 of the iPhone. Note, the v2 will have requirement to do automatic lockin to the provider - unlocked iphones will go the way of the dodo bird as Apple will only sell this new iPhone through carriers, no more selling them in the retail stores like carphonewarehouse.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:54 am
I’m an aussie consumer and I love the steps my telco has taken when it comes to new technology. I am with Vodafone, and have been since 1999. I went from analogue, to GSM (2G) then 2.5G and now onto 3G networks. Each time with a new phone supplied for free.
CDMA has been very slowly phased out over time here in Australia. Thus resulting in a progressive change over for any companies who supported CDMA. So as each contract came up for it’s inevitable renewal, CDMA phone was replace with a GSM one.
The awesome thing about the 3G network is that it’s fast, I’ve never really had call drop outs and I can make video calls.
We have great plans over here too. Most telcos have introduced capped plans. I pay $79 per month and get $550 worth of calls, SMS etc included. They gave me a new phone for free and a 12 month warranty.