Telus Canada contemplating a move to GSM?
By Will Park on Wednesday, January 16th, 2008 at 1:43 PM PST In Rumors, Services, Technologies, Telus
GSM networks are the global standard. Unfortunately, carriers invested in the “betamax” of wireless network technology are feeling the crunch of relying on the CDMA network standard. To that end, Telus (NYSE: TU) is the latest carrier rumored to be contemplating a switch to the world-compatible GSM technology.
The Star reports that Telus executives are considering building-out an entirely new network “as early as this year,” citing industry sources. The network change-up, which could cost Telus upwards of $500 million, “has been presented at the board level and is being actively considered.”
Telus’s switch to GSM would de-throne Rogers (NYSE: RCI) Wireless as Canada’s excusive GSM provider, and open the door to a whole new range of mobile phones that are usually launched in GSM-form first. We’ll be keeping an ear to the ground on this one.
[Via: The Star]
Good move on TELUS considering the 2010 winter games would make Rogers a prime to cash in on all foreign GSM users who would be in attendance of the games.
It’s about time Telus got on that.. They have lost so many customer to rogers due to better phones and other little things.. Telus needs to step it up if it wants to over thorw Rogers.
I highly doubt that telus will be switching to GSM anytime soon. They are already forking out millions of dollars as we speak to upgrade all current Analog towers in Canada to Digital by September 08. It wouldn’t make sense to spend all that money to then immediately start changing over to GSM.
It’s logical for Telus to go GSM. Verizon, the largest U.S. CDMA wireless carrier is taking 55 million subscribers with them to go GSM in 2009 when the upgrade is the new GSM LTE(Long Term Evolution) standard.
Telecom Australia(Telestra) is completely shutting down their CDMA system on January 31, 2008 to have GSM/W-CDMA standard. The writing is on the wall.
Does anyone still have the old Betamax VCR or tapes?
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.com
I Agree with you Mr. Free Ringtunes.
I don’t know about switching solely based on the iPhone, but lets face facts here. When you’re using GSM you have 10 times the selection than you do w/ CDMA. I think CDMA is a dying breed w/ only stupid ppl signing up.
Cumon Telus! Come out w/ a cool GSM promo and I’ll sign up!
Just don’t get your hopes up that Telus is going GSM any time soon. Telus was going to shut down the GSM system in 2004 if they were successful in their bid in Fido. They were going to replace all the Fido GSM phone with CDMA phone.
Just remember Telus is not an analytic thinker.
Canada has to get with the times!!!! I hope Telus does do something forward thinking. Having lived in GSM countries (ie everywhere but Canada and the US) for the last 15 years, I am DIEING in Canada since moving here early this year! I can’t text my family overseas unless special agreements are in place, and even then, they don’t work. Incompatible technology. I can’t even use a smart phone without getting expensive packages I don’t want. And Rogers charges between 5 and 10 times as much for a pre-paid sim card than msot European, Asian and African countries! Canada is o far behind the times with regards to cell phones, its not funny. I welcome ANY competition here – and something that will allow me to use an up to date smart phone intead of the 2 generations behind ones being rolled out by Telus and Bell. Lets face it, why should phone manufacturers focus on developing CDMA phones for the 340 million people in North America when there are over 3 billion people using GSM????
Ostriches don’t think that way. Telus & Bell will bury their heads and suffocate to death without admitting to their mistakes. Telus had the opportunity to enter the GSM world if they would pay a little bit more to acquire Fido and made a smooth transition to migrate their CDMA network to the GSM world. But instead, their intention was to buy Fido and shut it down, then replace all existing Fido customers’ phones with CDMA. What kind of thinking do you think it was?
With the introduction of iPhone sometime this year by Rogers(already confirmed by Apple Inc.), Telus and Bell will face increasing pressure to stay live.
Telus & Bell are on life support but nobody is rescuing them.
Speaking with an ex AT&T president earlier this year, the reason why Telus and other CDMA providers are looking at going to GSM is for one major reason only, “ROAMING REVENUE.”
CDMA providers have been shut out of this revenue source since day 1 and he said that the cellular providers make a lot of roaming revenue with business users. He said CDMA thought they were going to win out the technology war with GSM being a newer technology than GSM but they didn’t realize how entrenched GSM is in other parts of the world.
I am not surprised that Telus executives and board are thinking about this, the $500 million cost is cheap and would probably be made back up in roaming revenue in about 10 years and very profitable going forward.
I sure hope that Telus goes the GSM route.
Yes, Telus execs are not 1 year old in diapers but they don’t run a business based on what potential unthought of phone is going to be the next best thing since sliced bread. They run their companies to be profitable.
Back in 2004 who would have know about iphone.
If they have to spend $500 million to do upgrades to their networks to handle both, and it makes business sense they’ll do it.
My comments relate to potential Telus decision to spend $500 million of capital to expand a network to increase their revenues forever and that companies can’t do business based the potential new product that may be several years away that may or may not have any significance to the market they are in.
The iphone wasn’t even thought of in 2004 when Telus was in talks to buy Fido. Your comment about Telus and Bell execs missing their opportunity…well they are they are still looking at it. Why wouldn’t you if you were an executive.
Telus, Bell, and Rogers are small fry when it comes to the celluar industry, but unfortunately, in Canada that’s all we have for now.
No, Bell, Telus, and Rogers don’t know how many minutes of roaming they have and whether or not exactly they get the right roaming revenue because the roaming revenue for over 100 cellular phone companies is handled out of a company near Belize and they don’t give out detailed figures for usage and revenue to easily reconcile for the carriers.
Case in point Mastercard and Visa merchants have a tough time to reconcile their monthly statements.
Telus and Bell are not incompetent, quite the contrary, Telus has the highest revenue per mobile customer rates in North America.
You may hope they die, but get a reality check, look at their balance sheets and their income statements…..no telco have gone into oblivion in North America, they have been bought out, which might happen to both Bell and Telus, and even Rogers which I suppose you might be using, who knows.
Phil,
It’s obvious you’re missing the boat because you don’t read financial statements, MD&A’s, and know the industry.
Try to find out what the roaming revenue with 100% certainty is with these companies. Considering that a 3rd party company in a tax friendly haven determines determines the billing of roaming for over 100 cellular companies means that the companies which use their service which includes the above mentioned companies are at the mercy of this is right or wrong.
My conversations is an ex AT&T president apparently he is wrong and you are right? The simple analogy of reconciling credit card statements with roaming revenue is above your level of thinking means you don’t think very much about business processes either.
Think before you say silly commments such as Rogers is a visionary company. What have they produced that makes them visionary, did they produce the Blue Ray, the iPhone, HDTV, 3PL distribution, outsourcing.
CDMA providers, including Verizon, are all in the same boat in going forward for the future and unless you’re sitting in the board rooms for each of these companies you have absolutely no idea of what they are thinking.
At least I have a very reputable source yours in conjecture.
Once again, I’ll put this into context, if you guys want to hypothesize what directors and management are thinking without being there by all means do so, but you aren’t winning over business people like me who are in the board room.
Telus is examining the GSM arena as well as other technology similar to what Verizon is doing. To cut people off who say why bother using an analogy is lack of total objective analytical thinking.
Phil, your comments are Rogers is visionary also don’t belong in this thread as well then. That’s analytical thinking, you have no comeback on what has Rogers been so visionary about, didn’t think so.
No, apparently you really aren’t in the C-level circles because you would know that many CEO’s don’t hang onto their hats for long. He’s the head of another cellular provider who is successful, not in Canada.
In the end, Telus will have to adopt GSM evolution pathways or die. CDMA data networks can’t compete with GSM data networks in the long run – and data is the future. It’s inevitable that Telus switch to GSM.
While roaming revenue is important, there’s significant money to be made on data service – carriers often look to data services to increase their ARPU (average revenue per user). In my opinion, any wireless executive that sees roaming revenue as the single most convincing argument for going down the GSM pathway is inept (not to mention short-sighted).
I would argue that data revenue, in the long-term, on a CDMA network is a dead-end. Without GSM’s LTE data network, CDMA users will eventually jump ship from CDMA networks.
I wondered what Rick had to say about Telus & Bell’s announcement today? Telus & Bell had the opportunity to borrow from the financial market to toss out their CDMA systems and replace them with GSM. But the “visionaries” at both companies had to announce it today(October 10,2008) after the North America fiancial markets have gone down the toilet. They both belittle themselves for sharing a system to offer GSM services.
Rick, what do you have to say about this? The “execs” at Telus knows best ?????
I would be jumping for joy if someone stand out and face off ROGERS WIRELESS. It is so odd to think that the invention of telecommunication was invented by our great Canadian inventor but look how far Canadian mobile network now they are very slow moving and far behind compared to Europe and Asia which are very updated with latest GSM TECHNOLOGY. hmmp…
Common Telus wip Mr Rogers A**…