Revisited: Telus switching to GSM networks?
By Will Park on Thursday, February 21st, 2008 at 1:52 PM PST In Technologies, Telus
We’ve heard rumblings from the rumor mill that Canada’s Telus (NYSE: TU) could be considering a switch to GSM network standards in preparation for a 4G LTE network rollout in the future. It would make sense for the Canadian network operator to ditch the CDMA standard and give Rogers (NYSE: RCI) some serious competition as the second GSM network in Canada. However, there just hasn’t been any hard evidence that would indicate Telus’ move towards GSM.
That is, until today. We’re hearing that a new job listing from Telus is soliciting a Senior Switch Engineer that has CDMA and EVDO experience, which makes complete sense. But here’s the clincher – Telus is looking for said engineer to have “knowledge on UMTS, IMS, and LTE evolution.” The job listing outlines the prospective engineer’s responsibilities as including “the migration of Nortel switching technology to future 3GPP2, IMS and LTE network architecture.” That last bit gives us some serious reason to believe that Telus will be putting their CDMA network out to pasture and raising a new GSM network with LTE in mind.
We’re sure Canadians will be happy to hear that they’ll finally have some GSM competition – which will hopefully drive down the traditionally high GSM prices in the future. More on this as we hear about it…
[Via: Engadget Mobile]
We’re sure Canadians will be happy to hear that they’ll finally have some GSM competition – which will hopefully drive down the traditionally high GSM prices in the future.
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Anything but Rogers would be nice….. Would like to see that company buried.
I have thought about switching to rogers several times…just because of the huge selection of GSM phones (and the ability to get great phones on ebay for a good price).
Rogers is expensive though, and I really like telus’ service and price. It would be awesome if they adapted GSM technology.
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
Telus does not offer much pay as go. Is there any nchanges in the future.
Please reply Thanks ken.
I was considering switching to rogers because of better/cheaper phones, but if telus goes GSM I will stay with them!
It is the funda of science & tech. it develope with competetion….and the winner is the users.
Do you think Telus will expedite the roll out given the international Olympic traffic? Rogers stands to make a KILLING from roaming fees.
ya i really hope that telus switch’s over cause i’ve been trying to get an iphone 3G S for so long but my mother wont let me cause im only 14
but if telus switches by 2010 then i can renew my plan and get a discount on the iphone 