Finally, some great news for Manitobans on the TELUS HSPA+ front. If you live in the province, and have been waiting for your chance to pickup an iPhone 4, a BlackBerry Torch, or heck, even one of the latest Android powered devices on a carrier other than Rogers… the day is coming soon… in fact, the day could very well hit us this month.
A few select TELUS tipsters managed to confirm these details with our good friends at MobileSyrup:
“February 16th is our confirmed date for their soft launch, but they will be going into an aggressive marketing campaign in March”
So what does this mean for smartphone users in the area? It means TELUS will have a bolstered lineup of devices, ranging from the iPhone 4, through to the BlackBerry Torch. It’s long burned my britches that Rogers had a virtual monopoly on cutting-edge devices in the province. Thankfully, it looks like that monopoly is coming to an end. As an aside, we can probably look forward to the iPad hitting the TELUS lineup in the province as well.
While the launch is scheduled for the 16th, remember, it IS a soft launch. So, if you live in Winnipeg, Brandon, Portage or elsewhere, you may not notice anything until March when TELUS ramps up their PR campaign… Oh, wait a tick. See the coverage map above? By the looks of things, the HSPA+ launch for Manitoba means coverage will be ready go to in Winnipeg and surrounding areas, and a few other select areas along the western border with Saskatchewan. Not sure we can really call this a Manitoba launch… a Winnipeg launch is more like it! That said, perhaps TELUS has to update their HSPA+ coverage maps. We’ll have to give this some more time to play itself out.
Stay tuned for more on this one. About gosh darn time, TELUS. Sheesh!

