Earlier this year, Rogers flipped the switch on Canada’s first LTE network in Ottawa, which then spread to Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Now LTE coverage surrounding the major Canadian hubs of Toronto and Vancouver will get some expanded coverage. Around Toronto, Brampton, Vaughan, Richmond Hill, and Markham will now get service, and out at the other end of the country, West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Port Coquitlam, Delta, Langley, Surrey and Maple Ridge will be able to tap into wireless data speeds averaging between 12 – 25 Mbps. That means by the end of 2011, about 30% of the population of Canada will be covered.
Currently, the Rogers LTE device lineup is decent, including the HTC Raider, Samsung Galaxy S II LTE, HTC Jetstream, and an internet stick and mobile hotspot to handle the mobile broadbend end of things. Bell is also getting in on the LTE fun, but we still haven’t heard much from TELUS about when they’ll start rolling out their offering. I’m curious to see how long it will take the little guys like WIND and Mobilicity to jump into the pool; it sure would be interesting if they got it up before TELUS, or better yet, they partnered in some kind of 4G roaming agreement. Chalk that one up to wishful thinking.
You can find out more about the Rogers LTE rollout over at their minisite.