VANCOUVER and MONTREAL – Canada’s two biggest telcos put out separate press releases today touting their impending wireless network upgrades to HSPA and eventually LTE, but buried within them both, Telus and Bell say they’ll be working together on the upgrade, expected to cost in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Telus was finally mentioned in the ninth paragraph of the Bell release and Bell in the eighth paragraph of the Telus release. They’ve jointly selected Nokia Networks and Huawei as their primary technology suppliers.
Both of the telcos currently offer mobile services over their CDMA/EVDO networks, which work just fine, but the world has clearly shifted to the GSM-HSPA-LTE track and both Bell and Telus had to make the leap. Using CDMA means the companies lose out on roaming revenue from travelers who come to Canada from abroad as their mostly GSM phones default to the Rogers network.
As well, cool, new handsets – such as Apple’s iPhone – are GSM-only, or GSM-first (like numerous BlackBerrys over the past while), leaving Bell and Telus behind in the buzz department, too.
The companies will start the build immediately and plan to have it up and running prior to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. (Ed note: Betcha it gets done quicker than that.)
The shared network will be initially based on High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) technology, which will lead into the next generation which the wireless industry has settled on, long term evolution (LTE), the emerging worldwide fourth generation (4G) technology standard.
“Bell wireless customers will be able to choose between EVDO – already the dominant 3G standard in Canada and across North America – and HSPA, which is rapidly becoming the main platform with carriers outside North America. At the same time, overlaying HSPA on its national network will offer Bell the most efficient upgrade path to the 4G LTE broadband standard in coming years,” reads the Bell release.
"This technology evolution is a win for Canadian consumers. Telus’ investment in next generation wireless services will give our clients more wireless functionality including; international roaming, fast network speeds and a compelling selection of globally-compatible handsets and devices," said Darren Entwistle, Telus president and CEO, in his press release.
"As the next evolution in our multi-network strategy, this initiative will position Telus to actively participate in the future global LTE eco-system and leverage economies of scale, offer timely access to handsets, and enhance global roaming relationships and revenues,” he added.
With the new network capability, almost all major mobile wireless handsets and devices in the world could be available to Telus and Bell, spanning HSPA, CDMA, and iDEN networks. By adding the capabilities of HSPA, the two companies have a smoother evolution path as the world transitions to LTE in a few years.
"Bell’s transition to the global 4G LTE standard with a combined EVDO and HSPA network path aligns us with more than 30 major carriers worldwide planning a similar move to LTE," said Stephen Howe, senior vice-president, wireless network and chief technology officer for Bell Mobility. "This broad global technology ecosystem will mean a fast, efficient and cost-effective network transition to 4G LTE, and access to the broadest possible range of next-generation phones and data services."
The agreement to move to HSPA/LTE is an expansion of the network sharing agreement Bell and Telus already have with one another that dates back to 2001. “The network sharing agreement allows Telus to lower the cost, increase the speed of the build-out and gives Telus the ability to offer the widest national coverage for HSPA, using existing 1900 MHz and 850 MHz spectrum, in the shortest time possible,” says the Telus release, but the same sentiment applies to Bell, too.
The agreement facilitates the more rapid deployment of next generation wireless voice and data services on a national basis, optimizes cell-site utilization, and maximizes the potential for operating efficiencies. Customers should benefit from enhanced choice for roaming both domestically and internationally and access to new next generation data services and applications.
"The upfront investment in the initial deployment of this technology is non-recurring in nature while the strategic and financial benefits recur well into the future," added Robert McFarlane, Telus executive vice-president and CFO. "The anticipated advantages to Telus include lower network capital and ongoing network operating costs, lower handset costs due to the large HSPA device ecosystem, and access to increased future global roaming revenues."
Initial capital expenditures for the new network are included in Telus’ original and unchanged 2008 wireless capex guidance of approximately $1.9 billion this year. For 2009, Telus expects that total wireless capital requirements including those related to the HSPA build-out will be temporarily higher than historic levels at approximately $750 million.
Bell did not release similar figures.
