TORONTO – Rogers Communications said Monday it has turned on 5G service in the busiest sections of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) subway system for transit riders who are customers of all major Canadian wireless carriers.
Starting Oct. 2, subway riders who subscribe to any of the country’s major wireless providers are now able to connect to 5G and talk, text and stream in the core parts of the TTC’s underground system, including all stations and tunnels in the so-called “Downtown U” plus Spadina and Dupont stations on Line 1, and 13 stations on Line 2 from Keele to Castle Frank, plus the tunnels between St. George and Yonge stations.
Rogers had already turned on 5G for its own customers in these areas of the TTC subway on Aug. 23.
On Sept. 11, Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne set a deadline of Oct. 3 for all mobile carriers to provide service to their customers on Rogers’s wireless network in the TTC subway system.
Rogers says in a press release Monday, to get the network ready for all subway riders, the company conducted “extensive testing” including live calls with Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly, who FaceTimed his father while riding the subway underground, as shown in this YouTube video posted by Rogers.
“We are very pleased to bring 5G connectivity to all subway riders,” Tony Staffieri, president and CEO of Rogers, said in the release. “Our team has been working around the clock to introduce an immediate solution so all riders can connect when travelling on the busiest sections of the TTC subway system. I am so proud of our Rogers technology team who continue to bring innovation, ingenuity, and leading solutions to Canadians. Today’s announcement is another milestone in our plan to make wireless services available throughout the entire subway system.”
“Our dedicated team of technologists designed and introduced an immediate solution that added capacity, so Bell and Telus could join the network,” said Ron McKenzie, Rogers’s chief technology and information officer. “For over 10 years, subway riders have been without mobile phone services and the Rogers team is pleased to step up and make 5G a reality for all riders today.”
In April, Rogers acquired the cellular network in the TTC subway system when it purchased the Canadian operations of BAI Communications, which had the exclusive rights to build out the TTC’s wireless network. At that time, Freedom Mobile was the only wireless carrier to have signed up to provide service to its customers on the subway system.
Rogers says when it bought BAI Canada it “committed to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to roll out 5G service and more reliable 911 access across all 75 subway stations and to nearly 80 kilometres of track,” according to the press release.
“Today’s announcement marks the next phase in the plan to modernize the network,” the release continues. “The previous network could not support all TTC riders and coverage was extremely limited. Since acquiring the network, Rogers has worked closely with the TTC to increase its cellular capacity and improve the quality of services to support traffic for all riders.”
When Innovation Minister Champagne set the Oct. 3 deadline for all carriers to provide service in the TTC subway system using Rogers’s wireless network, government officials made it clear that carriers who failed to comply would face either administrative monetary penalties or the suspension or revocation of licences.
Carriers who failed to gain access to the Rogers network and provide services through no fault of their own, however, would not be penalized, officials said at the time. It would be Rogers who would shoulder the penalty, if found to have prevented the other carriers’ access to its network, officials said.
Rogers’s announcement Monday would seem to suggest the company has met its obligation to provide access to other wireless carriers, one day ahead of Innovation Canada’s imposed deadline for all carriers to provide service on Rogers’s TTC wireless network.
In a statement, Bell said: “Today is a great day for Bell customers in Toronto. Bell network engineers have been ramping up service for Bell customers through the weekend and we’re pleased to confirm that our customers regardless of device type or rate plan now have access to 5G /4G / 3G wireless service on the TTC.
“Our customers can now communicate with friends and family, stream video or work on their devices while riding the subway and in underground stations with network access,” the Bell statement added. “We would like to thank Minister Champagne for his leadership in ensuring that all wireless carriers have the ability to serve their customers in Toronto’s subway system, and that Rogers can no longer delay the deployment of wireless service for all TTC riders regardless of their choice of carrier. Bell looks forward to working collaboratively with our partners to build out the remainder of the TTC’s wireless network.”
Image supplied by Rogers.
