REGINA – SaskTel said Tuesday that it will be turning down its Code division multiple access (CDMA) network in exactly one year, as the company shifts its focus to 4G/LTE.
CDMA devices and network equipment availability are becoming more costly to repair and difficult to source as that wireless technology is being phased out across the world. SaskTel said that it will be turning down its CDMA network on July 5, 2017, and that its roaming partners will likely begin to turn down their respective CDMA networks in early 2017. This means that SaskTel customers will lose coverage when leaving Saskatchewan if they continue using their CDMA device.
SaskTel stopped offering CDMA devices and service contracts in their stores and authorized dealers effective March 31, 2015 to ensure that no customer will be left in a contract and without coverage for the turn-down date. The company said that it will be transitioning existing CDMA customers to its 4G and 4G LTE network.
“SaskTel is committed to providing Saskatchewan residents with the best wireless networks in the province, however as technology evolves, it becomes necessary to turn down older networks,” said president and CEO Ron Styles, in the news release. “By shutting down the CDMA network, we can repurpose spectrum so we can continue to add capacity to our 4G and 4G LTE network province-wide and resources can be refocused towards emerging technologies, products, and services.”
