TORONTO – Rogers confirmed Wednesday that it will launch its Long Term Evolution (LTE) network this year and roll out commercial services in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Ottawa. The company then plans to launch in what it described as “the top 25 markets across Canada” by 2012.
"The world is moving to LTE and we’re thrilled to be leading the way by bringing this next generation technology to our consumer and business customers", said Rogers Communications president and CEO Nadir Mohamed, in a statement on Wednesday morning. "LTE is the critical foundation to deliver a world increasingly being defined by connected experiences. With LTE, our customers can use their smart phones, tablets and laptops in ways they never before thought possible."
LTE is considered a 4G wireless technology that enables features like fast HD video streaming, gaming, communications, transactions and other connected experiences through mobile Internet.
Rogers said that customers will experience speeds that are between three and four times faster than HSPA+, with peak download rates of "up to" 150 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 70 Mbps. LTE permits greater usage capacity meaning more users can access the network at top speeds without affecting overall network performance, the announcement continued.
With supplier Ericsson, Rogers plans to initially launch LTE using AWS spectrum and will over time deploy LTE in multiple bands. The two companies worked together on a LTE wireless network technical trial in the Ottawa-area last fall.
Industry observers have speculated that with Bell and Telus dividing resources over a shared national wireless network that Rogers would also have seek out a similar partner (such as perhaps Shaw, which recently put the brakes on its network build saying it wants to deploy LTE) in order to build out a brand new nationwide network.
"While today’s announcement is about a Rogers’ first, we are always open to opportunities," a Rogers spokesperson told Cartt.ca in an e-mailed response to that questtion.
And as for the Bell-Rogers partnership in Inukshuk (a Wi-Max-driven wireless broadband division) and the company’s thoughts on Wi-Max in general, which was long thought to be a contender as the next wave of wireless evolution? The company had no comment. Said the spokesperson: "We considered a variety of different technologies to roll out in Canada. We have chosen to deploy LTE because it is the global gold standard in next generation wireless networks. It provides faster wireless data transfers and less latency than other wireless networks. We are initially launching with AWS and will deploy over multiple bands over time to bring the best experience to customers."
