Canada's Two CDMA Networks Planning a Migration to WCDMA

Two of Canada's mobile network operators, Bell and Telus are reported to be planning a joint network upgrade which would allow them to offer services based on a WCDMA platform. Both companies currently operate a CDMA network and there have been rumours for the past few months that both were individually looking at a migration to WCDMA.

Unnamed sources have told the Financial Post that the overlay of the network would cost around US$1 billion and take about a year to deploy. The network infrastructure is understood to be provided by Nokia Siemens Networks which also recently started building a shared network infrastructure platform in the UK.

If they follow the model in other countries, then it can be expected that their masts and the 3G access networks will be combined - but their respective core networks will remain independent and they will retain control of their own radio frequencies.

While the network would then be able to offer GSM/3G based handsets - the overlay will not include a GSM platform and will only support the 3G mode. It is possible though that the companies might sign a 2G roaming agreement with one of the new entrants who are expected to build a network following the recent radio spectrum auction.

Any new entrant will be able to secure a roaming agreement with the incumbent operators, so a mutually shared roaming package would be financially beneficial for both parties.

Rival operator, Rogers Wireless is the sole GSM network in the country - and was able to use that to secure exclusive access to the iconic Apple iPhone recently.

"One would expect Bell and Telus to want to be quite aggressive in being able to compete with Rogers," telecom analyst Mark Goldberg said Friday.

None of the companies have commented on the report.

Figures from the Mobile World subscriber database notes that Bell Mobility ended the first quarter with 6.25 million customers, compared to 7.58 million for Rogers Wireless and 5.66 million for Telus.

On the web: Financial Post - Mobile World

Posted to the site on 31st August 2008