Roam Mobility launching LTE for US roaming

Vancouver-based Roam Mobility Inc. has added LTE data to its roaming plans for Canadians travelling to the United States, the company announced on Wednesday.

From July 7, customers who purchase one of the company’s plans will be able to access LTE data in more than 11 major cities across the U.S., including New York, Los Angeles and Miami, the company said in a press release.

Carriers finally have ‘will’ for VoLTE: analyst

After years of dragging their feet, carriers finally have “the will” to adopt the latest in wireless technology that will allow them to ditch their old networks once and for all, according to Nordicity analyst Stephan Meyer.

Canadian carriers only use the latest wireless technology, LTE, to carry text messages and data, while routing phone calls through their older CDMA or HSPA networks.

Wind seeks LTE spectrum from Shaw, Quebecor

TORONTO — Wind Mobile CEO Anthony Lacavera said Tuesday that his company needs access to LTE spectrum, perhaps from unused space held by Quebecor Inc. or Shaw Communications Inc., if his company is to continue to be a viable alternative to the incumbent wireless carriers.

AT&T, Verizon launch VoLTE services

Two of America’s largest wireless carriers have announced that they will be rolling out voice over LTE technology (VoLTE), with AT&T’s version of the service launching Friday and Verizon Communications Inc.’s launching “later this year,” according to press releases from both companies.

AT&T said in the release that it will be introducing VoLTE in areas of Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin, and that the service will be available on the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini smartphone.

Telus expands LTE network in Ontario, New Brunswick

Telus Corp. said Tuesday it has extended its LTE network to new communities in Ontario and New Brunswick.

It said in separate news releases that customers in Bradford, Ont., and Bathurst, N.B., would now be able to enjoy data speeds for downloads and uploads that are two to three times faster than the previous technology .

It said its LTE network now covers more than 30 million people, or about 85 per cent of Canada’s population.

Telus expands LTE network in Ontario

Telus Corp. has expanded its LTE mobile network into Port Hope and Cobourg, two side-by-side Ontario towns about 100 kilometres east of Toronto, the company said.

In a release Thursday, Telus said its mobile customers in those communities will now get Internet speeds that are two to three times faster than what was previously available when using LTE-enabled smartphones or other wireless devices.

Telus said its LTE network now covers 80 per cent of the population in Canada.

MTS offers LTE roaming throughout Canada, internationally

Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. on Monday said that it is now is offering its customers the opportunity to roam on LTE networks in most major urban areas in Canada and the United States, as well as other international locations.

It said its customers can now transition to LTE networks outside of Manitoba in more than 80 locations throughout Canada, and that the same applies to most major urban centres in the U.S. and some other international locations.

MTS expands LTE network to Steinbach

Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. subsidiary MTS Inc. expanded its next-generation LTE wireless network to Steinbach, Man., the company said.

MTS said in a release Wednesday that Steinbach is the fifth of six communities in Manitoba to which it will roll out LTE services this year.

Taking that pebble out of your shoe, and the move to LTE voice

Mobile providers in Canada and around the world are walking around with a proverbial “pebble” in their shoe and could save millions of dollars each month when advancements in LTE wireless technology inevitably allow them to take it out, technology experts and industry insiders say.

Once touted as the future of mobile communications, voice over LTE—or VoLTE—has been largely “ignored” by network operators for much of the past four years as they focused on catering to consumers’ increasing demand for better and faster data services.

Telus expands LTE in Atlantic Canada

Telus Corp. extended its 4G LTE network to Conception Bay, N.L. and Sydney, N.S., the company said in two releases Monday.

On July 3, the company announced it also expanded the network to Strathroy, Ont., Fort Nelson, B.C., and Georgetown, Ont.

The company’s LTE network “now covers more than 70 per cent of the Canadian population across approximately 170 markets,” Telus said in a release.

Telus expands LTE in New Brunswick and Ontario

Telus Corp. said its fourth-generation LTE wireless service is now available in Fredericton, N.B., and additional Ontario communities.

In a release Monday, Telus said its LTE service now covers more than 70 per cent of Canada’s population in about 170 markets.

SaskTel offers Canada-wide LTE coverage

SaskTel's fourth-generation LTE customers will now have the ability to roam nationally, the company said Thursday.

In a release, SaskTel said its LTE network would be expanded to the communities of Estevan, Moose Jaw, North Battleford, Prince Albert, Swift Current, Weyburn and Yorkton.

The LTE network is currently available in Regina, Saskatoon, Clavet, Dundurn, Langham, Lumsden, Martensville, Osler, Pense, Vanscoy, Warman, White City Dalmeny and Balgonie, the release said.

Telus expands LTE to Saint John

Telus Corp. turned on fourth-generation LTE mobile wireless services in Saint John, N.B., and two other Atlantic Canada cities, the company said.

In a release Tuesday, Telus said its launch of LTE services in Saint John follows launches in Moncton, N.B. and St. John’s, N.L.

Rogers would use Shaw spectrum to quickly expand LTE services, Rogers, experts say

Rogers Communications Inc. could quickly expand the capacity of its fourth-generation LTE network in lucrative Western Canadian markets to offer faster data speeds for a larger number of subscribers if it is allowed to acquire Shaw Communications Inc.’s AWS spectrum, industry experts say.

Telus expands LTE footprint

Telus Corp. turned on its fourth-generation LTE network in more than a dozen areas of British Columbia and Quebec, the company said last week.

In a series of releases, Telus said it had activated its LTE networks in the B.C. communities of Strathmore, Drayton Valley, Surrey, Richmond, North Delta, White Rock, Langley, Maple Ridge, and Pitt Meadows, as well as across the Okanagan, Fraser Valley and Greater Victoria areas.

New entrants not likely to carry iPhone before 2014, analyst says

Canada’s new entrant carriers are not likely to carry Apple Inc.’s popular iPhone smartphone before 2014 after their network configurations were shut out of Apple’s newly released iPhone 5, said Johanne Lemay, co-president of media and telecom consultancy Lemay-Yates Associates.

Rogers expanding LTE network this month

Rogers Communications Inc. will expand its fourth-generation LTE service to 10 new cities by Oct. 1, the company said on its RedBoard blog Wednesday.

Rogers said it will bring LTE to the cities of Kingston, Oakville, Burlington, London, Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Barrie, Ont., as well as Quebec City and Edmonton.

The company said it plans to bring LTE to 60 per cent of the population by the end of the year.

SaskTel and Huawei to trial fixed broadband on LTE

SaskTel is teaming up with Huawei Technologies Co. to trial a fourth-generation LTE fixed wireless network in Saskatchewan, the companies said Monday.

In a release, SaskTel said the trial will use Huawei “solutions and equipment” to roll out 100 Mbps, fixed Internet services in at least three rural communities across the province starting in December.

It did not say which communities would be included in the trial, which will run through August 2013.

Allow regional carriers to share 700 MHz networks, bid separately in auction, Quebecor says

Industry Canada should allow regional wireless carriers operating in different parts of the country to share network infrastructure and bid in next year's 700 MHz auction as separate players, Quebecor Media Inc. said.

In reply comments filed with the department for its final consultation on the auction rules, Quebecor said Industry Canada must ensure the auction regulations avoid “a double standard whereby it encourages alliances among national players to the detriment of alliances involving regional players.”