Telus and Bell changes coming | Other carriers | Consumer forum

This may or may not be a big deal for light phone users on Speak Out.
Telus, Bell, and likely the other GPRS services in Canada (MTS, Saktel, and Aliant and someone in Quebec.) are in the testing phases of rolling out a 3G network across Canada. It will be GSM and Sim card based.
I was checking on renewing my Telus plan out of curiosity the other day despite knowing it doesn't expire until next January. I logged in to the self serve page and I see that I have several upgrade possibilities that expire at the end of October. Some good phones for free if I sign up for 3 years.

I phoned customer service on a "fishing trip" and was told that the good deals may get even better by the end of October. The person said that there may be some really good deals on the GPRS phones as they are being replaced, and some introductory deals on new GSM phones for the revised network. He didn't advise one way or the other -- he just suggested that I may want to wait if my old phone is working well. I subsequently confirmed that news at a mall phone store. Both said that the prime initial target in BC is the international travellers who will be here for the 2010 Olympics.

Whether the deals from the extra competitors in the GSM marketplace will do much for coverage or service will remain to be seen. However for us SO users, the pool of used phones will grow so the price should improve. They may all be locked -- this is Canada after all -- but the bigger the pool the more competitive it becomes.