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7:22 pm
July 12, 2009
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Hi I haven't logged in here nor checked my SO phone for a while. My last visit to the forum was when it appeared that Rogers had cut SpeakOut off its 3G service. There are no recent posts about that so I have no idea what is happening. However on checking my SO phone I have solid 3G service showing in Victoria BC. I did not have 3G last time I checked at the beginning of November.
The reason I checked my phone was that a friend phoned me from Norway House Manitoba today. He had recently bought a SpeakOut phone and had driven to Norway House with the phone turned on. As expected he lost coverage at Ashern which is the end of the GSM coverage from Rogers (and anyone else). When He got to Norway House and put his SO SIM card in a 3G phone and it worked, clearly indicating that SpeakOut was accessing the MTS/Rogers 4G service locally.
I'm curious as to whether 3G is back everywhere or if it is random as it appeared to be for a while. If it is random I'm also curious as to whether the situation is different in Manitoba where the actual network is owned by MTS, not Rogers, and SpeakOut has access by the partnership/roaming agreement between MTS and Rogers.
7:40 pm
December 1, 2009
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I wouldn't say impossible. But I think it's impossible. Northern Manitoba has MTS 4G, which Rogers uses. No 3G phone should work (at least i don't think it should), unless it has HSPA or WCDMA or whatever (which would make it 4G).
So, from what I know, Speakout uses ROGERS 3G ONLY in Manitoba (I say that, because rogers owns and maintains the ONLY 3G network in Manitoba).
Rogers and MTS Customers SHARE 4G (HSPA / WCDMA / etc) on each others network throughout the province. They are the only ones using the MTS / Rogers 4G network in Manitoba. Telus has their own (somewhat pitiful) 4G network in Manitoba. And anyone that would roam onto the Rogers GSM network would get their 3G / EDGE service only.
7:51 pm
April 22, 2009
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MTS 4G is in reality HSPA+ 3G. So most unlocked 3G phones that work with Bell and Telus should work with MTS. A bit comical Rogers partnered with Rogers instead of Bell/Telus, but it is a plus with Speakout customers, as long as they are using 3G phones.
11:55 pm
February 15, 2012
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Telus/Bell phones do not work on the shared MTS/Rogers network.
Couple Telus owned towers in Brandon, Portage la Prarie, and they work well in Winnipeg, no other GSM access for Telus or Bell customers.
The SpeakOut phones should work fine anywhere on the MTS/Rogers network, but I haven't tested this. Rogers isn't too bad in Manitoba anyways.
Rogers has a roaming agreement with MTS, but not with Telus or Bell.
MTS and Rogers phones will work across the towers fine, Telus and Bell phones are partnered with MTS only for CDMA access, not GSM.
Taking an MTS phone into Alberta would be interesting to see if they will use Telus, Bell, and Rogers' towers, but I suspect only Rogers.
If that was a clear enough explantion, that is how that works.
