Shaw Cellular

[Paolo]

Originally Posted by classicsat

About half of them use the Microcell/Fido network, I believe.
At least Citifone and its resellers (which was on the Microcell network before Rogers bought it), Simpro, and the 7-11 service, but I think can extend to the Rogers network.

They all use the Rogers Network. Some re-sellers may be restricted to the Fido Basic Footprint (which was Microcell before the aquisition/integration of the cell network), while others may have unrestricted access to the Rogers National footprint, which is also known as the Fido Expanded Footprint.

[westmanguy]

I can see Rogers letting little Pay as you go or small scale companies allowing Cellular off of their towers. But this is Shaw, they would want the Rogers territory for:

Winnipeg, Thomson, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Basically all of Alberta and BC.

Or maybe all of the 4 west provinces.

I don't think Rogers would be so quick to allow Shaw to piggy back off their towers for all those areas.

Unless we saw a Shaw - Rogers marriage... The Shaw family looking to get out of the cable industry?

[Paolo]

Originally Posted by westmanguy

I can see Rogers letting little Pay as you go or small scale companies allowing Cellular off of their towers. But this is Shaw, they would want the Rogers territory for:

Winnipeg, Thomson, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Basically all of Alberta and BC.

Or maybe all of the 4 west provinces.

I don't think Rogers would be so quick to allow Shaw to piggy back off their towers for all those areas.

Unless we saw a Shaw - Rogers marriage... The Shaw family looking to get out of the cable industry?

why wouldnt rogers allow shaw to piggy back off their network? fido piggy backs off of Rogers cell network, fido had over a million customers when they were their own network, now that million is using rogers. The rogers network was designed to handle the extra load of an extra million customers. Also, Rogers owns the entire A-Band 800/850 mhz spectrum nationally too, dont forget.

[David Susilo]

Rogers allow Fido piggy backs on their network because Fido is owned by Rogers.

[Paolo]

Originally Posted by David Susilo

Rogers allow Fido piggy backs on their network because Fido is owned by Rogers.

yeah but all the other MVNO's piggy back off rogers too and rogers doesnt own them. (except sprint) What Im saying is you dont seem to understand that rogers will gladly want shaw as an MVNO, otherwise rogers will have to face them going to Bellus.. and no body would like that, not even potential shaw wireless customers.

[Ganassi]

Originally Posted by canada45

So my question is, where did you get the idea, notion that Shaw is interested in Cell service? Corperate website, interview with a senior Shaw manager etc?

From what I hear Shaw is NOT looking at the cellular option strongly right now, they are in fact test out WiMAX though

[duck_man]

what about PC Mobile, Solo, Virgin, etc.? Whose towers are they borrowing? Virgin has great plans for small minutes users, nothing for the air-whores like myself (cellular as home phone) or business clients.

I'm still stuck on Telus because, well, I get a great deal on a discontinued plan. I have no intention of signing another contract.

[westmanguy]

Virgin, Solo, Primus, 7-11, Sears Connect, and a lot more are on the Rogers GSM Network.

[Paolo]

Originally Posted by westmanguy

Virgin, Solo, Primus, 7-11, Sears Connect, and a lot more are on the Rogers GSM Network.

Virgin uses Bell, not Rogers towers. You will also notice they sell cdma phones that dont have a sim card slot.

[westmanguy]

yeah SIM cards are on GSM and telco (Telus, Bell, MTS) don't have that..

[classicsat]

What makes Shaw different is their relationship to Rogers in general, becasue of their sordid history in the cable TV buisness.

Companies like PetroCanada and 7-11 have no such baggage.

FWIW, CDMA phones could use a SIM like card called a R-UIM, which is law in Korea and a few other places (that aren't USA or Canada) where CDMA dominates. The card and such unlocked R-UIM slot cpable CDMA phones are as universal on those CDMA networks as unlocked GSM phones are on GSM networks.

[mustardman]

Shaw has a closer business relationship with Bell since they use BELL for their Digital Phone service. Shaw and Rogers are arch enemies.

For those two reasons I would think Shaw would do some sort of Cell phone deal with Bell. I'd rather use GSM but if Shaw did CDMA I'd still consider them

[nikeisevil]

Using Shaw's previous experience of building a nationwide internet backbone with Big Pipe (now Shaw Business Solutions) I feel if Shaw were going to enter the wireless market it would be with something more along the lines of what Earthlink is doing in the U.S.

http://www.wral.com/business/local_t...story/1245357/

[Mr. Perfect]

Industry Canada is planning on new frequency auctions this summer