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MTS FiON Lightning Internet Plans

15K views 23 replies 9 participants last post by  mcmanone 
#1 ·
Code:
[B]Plan         FiON 50    FiON 100    FiON 250 [/B] 
Download     50 Mbps    100 Mbps    250 Mbps  
Upload       5 Mbps     15 Mbps     30 Mbps  
Usage        Unlimited  Unlimited   Unlimited  
Monthly Fee  $75.00     $140.00     $280.00
These plans are available in communities where MTS has launched the MTS FiON Network.

Since 2010, MTS has launched the MTS FiON Network in Selkirk, Steinbach, Dauphin, Thompson, The Pas, Neepawa, Carberry, select areas of Winnipeg, and will be coming soon to Minnedosa and Killarney.

Press release.

Notes:
- Prices are before bundling discounts
- FiON is only available in a few new developments in Winnipeg including Waverley West.
 
#2 ·
I can't tell for certain but it looks like they are doing fibre optic drops in Amber Trails right now. Every major street corner has been plowed and driveways on the primary and secondary routes have been spray painted for underground cabling. Lots of MTS trucks around during the day trenching cables underground. Doesn't look like a fun job for this time of year...

I wonder if MTS repairs the damage they do in running these lines? All new homes in this area and some people have put big $$$'s into their landscaping.
 
#3 ·
Not sure, but I don't understand why they would be doing a neighborhood that is relatively new, compared to other neighborhoods. They've been doing "fiber only" in new neighborhoods for the past couple years (from what I remember) and prior to that they were roughing in fiber alongside the copper (to the home!) for about 5 years. Also they've been more focused on upgrading/overhauling smaller cities around MB where the copper infrastructure is in rough shape.

I could be wrong. Maybe they figured demand will be there, and there are enough new homes to just blend the older homes into the network. Still doesn't make sense, because it is quite an undertaking from my experience up north. Aerial wire isn't so bad, but with buried, they have to trench in the feeds down each street (with underground tubs) and run temp lines to homes getting the service, then trench those in once the snow's gone.

Maybe the cost is so low now, they will also start lighting up the newer areas that were roughed in. Will be interested to see.
 
#4 ·
Just wanted to mention that the work on this really slowed down since that bad snowstorm we had about a week ago. All the marked spot and plowed corners go covered over. Maybe they just packed it in and will resume in the spring. I know for a fact that they definitely did trench a stretch between Leila and Amber Trail as I was watching them pull the line through (big thick orange casing). But I never did ask the workers exactly what they were trenching for so take it with a grain of salt...
 
#5 ·
They may not be going to the upgrade the existing houses.

It could be like they did in E.K. a few years ago when MTS had to directionally drill for new fiber optic cables to connect to the MTS dslam's for MTS TV because all the existing u/g conduit was full with copper wire.

They could also be putting in a new run for the expansion of service in Amber Trails and it may terminate in a remote concentrator building. MTS has 4 or 5 remotes that I can think of in Winnipeg.
 
#6 ·
Another interesting thing is that it seems they've put in curbside remotes in some areas (i know of at least 1 or 2 just outside the perimeter & main or Henderson) They have battery backups right inside them.

Guessing it's better than sending dial tone all the way from a remote building which may be far away. And made the area eligible for xDSL services.
 
#7 ·
Thats the whole idea of the remotes. They eliminate the need for load coils on long runs of copper from the switch in the exchange building.

The one on Paddington actually looks like a house so if you don't know what your looking for you could miss it. A couple of the others like the one on Regent have the MTS logo on the front so its not hard to miss.

Besides the battery backup they may also have connections for external generator power.
 
#8 ·
Yeah I know of those huts, but what i meant was there are some newer cabinets that have everything within it (crazy they can fit it all into an enclosure that small instead of a building!)

Sorry if I'm rambling. I have a weird interest in how all this different stuff works. Most people probably don't give a s---.

Anyway, I haven't seen a speedtest yet on these new plans. Sounds impressive. And it'll probably be consistent compared to the other guys eh? ;)
 
#17 ·
what area of the city are you in? I am in St. Boniface and have fion50 available here :)
I have BB50 w.Shaw right now and while its been rock solid

<a href="http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/3058547170"><img src="http://www.speedtest.net/result/3058547170.png" /></a>

They increased the price another $5 (thats $10 in the last year) and this with the promo price for 3 months is a no brainer to be honest. Hell I can have Ultimate TV on promo for the same price and no bandwidth caps. I just want more people to pipe up who have it and are more than happy with it. Glad you are. 1 more nail in Shaws coffin.
 
#11 ·
If there are no MTS trucks involved it could be contractor for Shaw doing something to expand their overloaded nodes, as they use the same orange conduct for underground that MTS uses.

If it was more of a red colour it could be related to the expansion of the Scotland Ave station that Manitoba Hydro is currently doing.
 
#14 ·
OK, that I can explain.

Telus has been putting in underground fiber to its towers instead of relying on microwave or leased copper lines to its towers.

I have seen them in the sidewalks and highway shoulders in the north east part of Winnipeg (i.e. Transcona), and they usually have an orange plastic marker on each side of the cover with Telus contact info until the snowplows knock them over or vandals pull them out of the ground.

Last two runs I saw being installed for Telus were along Dugald Road from east of Hwy 59 to out to by Oakbank, and along Hwy 59 from by their existing cell tower at Springfield road running north to a new tower off of Highway 59 & Highway 4
 
#20 ·
I would consider that acceptable.

I called Shaw and gave my cancellation notice and will now be calling MTS to get my installation scheduled. :)

Shaw would only give me a $5 discount on my current bill which would make it $75/month for 6 months and that was it. To me it was not worth it to have the same conversation again in 6 months when for the first 3 I can get it for $40 from MTS and after the promo period still be lower than Shaw.
 
#21 ·
Jimmy, my experience has been that MTS FiON shouldn't slow to a crawl like the "other guys" ;)

It must be something to do with the technology. Fibre is still shared to a point, as far as I know. But being fibre to the home, instead of coax ("other guys") it must not be susceptible to congestion. Either that, or not enough people are using it yet ;)
 
#22 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hmm any ideals if Mts ran The simplest optical distribution network architecture is direct fiber: each fiber leaving the central office goes to exactly one customer. Such networks can provide excellent bandwidth but are about 10% more costly due to the fiber and central office machinery.
Direct fiber is generally favored by new entrants and competitive operators. A benefit is that no layer 2 networking technologies are excluded, whether passive optical network (PON), active optical network (AON), or other. Any form of regulatory remedy is possible using this topology.Or did they go with Shared fiber AON or PON?
 
#23 ·
I don't know how it works, but I'm guessing it's not a direct 1:1 from the CO. We go into cabinets in each area where we take a specific strand (fed from an optical splitter--a dead giveaway right there?) and plug it into a distribution panel representing each customer.

I believe this is a GPON network. I'm assuming the theoretical "gigabit" speed is shared among each optical splitter. There aren't many splitters in each cabinet. 3 or 4?

I guess this setup is similar to the "other guys" but probably has way more bandwidth than their HFC network. Or not? Some areas they offer a 250 Mbps plan like MTS eh?

I may have said some of this already. If so, forgive me for being repetitive.
 
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