[99semaj]

I've been spending a few days in Newfoundland, and as most Rogers users know well, there is no coverage off the Avalon peninsula.

I thought it interesting, though, that my while I had no service, my Blackberry Bold said I could still make an emergency call.

Curious, I did a network scan and found a full strength HSPA 3G network called "302-880". I know it's not the St-Pierre-et-Miquelon network because that properly displays as "SPM" and they have voice-only GSM.

Could it be that Aliant has installed its HSPA/GSM upgrade in rural areas and is just idling it until the whole province is ready to go? This could be great news for customers wanting to be rid of the CDMA shackles.

 

[Wharfe]

Hi there,

Where are you staying in NL? I am in St. John's, and I have been monitoring the implementation of the HSPA network at sites around town because I've seen the crews working and seen the new equipment installed on some towers.

I am assuming you are not in St. John's, because I believe Rogers covers most of the city, so if you were here you wouldn't have lost the Rogers signal.

Aliant is still working on sites around town, I would have assumed they would start on the city towers first and then expanded as time goes on (I know in some rural areas they still only have a 1X network, not EVDO) .. but maybe they have multiple crews working and are expanding more rural areas already.

I actually posted a thread here a while back of one of the new antenna rigs on the ground before it was installed. I only have a CDMA phone so I cannot find out if the new network is online yet like you can.

 

[99semaj]

Hi Wharfe: I've observed it all through the Burin peninsula, as far down as Grand Bank. I wonder if a roaming agreement will be struck with Rogers?

 

[Wharfe]

Interesting.. I'm nowhere near there, but it has to come from SOMEWHERE.. I wish there was someone in St. John's with a BlackBerry who could test it here.

I highly doubt there will be a roaming agreement, there shouldn't be. Aliant has done a lot of work here to have the coverage that they do. Rogers is being lazy. I assume it is not worth Rogers money here to build up a network to compete with Aliants, but what I don't understand is how in other places Rogers seems to have just as many or more towers than other companies.. covering all sorts of areas where the other providers have dead zones..

Most people here have BellAliant or Telus, and you can see why. Some have Rogers, but I'm not sure who would or why while living here, their coverage is terrible. I guess some people just don't know the difference before hand. So, I'd say a roaming agreement here would be more beneficial to those who visit NL moreso than those living here.

 

[99semaj]

I'll be back in St. John's monday and will scan it.

I've found on another forum site that this is definitely Aliant's HSPA/GSM network, though. They appear well along the way of getting the province ready for the newer technology.

 

[Wharfe]

Wow, thanks for the info.. and please do post your results of testing here.

They are working very fast at this, many of the St. John's & Mt. Pearl sites have the equipment in place (and I assume "online" now) .. they must have other crews working in the rest of the province! Awesome!

 

[99semaj]

I highly doubt there will be a roaming agreement, there shouldn't be. Aliant has done a lot of work here to have the coverage that they do. Rogers is being lazy. I assume it is not worth Rogers money here to build up a network to compete with Aliants, but what I don't understand is how in other places Rogers seems to have just as many or more towers than other companies.. covering all sorts of areas where the other providers have dead zones.

Be that as is may, Aliant can still make money off Rogers and vice-versa by having roaming agreements. More importantly, customers will get access to a lot more towers and that's good for everyone.

 

[Anteater]

I'm in Central and we only have 1X here right now.

Really hoping for HSPA soon but I'm not getting my hopes up, but if Grand Bank has HSPA, we should get it here too...

My friend just got a Telus Blackberry Pearl... how do you do a network scan?
Edit: I'm assuming it won't find HSPA networks anyway when it's a CDMA phone... forgot that. :/

 

[17671]

302-880 is Telus/Bell Shared. not aliant, not st pierre. Bell/Telus Shared.

 

[Anteater]

302-880 is Telus/Bell Shared. not aliant, not st pierre. Bell/Telus Shared.

Aliant is a Bell company...

 

[Wharfe]

Yes it is BellAliant here, the mobile phones are all under the 'Bell' name now.

NF372, are you saying you don't even have EVDO there yet? If so, I'd say the chances of HSPA would be slim, but perhaps this is different since their existing phones are still compatible on what they had built. If they sell something with the new HSPA network that only works on HSPA, then wouldn't it not work in areas where they previously had coverage? Maybe this would be a reason for them to implement it in a lot of areas, and maybe you'll get lucky!

 

[Anteater]

Yes it is BellAliant here, the mobile phones are all under the 'Bell' name now.

NF372, are you saying you don't even have EVDO there yet? If so, I'd say the chances of HSPA would be slim, but perhaps this is different since their existing phones are still compatible on what they had built. If they sell something with the new HSPA network that only works on HSPA, then wouldn't it not work in areas where they previously had coverage? Maybe this would be a reason for them to implement it in a lot of areas, and maybe you'll get lucky!

Nope, no EVDO. The only places in the province with EVDO are St. John's (metro), Clarenville, Gander, Grand Falls-Windsor and Corner Brook AFAIK.

I don't think anywhere on the Burin Peninsula has EVDO either (maybe Marystown area?) and if a HSPA network is being detected there, there might be hope for this area.

I'll be spending the majority of my time in St. John's soon anyway but if the new HSPA phones are not compatible with the current 1X/EVDO CDMA technology, that will mean very limited coverage in the province if Bell/Telus are only bringing it to areas that currently have EVDO.

 

[99semaj]

I don't think the old EVDO/1X footprint has anything to do with the new HSPA overlay. BellAliant likely pared down the the EVDO/1X deployment a long time ago when they realized that CDMA was no longer a going concern.

I detected full strength HSPA all the way down to Lamaline, so I'd say the whole network is getting the upgrade.

 

[Anteater]

I don't think the old EVDO/1X footprint has anything to do with the new HSPA overlay. BellAliant likely pared down the the EVDO/1X deployment a long time ago when they realized that CDMA was no longer a going concern.

I detected full strength HSPA all the way down to Lamaline, so I'd say the whole network is getting the upgrade.

Keeping my fingers crossed... you wouldn't happen to be going to central anytime soon with your blackberry, would you?

 

[99semaj]

I haven't been your way since '96! Not my neck of the woods at all.

I wouldn't worry about it, though. If Lamaline has it, everyone will

 

[99semaj]

Wow, thanks for the info.. and please do post your results of testing here.

They are working very fast at this, many of the St. John's & Mt. Pearl sites have the equipment in place (and I assume "online" now) .. they must have other crews working in the rest of the province! Awesome!

Scanned near the airport, and I can see both 302-880 (now confirmed as Bell/Telus) as well as Rogers 3G.

 

[Anteater]

I haven't been your way since '96! Not my neck of the woods at all.

I wouldn't worry about it, though. If Lamaline has it, everyone will

Hopefully. Did you detect any Bell HSPA networks anywhere else outside the St. John's metro and the Burin Peninsula?

 

[99semaj]

Nope, those are the only places I went.

 

[AJSHER]

The 302-880 network ID is also appearing in central/eastern Ontario (North of Belleville). My Rogers Internet stick is showing it, ironically in an area where they only offer 2G EDGE... Could be time to switch networks!