The Cell Phone Junkie

Canadian carrier TELUS Thursday announced it would be switching on its 4G LTE wireless network on Friday February 10th. The network launch will occur in 14 cities, including Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area, Kitchener, Waterloo, Hamilton, Guelph, Belleville, Ottawa, Montreal, Québec City, Halifax and Yellowknife. More regions across the country will come later this year, with 25 million Canadians covered by the end of 2012. Expected network speeds average 12 to 25Mbps.

TELUS will also be releasing a number of 4G enabled devices to coincide with the network launch. Those include the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9, the LG Optimus LTE and the Novatel Ovation MC679 Mobile Internet Key, all available on launch day. The Samsung Galaxy Note will also be available, with a release date of February 14th.

Source: Engadget

Press Release:

TELUS 4G LTE wireless service goes live in 14 metropolitan areas across Canada

Vancouver, B.C. – TELUS today announced that its 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless service will be available on Friday, February 10. Initial launch metropolitan areas include Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area, Kitchener, Waterloo, Hamilton, Guelph, Belleville, Ottawa, Montreal, Québec City, Halifax and Yellowknife. TELUS plans to continue rolling out its 4G LTE coverage to more regions across Canada to reach more than 25 million Canadians by the end of 2012.

TELUS customers can experience the full capabilities of TELUS’ 4G LTE network with the highly popular Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE tablet, the LG Optimus LTE smartphone or the Novatel Ovation MC679 4G LTE Mobile Internet Key, available in TELUS stores and online on February 10. The 4G LTE-capable Samsung Galaxy Note will also be available on February 14.

The launch of TELUS’ 4G LTE network also complements an innovative new service, Optik on the go, which allows TELUS Optik TV customers in B.C. and Alberta to view a selection of commercial free TV On Demand shows and movies on their mobile devices, tablets and laptops – at home, in coffee shops, airports, and on the move. This application allows users to start, pause, rewind and fast forward their shows just like they do at home. Optik on the go offers TV On Demand shows and movies from Super Channel, Hollywood Suite, Family Channel, Disney XD, Disney Jr, and Baby TV in English, French and Mandarin. The content library will continue to grow throughout 2012 and beyond as new shows and movies will be added constantly.

TELUS 4G LTE network supports manufacturers’ rated peak download speeds of up to 75 megabits per second (Mbps), with an expected average of 12 to 25 Mbps. TELUS customers will experience dramatically faster downloads when surfing the web, reading emails, getting the latest chart topping music, or watching TELUS Optik on the go when using TELUS’ 4G LTE services. Downloading a 600 megabyte album of songs with a 4G LTE-capable device will take just 3.5 to 7 minutes. Importantly, if TELUS customers travel outside of 4G LTE network coverage areas, they will move seamlessly from 4G LTE to 4G, with no disruption of service.

“Our commitment is to offer the best customer experience and we have followed through by launching a 4G LTE network with broad coverage in many communities across Canada. We also offer a solid and growing selection of LTE capable devices to ensure our customers can enjoy all the benefits of this advanced wireless technology,” said Eros Spadotto, TELUS executive vice-president of Technology Strategy and Operations. “We’re listening to our customers and working hard to give them clear and simple service terms with no surprises. Consistent with this approach, our current rate plans will apply to our 4G LTE customers. We are not introducing a new rate plan or charging a premium to enjoy our new network.”

Over the past few years, TELUS has introduced: rate plans without system access and 911 carrier fees, a device unlocking service, free SMS data notifications so customers know how much data they have used, and flexible data rate plans to avoid bill shock when customers go over their regular usage. TELUS also reduced international roaming rates by up to 60 per cent.

LTE is the latest evolution in TELUS’ wireless network technology rollover plan made possible by the 2009 launch of Canada’s fastest* coast-to-coast 4G wireless network. Today this network reaches more than 97 per cent of Canadians. Since 2000, TELUS has invested more than $30 billion to bring Canadians some of the most advanced wireless and wireline broadband networks in the world.

Starting February 10, please visit telusmobility.com/4GLTE for more information on TELUS 4G LTE and to sign up for network coverage updates.