Virgin Mobile Canada lights up HSPA+ network, iPhone 3GS, Bold 9700 in tow
By Donald Melanson 
posted January 30th 2010 10:11AM
posted January 30th 2010 10:11AM
Well, it's a bit earlier than the invitation to the big launch event suggested, but it looks like Virgin Mobile Canada is now officially part of the HSPA+ club, and it's now also selling a couple of new phones you might be interested in. Naturally, the network will give you coverage in line with the Bell network that Virgin is piggybacking on (encompassing 93% of Canadians), and you can expect the same download speeds of up to 21.6 megabits per second and upload speeds up to 5.76 -- in "ideal conditions," of course. As expected, the carrier is now also offering a number of new phones that take advantage of the network, not the least of which include the iPhone 3G and 3GS (in all the usual varieties), and the BlackBerry Bold 9700. Hit up the link below to check out the complete lineup, and Virgin's new smartphone plan offerings, which start at $50 per month
population coverage says nothing, area coverage says all
@Xstream
Agreed there is a lot of space between populations here. But IIRC Virgin just uses the Bell HSPA network so you should be good.
@Xstream
Well canada is freaking huge, and to cover it you'd have to build 80,000 towers of which 70,000 would only be used once every 2 years or so (wild off the top of the head guesses, but probably not even that far off)
So yeah you can see why they use the population number trick.
@Wwhat the thing is this trick is widely accepted all over the world only some african providers seem to use population coverage instead
I like that new carriers are finally giving the big three here some competition, but it would be nice if they actually did something different.
Still 3 years? Still no unlimited data? Still essentially the same features and price the others offer? What's the point of competition if everyone is offering the exact same stuff at the same price? Its like watching a race where everyone is running side by side.
@Ruben
Hello,
even the page link is broken, I think we could get a data plan without a 3-year contract...which is unseen for us Canadians!
@xDRAN0x
wind mobile
@Ruben Bell owns 100% of Virgin Mobile. They don't compete with one another. Bell is just using Virgin as a way to trick people into THINKING there is additional competition. The fact that you can't get the iPhone without a data plan is 100% Bell shenanigans
@lorax1284 "The fact that you can't get the iPhone without a data plan is 100% Bell shenanigans"
iirc, that's Apple shenanigans, not your carrier. all iphones worldwide require a data plan wherever enforcement is legal as Apple gets a percentage of the data plan profits. again, iirc.
@lorax1284 - That's actually Apple there. A data plan with iPhone purchase is required in every country where iPhone is available I believe.
@MRCUR Nope. This is in fact inaccurate. You can get it in Hong Kong without a Data Plan... Either as
1) Unlocked, Without a Plan, with Nothing
2) Subsidized Phone with Speech Plan. Data as Post-Paid
3) Voice Only + SMS
4) Unlocked, USB Modems on iPhone - capped at 3.6. - No need for additional Voice / Data Plan.
@(Unverified) - Ah, thanks for the info. I would certainly love the unlocked/unsubsidized/no plan option here in the US, but I doubt we'll ever see that from Apple.
@oakie Not so. Fido offers the iPhone with no data plan. Heck, that's how i got my 3G 1.5 years ago.
Adi
Isn't the iPhone hardware limited to 7 megabit/s HSDPA? If so how does it take advantage of 21.6 megabit/s networks?
@Denholm it obviously doesnt. it just works up to the device's theoretical max and not the carriers.
think, man!
@Denholm - It doesn't. The iPhone, and Bold 9700 I believe, only works with 7.2Mb HSPA.
uh same price? they are almost 30 dollars more then average data plans. new? they have been around for half a decade or more. nobody is going to budge until the coverage for the new companies is expanded(daves who has not launched yet and wind). unlimited data? nobody actually has unlimited data anywhere, they all quote a cap of some kind.the only good plan is the 30.00 6gb tethering plan that is only available in the summer months(after iphone launches) which is rogers/fido only. the next best is wind with 35.00 for 5gb+ and no contract but lousy coverage.
Jeebus H Chryst !!! Those rate plans just make my sphincter quiver with excitement already. 3 yrs of the good stuff. Seriously though, these suck!
First off, virgin is owned by bell so it's going to have the exact same plans. iPhone is limited to 7.2 Mbps but if you have an air card you can achieve 21mbps.
does it still use HSDPA 850/1900mhz?
yes same as bell.
Do you have to be a doucebag hipster to sign up?
@Bandigolo
no, you have to be a Virgin
HSPA+ users sniff each other? Is that what this ad is telling me?
@virtual i thought the ad was hinting at canadians all being gay.
I love Virgin Mobile. I use pay as you go and here in the UK its only 30p a day if you decide to use internet (25MB limit), which is great if I decide I want to use facebook or read a little Engadget & Slashdot on the bus. Their other rates are reasonable too and I get 300 free texts for topping up a tenner which isn't bad.
@richb93
different company from the virgin in canada. you would embarrassed by what they did here. first mistake was buying up minutes from bell completely ignoring the fact that foreign phone owners would not be able to roam on it. then they sold out to bell.
@richb93 - You guys in the UK have it nice when it comes to wireless companies. The US companies aren't nearly as bad as Canada's either. And like the above comments say, Virgin Mobile Canada has nothing to do with the actual Virgin company besides the brand name.
As a user of a 21Mb/sec network in another country, I can say you will get no where near this speed. It is the rated speed of one sector of a base station. The best we can achieve with a 21 device is around 8 - 12Mb/sec and this depends on backhaul and other users on the same sector at the same time.
There's no difference.. effectively the same price as all the others PLUS they (VIRGIN) bill by the minute.. I ended up getting the iphone 3GS from Fido yesterday.. same total price at the end of the day (actually, all in, the price plan was several dollars less than VIRGIN) and they BILL BY THE SECOND.. I get all my minutes, not some rounded off variant..
@funkright
should have waited for better data plans in the summer.
@(Unverified) i think he should have bought a better phone...
@funkright per second billing? seriously?
all we have in the land below the friendly hat is fcc approved collusion, double dipping of minutes, and minutes/megabytes always rounded upwards.
at least we dont have 3-year contracts yet, i guess.
@(Unverified) I can always change my price plan.. Gotta love competition :-)
GUYS & GALS,
Stop Whining.
There is no incentive for the carriers to lower their price plans for data. Why cut the costs? You all keep buying the latest greatest phones that use the data plans. You sign up for their 2 and 3 year programs. You buy into all of the B$ they have.
Dump the data phones, go back to basic phones. Use Apple Touch's if you must have an apple portable. It will save you money,
No one really wants or needs to constantly be updated on twitter or face-book every time you think you have an Epiphany or go to the john. If, on the other hand you feel you are so important you must continue to do those things, PAY THE PIPER ans stop WHINING!
Nuff Said!
@Coach George
I have no smartphone, data plan, or service of any kind for that matter. Its just not worth paying $50 a month to get a phone that is barely useable.
But even those that do have service a right to whine about laws and federal policy. The FCC at least attempts to intervene and find solutions. The CRTC on the other hand, whose mandate is to protect consumers, is the very embodiment of "regulatory capture"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture
For a better idea of what they're like on the inside, read this about "The Man who won't do lunch":
http://www.srtv.on.ca/mf.html
And of course, none of this is baseless drama:
http://dissolvethecrtc.ca/
In the last 2 years, they've effectively:
- blocked new mobile carrier entry (Wind) after Industry Canada gave them spectrum and operating licenses, causing a one month launch delay that was only cleared by cabinet
- given Bell free reign to use deep packet inspection, and throttle various protocols (torrent), something your FCC slapped comcast hard on
- given Bell go-ahead to throttle their wholesale clients' customers; meaning all services offered by independent isps are being made identical to what Bell themselves offer
- given Bell go-ahead to essentially cap wholesale clients' customers data usage to 60gb (currently I have 250gb/mo, highest in Canada), and charge for overages, even though independent wholesale isps buy transit and bandwidth from cogent and peer1 (double dipping)
I could go on, but basically, anything the incumbents/oligopolists want, the CRTC gives them a favourable ruling within weeks. Appeals and complaints from literally hundreds of businesses in coalition wouldn't get resolved in 18 months at least.
In short, unless you're a shill or investor, you probably have no idea what people are being made to tolerate here.
@Akhen
Basic marketing dictates that the fastest way to implement change in a business is to take away the incentive the business has to keep things the same. Effectively, they do the things they do with in the law because the majority of people do not find their practices offensive enough to change. If their customers change their habits, they will change their practices. Simply whining doesn't affect the companies at all. Don't look to the FCC or other govt. agencies to effect this change, we must effect the change.
Sooo Stop Whining and start changing.
@Akhen "In short, unless you're a shill or investor, you probably have no idea what people are being made to tolerate here."
You are not being "made to tolerate" anything. If you don't like what they do, don't use them, don't participate.
BTW, I am not anyone's "Shill" or an investor with any stake in telecommunications, although after reading such threads as this, that may change. Looks like a safe investment.
@Coach George
In one line you suggest removing their incentives to price gouge, in the other you say we don't need regulatory intervention to boost competition. A fundamentally flawed concept, given the rules in place for market entry.
To set up a mobile service you need to be Canadian owned, and the capital market here is not big enough to support a national startup in that sort of investment/risk ratio. You also need spectrum licenses, which is effectively a government controlled natural resource - and without setting some aside for new competitors, the incumbents can dump billions just to warehouse it. This is precisely what Industry Canada did in 2008 for the AWS auction, and why there are four new carriers launching (only one of which is national - Wind).
Canada's cell penetration is only 60% and the cost is third highest in the entire developed world.
@Akhen
dave's will be national as well
I used to use Virgin Mobile, and to be honest I very much loved their coverage and service. The phone plan i used before I got on my mom's T-mobile plan (yuck) was the $20 txters delight plan, unlimited messaging and 10 cents a minute for a call. I don't talk a lot on my phone, so it was a really good deal for me. Though, there were problems with the networks at times, but I'd still choose Virgin over T-mobile if I didn't have a lust for the Nexus or TP2
@Lucas
i assume your not in canada. virgin in canada is not the same.
@(Unverified) How bad can it be, compared to any US carrier?
@Lucas
hit the link and you will see immediately how bad it is.
@(Unverified) Wha, I don- I see what you did there.
Why is it that US cell companies are so, so slow to roll out faster 3G (or 3G in the first place)? I'd really love it if AT&T could even provide a reasonable speed of 3G here... 500Kb isn't a "better 3G experience".
@MRCUR
they have not had it nearly as long as other countries.
costs a ton of money for it to cover that wide of an area.
no competition within a spectrum slows down progress.
I've been very happy with the bell/telus hspa+ network so far, fantastic coverage, nearly all of alberta, and speeds are awesome...
using my sierra mc8700 mini pcie card, when I connect I regularly get between 8-14mbps down, and 2-3mbps up
the scam that Belus have currently is that their coverage requires both piggy backing and roaming. so yes you will have less dropped calls...but every time you drop your 3g signal you will roam on rogers edge, the scam is that rogers is allowing it and nobody is changing their prices.
in the end it is you who pay more cause Belus has to pay rogers for edge bandwidth so the calls do not drop.
@(Unverified)
err no.. you will not fall back to 2g via rogers.. EVER!.. with telus/bell sim cards.. you will be on their 3g hspa network, and thats it! ... it will not fall back to edge of any sort.
check howardforums to verify, they have loads of great info on mobile networks