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
@WolfDV
sorry bud its already been verified. not hard to prove either as telus customers all over have been reporting their phones going into roaming status. all of these phones have 2g enabled. unless thay are manually turned off and set to 3g only they will roam the rogers network. fortunately for rogers Belus customers are too stupid to know any difference....which is why they chose a lousy carrier to start with.
@(Unverified)
Telus doesn't have a 2G network as they didn't build up from EDGE to GSM like Rogers did. Telus only has an HSPA/HSPA+ network (as does Bell), running alongside their CDMA/EVDO network - which are technologically incompatible. And, I can't see any Belus phone switching to Rogers on roaming, simply because Belus has more coverage area than Rogers when it comes to 3G - if you're in an area where you can't get Belus 3g, you're definitely not going to Rogers.
Hey folks...likely moving from Scotland to Kelowna this year. Anyone know if Virgin will cover the Okanagan? Anyone got any comments on speed/availability of broadband in Kelowna? Any info appreciated!!
@glasgowd33
unfortunately your best bet celular in the Okanagan is telus. sort of the last frontier of cell phone companies. bell/virgin does reach their but i would never use them in western canada since they use telus towers anyway. rogers/fido is slowly making it way into bc interior but maybe not fast enough for what you want. for internet shaw is probably the fastest you can get.
@glasgowd33
Kelowna is Telus country (old BC Tel), so yeah - Telus will offer the best and most consistent service out here, with Bell probably being similar (as Bell uses Telus' towers). Rogers sucks out here in BC.
Shaw cable or Telus are good for highspeed internet, although in Kelowna, Shaw is probably your best choice (easy set-up, no contracts) - but trying to get a guy out to install it is a nightmare, count on a wait of a week or more.
@Voxifera
actually rogers has better service withing lower mainland cities. but yes rogers needs to expand a lot more in western canada.
Wow, I'm among the 7% of Canadians that gets ZERO HSPA service from any cellphone carrier in Canada.
Dear Rogers and MTS, hurry the eff up.