Competition is Creeping up on Rogers

Today I was reading that Telus is planning on a soft roll out of its GSM network in BC this year! Their plan is to be able to go live in February in time for the Winter Olympics.

I must say, I am plesently surprised by this news. Rogers has had a wonderful romp as the only GSM provider in Canada. They’ve flaunted and taken advantage of the fact. It is going to be fantastic to have some real choice.

Since Bell and Telus are joined at the hip these days (merge already!) Bell will probably be going live with GSM at around the same time. Perhaps they will soft roll out to the Toronto area. If so, I know someone that can test it out (pick me, pick me!)

Of course, the more public this GSM rollout becomes the more urgent is the need go live quickly. Delays will cause customer hesitation as they won’t want to buy CDMA phones. Plus, Rogers will miraculously become everyone’s friend by offering continually better incentives designed to lock subscribers in for 3 more long years.

Take our advice, wait for the GSM competition to heat up and then take advantage of the inevitable deals.

No matter how you look at it, all this new GSM goodness will be very refreshing. With how quickly Telus seems to be moving we aren’t going to have to wait too much longer.