Reduced voice coverage Winnipeg

[Osbornecyber]

I received a text a few days ago indicating that Wiinipeg and Brandon, the two largest cities in Manitoba, will experience reduced voice coverage. The text also included a phone number for more info. When I called the number I was asked if I wanted to upgrade my service with Telus. Has anyone else in a large metropolitan area received a similar text? It sounds like they are forcing clients to abandon the cheaper plans for costliers Telus plans.

[Nezgar]

@kselmak 

I believe the majority if not all HSPA/WCDMA capable phones (including flip phones) ever sold in Canada were capable of both 850 and 1900Mhz bands. They should continue to work on the remaining 1900Mhz band after 850 is not available in those two MB cities, but potentially with weaker signal depending on distance from the nearest telus tower.

[kselmak]

It's gonna be much harder for those with flip phone, depending how long it takes, they will be losing some customers.

[computergeek541]

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@will13am wrote:

@kselmak , I don't get the fascination with fongo as a solution to issues like this.  From my perspective, this service either works or get one that does.  Telus is not in the business to abandon customers in an entire province even one that is low population.  It would be a public relations nightmare to be referred to as national carrier less one province.  While they must be conservative in notifying their customers of possible impacts, in the end it will be much ado about nothing.  If the pandemic would only end, I will share personal experiences on this network change.  As I said, I am confident that all will be fine.  

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I beleive that if people have to go through that much trouble to have a backup service, they're just going to switch to a different carrier.  Base plan prices are no longer great and really the main factor keep most customers here, in my opinion at least, are either desires to not want to have to set up a new account elsewhere, or because of a high number of rewards in the Public Mobile accounts. 

[will13am]

@kselmak , I don't get the fascination with fongo as a solution to issues like this.  From my perspective, this service either works or get one that does.  Telus is not in the business to abandon customers in an entire province even one that is low population.  It would be a public relations nightmare to be referred to as national carrier less one province.  While they must be conservative in notifying their customers of possible impacts, in the end it will be much ado about nothing.  If the pandemic would only end, I will share personal experiences on this network change.  As I said, I am confident that all will be fine.  

[kselmak]

@will13am 

Thanks for that info it's actually very useful to figure out how to deal with the issue until they provider volte.

Basically expect much signal indoors, make sure you have fongo on your smartphone and your number forwarded to it when unavailable and you won't miss your calls.

[sanketbd]

@Nezgar Thank you 

[Nezgar]

@sanketbd  Telus is building out an entirely different network of towers, so youll just have to test after that date when the switch happens if your particular area still has good voice signal strength. If it works, then nothing to worry about...

[sanketbd]

@Nezgar Do you know how long it will impact voice coverage?

[Nezgar]

@sanketbd no need to change anything. Telus is "turning on" their own towers in Winnipeg and Brandon on that date, so just monitor for coverage difference in those cities after then. It will only potentially impact phone calls.

[sanketbd]

Anybody knows about the text PM sending their customers that they need to change plans after march 16,2021 due to the reduced voice coverage? 

Are they going to hike the price of the plans or introduce new plans?

[Nezgar]

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@will13am wrote:

https://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/cancellsites.html

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It does look like Telus has filled out Winnipeg pretty well compared to the Bell towers in the same area. Many areas have Telus towers at twice the density of Bell towers it seems, which may help 1900mhz. I wonder how long Telus has been been working on their deployments in these 2 cities?

Telus:

Winnipeg Telus Towers Feb 1, 2021

Bell:

Winnipeg Bell Towers Feb 1, 2021

[will13am]

@Osbornecyber , this apparently only affects customers in Brandon and Winnipeg.  Currently, 3G service uses 850 Mhz and 1900 Mhz.  The upcoming changes will result in only 1900 Mhz being available for 3G service.  850 Mhz provides better indoor performance as the lower frequency spectrum penetrates walls better.  Having said that, depending on the tower density, 1900 Mhz should be fine on its own.  Freedom Mobile runs 3G on 1700 Mhz in the cities that they serve and service is generally fine where there are sufficient tower density. 

Judging by the tower density in Winnipeg and Brandon, things should be fine.  Use this site to check the tower locations.  Clicking on individual tower markers will indicate the frequencies offered by the tower.  Notice how Telus towers do not have 850 Mhz frequency.  

https://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/cancellsites.html

[softech]

so,.. the possible good news is that VoLTE will come to PM one day... just not clear when..

[HALIMACS]

Hi @Osbornecyber 

The following is a release from Public Mobile staff member Catherine T. :

Hey Community, 

Hoping to help clarify some questions around the HSPA changes happening in Winnipeg and Brandon, Manitoba on March 16, 2021. 

What is the impact?

Only customers in Winnipeg and Brandon will be impacted. Only certain Hz bands will be changing, which will impact the quality of voice calling and service. Data speeds will remain unchanged. 

What should impacted customers do?

This is a TELUS wide change. At this time, Public Mobile does not support VoLTE. We are looking into enabling it; however, this is not an easy solution to turn on and launch timing is unclear. In the meantime, we strongly suggest impacted customers move to Koodo or TELUS postpaid and make sure they have a VoLTE compatible device.

For support on plan changes, please contact 1-866-975-3058

Why is TELUS migrating from HSPA to VoLTE?

With VoLTE customers will get:

• Superior network experience
• Simultaneous use of voice and LTE data
• High definition sound quality when calling another VoLTE-enabled device
• Faster call setup time

For more information on what VoLTE is, you can visit the following article from our friends at TELUS.

[JK8]

@Osbornecyber 

Have a look at this thread.

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Using-Your-Service/Text-From-PM-About-Changes-To-Mani...