Text From PM About Changes To Manitoba Prepaid Network

[bluejaywpg]

I just received the following text now:

"Public Mobile here. As of March 16, 2021, our Prepaid network in Manitoba will be changing and select areas of Winnipeg and Brandon may experience reduced voice coverage. Data speeds will remain unaffected. In order to maintain the best voice coverage after March 16, 2021, changes will need to be made to your account. For more information, please call us at 1-866-975-3058. Free Public Mobile Msg"

Before I call this number, has anyone here heard anything related to this or what exactly this is about? What changes are we talking about???

[BearFBI]

Hmm. Public seems to be responding to tweets about this as a "Tower Upgrade" on March 16th, This is obviously a lie. Mabey their just trying to avoid confusion ? 

https://twitter.com/publicmobile/status/1357461680460947460?s=21

After this "Tower Upgrade" It sounds like they are possibly enabling VoLTE. I have no idea and this is pure speculation. 

A "Tower Upgrade" can't make service worse lol. If their saying it like that 4G voice may be coming after all.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Oh, we didn't do that.  Oh Well.  No biggie.

[darlicious]

@Great_Big_Abyss

If you registered the email that his account was activated with online for the promotion by January 25th for activations up until February 8th then the $15 plan would be eligible for the 30 day credit.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

No....

He's on a $15/mo plan...does the 30 day credit still apply?

[darlicious]

@Great_Big_Abyss 

But did you sign him up for the promotion first either the free  30 day credit ending February 8th or the lunar new year promotion?

[Nezgar]

@Great_Big_Abyss 

Wow, that's impressive you happenned upon a rep that was up-and-up and pro-active to learn whats going on! My thinking is in line with the general stance of the sales rep you talked to. HSPA will probably be mostly fine... unless you live in a basement suite. 😁

[Great_Big_Abyss]

So, I needed to get my stepson signed up for a phone plan.  I went to the guy at my local phone store and had a chat with him about Public Mobile.  He mentioned he dealt with this already, as a lady came in expressing concern over the text she received.  He called Telus, and got the rundown.  Basically, he thinks we'll be okay.  Apparently Telus HAS to support voice conversations, so they'll end up moving us up to the 4G network.  We are already on 4G/LTE for data, just throttled.  He thinks that this is just a scare tactic from Telus to try and drum up some more expensive plan sales from Koodo/Telus.  

So anyway, make of that what you think... I'm going to try the 'wait and see' method.  For the record, I signed my stepson up for PM.  With the $10 credit, it doesn't cost anything.

[Peggie99]

While I appreciate the explanation from the moderator (FINALLY) - I really don't appreciate being funneled into either the Telus or Koodo sales channels. 

Neither of these providers have plans comparable to what Public Mobile offers (or what I have with them). If I am forced to switch for voice calls to work in Winnipeg - it's going to be to some non-Telus company. 

[_Daniel_]

perhaps they rolled 3G into their "4G HSPA+" network?  Actually I think there was a "3.5G" that MTS was playing with before Bell acquired them... maybe that got relabelled to 4G HSPA+? either way, they didn't pull a Telus and drop a tower/band.  4G HSPA+ has the widest coverage in MB; hitting all the 4G LTE areas plus a few more outlier areas

I updated my previous post with a snippet from Lucky listing their supported networks for phone compatibility; and the good news is that Bell is covering what Telus is dropping

EDIT: According to Wikipedia ... HSPA+ was introduced as part of 3.75G, so perhaps Bell just "rounded up" or found a way to carry it forward into 4G?  either way, it'll work for me

[sheytoon]

@_Daniel_ 

3G is UMTS/W-CDMA/HSPA, regardless of what Bell marketing says, or what the phone icon shows.

4G is LTE.

CDMA was 2G and 3G, but it was incompatible with UMTS.

Bell has lots of 850 MHz in Manitoba, and it will stay on for 3G. Same as Rogers. You just need to avoid the Telus family in Winnipeg and Brandon for 3G.

[_Daniel_]

WFP recalls Bell shutting down 3G with CDMA...

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/bell-shutting-down-3g-network-508094882.html

looking at https://www.bell.ca/Mobility/Our_network_coverage.. Bell lists 4G HSPA+ as a network (in addition to LTE & 5G)... no 3G (but Lucky throttles you to "3G speeds" @ ~3Mbps)

Will my phone work with a Lucky Mobile SIM Card?

Yes, as long as your phone is compatible with our network and already unlocked by your previous provider. The availability of some services may differ depending on your phone.

Your phone must be compatible with LTE AWS (1700 MHz) or LTE 700 MHz bands, or UMTS/HSPA compatible on 850/1900 MHz bands. See your phone’s user guide for information about network compatibility.

[Asher2]

I am almost 100% sure bell has not decommissioned 3G. As I am using 3G from a Bell tower and Bell still has HSPA. Bell only decommissioned CDMA.

I think you got 3G mixed up with CDMA

[_Daniel_]

Thank You to those that mentioned Lucky Mobile... it forced me to check again and look passed the "3G data speed" and realize that is more a reference to throttling as they too are on the Bell network with is minimum 4G.

it also revealed to me that (except for their $15 calling plan) that they are also offering a form of unlimited data... you get the full 3G speed for your plans data cap, and further throttled down to128Kbps on data beyond that at no additional cost... good enough for email and light browsing. (PC mobile charges $0.15/Mb overage)

i also called and spoke to a lucky support rep to confirm this, and they also confirmed that they're continuing to support "legacy phone" (4G HSPA+ on the Bell network) as they aren't offering voLTE service.

when i asked the rep if he knew of any bell tower changes that might impact calling/services in the near or distance future... there were none that he knew of.

whereas PC Mobile is a great discount 4G option, i think Lucky is going to win @3G speeds "worry free" data, referral perks, etc..

thank you for the recommendation!

[AE_Collector]

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@Great_Big_Abyss wrote:

Hell, I feel terrible because I just signed up a Winnipeg friend right before Xmas.  His $10 sim purchase may have been a waste. 

---

So your friend paid $10 for a SIM card and got the $10 back for using your referral code. Plus he likely got the second month free, 5 Gb of free data, Christmas gifts of more free data and long distance calling. So I cant really imagine that your friend has disowned you.

The fact that there were two frequency bands for 3G service rather than just one wasn’t likely something that anyone researched and confirmed before signing up with PM. So elimination of one of them in parts of the province may not even be noticed by many customers.

I still say wait and see what happens. It isn't a long convoluted process to switch carriers if you have problems and no solution comes from PM. 

AE_Collector 

[sheytoon]

@pdunk correct, but capacity isn't usually a problem for voice calls, even on 1 channel. The issue is the difference in coverage between 850 and 1900.

Although I will say 3G data speeds will also be noticeably slower.

[pdunk]

@sheytoon ,

- If PM users use exclusively 850/1900 for voice,

- And TELUS will no longer be using 850,

- And TELUS users can use 1900/LTE for voice,

- But PM users can only use 1900 for voice,

- Then doesn't than mean PM users will be forced to compete for access on fewer available spectrum (1900 only) for voice?

- In other words is this a double whammy for PM voice users (less bands available to use and greater congestion on what spectrum remains available to PM voice users)?

[kb_mv]

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@BearFBI wrote:

@Nezgar "why would you need a dot mobile sim for data when public mobile LTE data will continue to work fine?"

The dot SIM is for calling and texting. PM SIM is for data. Dot SIM would be free so why not take advantage of it and use your Public Mobile SIM for data. Dotmobile is taking advantage of the VoLTE network so that fixes the 3G issue. Although you would have to port your number over and that would close your Public account, endless your willing to forward your calls to the dot number.

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@BearFBI Well that dotmobile looks interesting! I'll be looking out for their launch. Thanks for the tip.

[sheytoon]

I looked up the spectrum holdings in Manitoba. Telus doesn't own any B5 (850 MHz). That means 3G is only on B2 (1900 MHz). Outdoor coverage may be ok, but indoor will definitely suffer.

Telus also owns 20 MHz of B2. I assume they will keep 5 MHz for 3G and use the remaining 15 MHz for LTE.

[Nezgar]

@BearFBI 

Texting works over LTE, so would be unaffected by lack of 3G coverage. I also expect the impact of this change is being overblown, and will probably continue to work just fine for most people for voice calls... we'll have to wait and see.

[BearFBI]

@Nezgar "why would you need a dot mobile sim for data when public mobile LTE data will continue to work fine?"

The dot SIM is for calling and texting. PM SIM is for data. Dot SIM would be free so why not take advantage of it and use your Public Mobile SIM for data. Dotmobile is taking advantage of the VoLTE network so that fixes the 3G issue. Although you would have to port your number over and that would close your Public account, endless your willing to forward your calls to the dot number.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

I was telling my wife about all this last night, and normally she doesn't care about cell phone plans, as long as her phone just works, she lets me just take care of it.  So seeing as I pay her bill, she's been with PM for the last year and a half, as long as I have.  Anyway, she was trying to convince me to change to PC Mobile as soon as our plan ends later this month.  I can't say I'm not severely tempted. 

I'll still wait and see how all this affects us on March 16th before making a move, though. 

What sucks is my 19 year old stepson needs a phone plan.  He's already got a phone, but when his old Rogers plan expired a couple months ago, I didn't renew it, as I"m not paying for his phone plan anymore.  I was suggesting that he go with Public Mobile, as I was very happy with them, and PM would suit his purposes very well.  Plus I'd get another referral reward out of it.  But now?  There's no way I'm signing him up for Public Mobile at this point, given the uncertainty in our future.  He's going straight to PCMobile.

Hell, I feel terrible because I just signed up a Winnipeg friend right before Xmas.  His $10 sim purchase may have been a waste. 

[darlicious]

@cavemantoronto 

I emboldened the question @totalUser  was asking (wondering) that I answered so that there is no confusion as to the purpose of my post.

[cavemantoronto]

@darlicious Customers needing to find ways to work around all this won't stay and some will cancel and go with a carrier that doesn't give the hassle.

[darlicious]

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@totalUser wrote:

@BearFBI 

We'll see what's gonna happen first pm with volte or dormobile rolling out their first plan.

I have feeling I'll be taken down by old age by then

I'm curious now who is easier on data TextNow or fongo, back on the day Fongo was claiming proudly that the light use will be only about 100 megs per month, i can't find any reference to it anymore (it's been way over a decade)

I really cannot think of any solid second sim offered today besides lucky.

Telus used to have $5 emergency plan, i heard a rumour that in exceptional situations you can still get it. I'm curious if they will have something to offer that is not offered to general public and if it's possible to get without actually porting over.  

@totalUser 

Fongo uses about 0.5mb per minute of calling so the $15/250mb plan would give you approximately 500 min of calling=$5/500 min calling add on that pm offers. The $15/1gb data add on would give about 2000 min=$3.75/500 min so a cheaper option for calling than pm's already cheap calling add on.

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[CFPartDeux]

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@Great_Big_Abyss wrote:

[snip]

But THIS?  THIS is maddening.  Obviously if we don't have voice service, it defeats the point of paying for a phone plan.

[snip]

If this is seriously the direction they're going, I'm definitely not supporting Telus any further, you can count on that.  I'll move my wife and I over to some other low budget cell phone plan.

Well, you can always wait 'til the unwanted event happens, and then test it out..... maybe drive to various areas of the city, and check on the reception. If it's acceptable, stay, but if it sucks, move to another provider..... pretty easy to do.

  It sucks that we'll lose the free data that we've accumulated over the last couple of years, and yea, not having the rewards from the people I helped sign up will also suck.  But I'm also not going to go to Telus and get ***** in the **** while paying $60-$70/month for a cell phone plan that I don't need.

So pissed off right now.

I hear ya, but sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do, and in the end you may end up happy with your choice.

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[golfball]

This doesn't seem very fair for Public Mobile (as well as Telus and Koodo prepaid) customers. Please enable Voice over LTE across the prepaid Telus lineup as soon as possible.

[srlawren]

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@sheytoon wrote:

@bluejaywpg the real reason is that Telus is leaving the joint Bell/Rogers coverage in Winnipeg and Brandon, and using their own RAN from now on. 

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For anyone looking for more info on what a RAN is and how network sharing works, be sure to check out @sheytoon's amazing past work here: https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Using-Your-Service/LTE-network-fundamentals/m-p/13058...

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@sheytoon wrote:

We've been asking for VoLTE for years now. Here's yet another reason for it.

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@sheytoon this may well be what forces them to finally offer it (but of course subject to the restrictions I noted in my reply above).  Particularly so if they want to start repurposing HSPA frequencies in other parts of the country as well.

[totalUser]

@BearFBI 

We'll see what's gonna happen first pm with volte or dormobile rolling out their first plan.

I have feeling I'll be taken down by old age by then

I'm curious now who is easier on data TextNow or fongo, back on the day Fongo was claiming proudly that the light use will be only about 100 megs per month, i can't find any reference to it anymore (it's been way over a decade)

I really cannot think of any solid second sim offered today besides lucky.

Telus used to have $5 emergency plan, i heard a rumour that in exceptional situations you can still get it. I'm curious if they will have something to offer that is not offered to general public and if it's possible to get without actually porting over.  

[sheytoon]

@bluejaywpg the real reason is that Telus is leaving the joint Bell/Rogers coverage in Winnipeg and Brandon, and using their own RAN from now on. Since they have inadequate low-band 3G coverage compared to Bell/Rogers, voice coverage under non-VoLTE scenarios is impacted.

Outside of Winnipeg and Brandon, Telus does not have their own presence, and continues to use the Bell/Rogers RAN.

We've been asking for VoLTE for years now. Here's yet another reason for it.

[srlawren]

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@Catherine_T wrote:

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.

Here's another potential hurdle:  currently with Telus and Koodo post-paid, yes VoLTE is available, but only on a limited set of devices.  Many of us here enjoy phones from alternative brands (e.g. OnePlus, Xiaomi, Poco, and many others) rather than the mainstream devices on the supported list (recent phones from Apple, Samsung, LG, and a few others).  So, even if PM (and Koodo+Telus Prepaid) added VoLTE, I would assume the same restriction would be in place.

Currently my main line is with Koodo post-paid, after taking a migration plan from PM a few years ago.  It's long bothered me I could never use VoLTE with my VoLTE-capable OnePlus devices, but I don't do a ton of voice calling so it's never bothered me enough to do anything about it.  I'm not in Manitoba but presume the HSPA sunsetting will gradually spread to other areas.  I'm tempted to migrate to Fido at the moment as Rogers/Fido allow VoLTE on any capable device rather than only those on an arbitrary shortlist.  Their lunar new year $50/10GB plan is decent, though more than I'm paying right now at Koodo ($40 for originally 6 but recently bonused up to 11GB--though I normally use far south of that).  I'm going to give this some more consideration.

TL;DR: if you'd like hassle-free VoLTE, then I'd strongly suggest you migrate to Rogers or Fido.