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???

[PMinfo]

@dude65 

It is quite a strange situation in Winnipeg as others have pointed out Telus towers throughout the city are significant.  

I think it is clear, however, that Telus is expecting a problem when prepaid customers are rolled over to the 1900 MHz band exclusively.  It is not exactly clear if the 1900 band will be on the Telus towers exclusively or if this will still rely on shared towers with Bell/Rogers.

Regardless, Telus has notified all prepaid customers (Koodo & Telus users) on the current 3G service.

From most reports, 1900 MHz is generally considered an issue for indoor / building use.  The additional question is how much congestion, Telus is expecting on this frequency (shared or not).

Additionally, I have been researching VoLTE and it also appears to have possible strength issues inside / building, etc. so changing over to Koodo/Telus VoLTE may not be the perfect solution either.

[Nezgar]

---

@dude65 wrote:

Out in rural Manitoba, Telus/PM do not have many towers, so this should not affect the rural PM customers anytime soon. From what i was told, 850mhz can travel further then the 1900mhz making it more suitable in the rural areas. If this move affects people too much, people will migrate the cellphone business elsewhere. I am in rural MB and will watch what happens in term of service.

---

Telus has no towers outside of Brandon and Winnipeg (& surrounding areas), and one in Virden according to ertu.com. Outside of those areas, Telus/Koodo/Public Mobile customers will continue to use the Bell/MTS towers that offer 850Mhz HSPA.

https://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/cancellsites.html?lat=49.937379&lng=-98.580322&zoom=8&type=Roadm...

[dude65]

I hope that telus/PM know what they are doing. If they are told they can not use the Bell/rogers towers that have the 850mhz, then why would they not have that on their own towers? Out in rural Manitoba, Telus/PM do not have many towers, so this should not affect the rural PM customers anytime soon. From what i was told, 850mhz can travel further then the 1900mhz making it more suitable in the rural areas. If this move affects people too much, people will migrate the cellphone business elsewhere. I am in rural MB and will watch what happens in term of service.

[BearFBI]

@4mp3rs4nd 

"Has anyone else lost access to the plans page in my account?"

Yep. Thought it was just me.

[sheytoon]

@computergeek541 

You are right. Before the acquisition, Bell and Telus did not have any 850 spectrum in MB. Rogers owned A block, and MTS owned B block. I guess Telus 3G coverage will now revert to what it was before.

You can see that B block license 010287381-001 was transferred from MTS to Bell: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsF/eng/sf11257.html

For LTE, Telus could use 10 MHz of B12 as a low band option. This is fine for VoLTE customers, but it might be a problem for 3G coverage, since the only low band supported by 3G phones is 850. I assume this is why they are scrambling to enable VoLTE for their prepaid customers. At the end of the day, it sucks for MB customers to deal with all this uncertainty, but the good thing is that the rest of us might finally get VoLTE!

[Nezgar]

---

@gpixel wrote:

@PMinfo from ertyu.org it seems they've already removed the 850mhz band. Winnipeg has a lot of 1900mhz bands. I think people will be okay... unless you're really far from a tower I don't really see a problem. the best thing is to just wait till March. I think most customers will be fine though

---

Look at the blue Bell towers on ertyu.org... those ones do have 850mhz... Right now Telus gets to use the blue towers AND the green towers... after the change, only the green towers I presume.

[computergeek541]

---

@gpixel wrote:

@PMinfo from ertyu.org it seems they've already removed the 850mhz band. Winnipeg has a lot of 1900mhz bands. I think people will be okay... unless you're really far from a tower I don't really see a problem. the best thing is to just wait till March. I think most customers will be fine though

---

Was there ever much 850MHz in Manitoba used by Telus?  Years ago, Telus had a tiny network in Manitoba and it pretty much only worked in the major city.  I believe at one point, Telus was also offering a city-centric plan.  @sheytoon would probably know more about network changes since the MTS days.

[gpixel]

@PMinfo from ertyu.org it seems they've already removed the 850mhz band. Winnipeg has a lot of 1900mhz bands. I think people will be okay... unless you're really far from a tower I don't really see a problem. the best thing is to just wait till March. I think most customers will be fine though

[PMinfo]

I actually expected more from Telus on the "public" relations side.  My experience with Telus has been generally good until this messaging disgrace.  I'm actually a Telus client along with several PM accounts (1 in MB) and this fiasco has made me question whether I should be with Telus (and it's affiliates) at all.

Messaging to MB clients has been poor and they should have reached out with a proper solution for client retention, not have clients scramble to call in and find out what to do.  I've done this and have only received different (or no) information regarding proper migration to a different Telus affiliate (i.e. Koodo post-paid).  All prepaid services from Telus, Koodo, and PM are expected to be impacted.

I expect they will lose several clients over this but I doubt they really care about PM in MB.  It likely represents a small user base.  

[sheytoon]

The more I think about it, the more it seems like Telus was caught off guard about leaving the Bell/Rogers network in MB, and now they are scrambling.

[PMinfo]

Have any Public Mobile Users from Manitoba been successful in determining what migration offers are available through Telus or Koodo to deal with the coming March changes?

I am not sure if the offers are different depending upon account plan ($15 / $25 plan, etc) or number of plans (I have several) but it appears (at least) Koodo is offering a post-paid migration offer (s).

If anyone (members or Mods) has specific details of what these offers are, I'd appreciate (and I'm sure others) the post.

So far my efforts with Public Mobile and Koodo have produced non / inconsistent messaging on this.  Looks like Telus doesn't really have their act together on assisting PM users stay with a Telus affiliate in MB.

[bluejaywpg]

@4mp3rs4nd Tried now, works fine for me.

---

@4mp3rs4nd wrote:

Has anyone else lost access to the plans page in my account?

https://selfserve.publicmobile.ca/Overview/plan-and-Add-ons/change-plan/

Very interesting that we're having difficulty accessing this page, but the public-facing plans on the main site are still available.

---

[sheytoon]

@computergeek541 Manitoba is a special market. In Winnipeg and Brandon, Bell and Telus operate different Radio Access Networks.

Switching to Lucky would definitely avoid this issue, regardless of VoLTE capability on Lucky.

[PMinfo]

@computergeek541 

The issue is regarding Voice calling that PM is admitting will be a potential issue.  It has been identified they will be eliminating the 850 band (meaning 1900 left with potential "inside" signal issues).

So far, there has been no indication Lucky (Bell) will be eliminating the 850 band for Winnipeg (MB) users.  VoLTE is somewhat the side issue for PM users.  The main issue appears that PM users will not be able to use the primary focus of most monthly plans (CANADA WIDE CALLING - RELIABLY).

This is why the exodus is likely to occur unless retention plans allow PM users to stay on Telus VoLTE networks at same costs.  At this point, that appears impossible.

[Chanah]

Maybe it was a glitch? I just checked the plans page from self-serve and they're still there for me.

[4mp3rs4nd]

Has anyone else lost access to the plans page in my account?

https://selfserve.publicmobile.ca/Overview/plan-and-Add-ons/change-plan/

Very interesting that we're having difficulty accessing this page, but the public-facing plans on the main site are still available.

[computergeek541]

@Chanah 

Switching to Lucky Mobile wouldn't do anything when it comes to the network changes.  Lucky and Public use the same network. Lucky Mobile doesn't have VoLTE either.

[Chanah]

FYI, Canadian Cellular Supplies has a Lucky Mobile SIM and first month payment for the 25$ plan for 19$ and change on their web site.

I don't live in Winnipeg, but this whole thing doesn't bode well.

[sheytoon]

Fair enough.

[PMinfo]

@sheytoon 

The issue is more about Goodwill and expected level of service.  Of course, Telus can make changes as they technically (either out of choice or necessity) see fit.  

The misleading aspect is somehow representing PM as a viable service provider in Winnipeg and Manitoba without a posted disclaimer of possible reduced service levels.  Telus (sure PM, lol) text messaging itself suggests to existing subscribers to upgrade to Telus post-paid services.  CCTS will be interested in this - this is essentially a "bait & switch" policy.  The true test will be what (if any) disruptions will take place post March 16.  

Until Telus is confident they can provide a usable "stepped down" service to (Winnipeg / Brandon) PM subscribers, I expect them to provide a Telus level of service for PM rates.  If they cannot do this, they should not be marketing PM service for MB without visible disclaimers.

[sheytoon]

@pdunk you can try but Telus can decide what they want to do with coverage and spectrum re-tuning. I doubt you'll get much sympathy from CCTS.

[pdunk]

@PMinfo ,

My CCTS complaint has been sent; incident tracking number 00000001130133.

It took 5 minutes to do, and I encourage all other affected customer to do the same.

[PMinfo]

This seems more of an endorsement to move to Roger/Bell low cost affiliates.  

Public Mobile roll-out of this announcement to current (and future) users has been deceptive at best.  Our family has multi-accounts and one in Winnipeg.  Not happy with the "public" relations on this.  Not sure if a contact to CCTS should be made regarding the seemingly lack of information on this and under such a short time line (Beginning March 16 your service will be bad - phone here for a more expensive Telus plan, really??)

Based on this, there is no way to know what the quality of service will be and for how long.  As much as this Community thread is attempting to help and relay information, the issue is up to Telus to resolve for Public Mobile users and I will be escalating to Telus directly.  

[sheytoon]

They are re-tuning the target frequencies on their 4G sites to tell phones to go to Telus 3G (1900 only).

This is a change from current settings, where phones are told to go to Bell/Rogers 3G (850 and 1900).

I assume that in parallel, Bell/Rogers are being asked to remove Telus from 3G MOCN on their Winnipeg and Brandon sites.

VoLTE is a core setting. Enabling it has no impact on the towers/RAN.

[Asher2]

I have created a ticket with a moderator and the mod has said that the VoLTE is not a thing they can just turn on right away.

It is a not easy solution to the problems right now and they will have to take their time. No worries though as they still have plenty of time before March 16th.

I’d play the waiting game and see whats gonna happen. 

Note: The Public Mobile moderator has said it is definitely gonna happen, as time moves on the technology we have evolves so they will enable VoLTE, its just a matter of time before it happens. 

[pdunk]

@BearFBI 

Just... wow. PM's Twitter messaging implies a onetime service blip on March 16th only, with what can be inferred as improved service for all Manitoba PM users after March 16th.

"We are going to upgrade the towers in the Manitoba area and there will be interrupted service on March 16th."

This Twitter message is completely different from the SMS message a few days ago.

Has PM learned more about the details of the change and if yes, can a Moderator please chime in to clarify why this Tweet is so different from the original SMS?

[umnikke8]

I think it is clear now that this message is about 3G/HSPA service diminishing. For optimum voice service going forward VoLTE on 4G/LTE is required, but not currently supported on Public Mobile. Public should do right by customers and enable VoLTE immediately. The speculation about why 3G service is decreasing at this time continues, either it's just a normal progression as spectrum is reassigned to 4G and 5G as 3G is phased out or there is some change in sharing or agreements with Bell and/or Rogers.

[AE_Collector]

The original text does not leave the impression that there may be interrupted service just on March 16. 

Yes a tower upgrade would usually be seen as a good thing but that doesn’t mean that it may not have adverse effects on an individual user or phone. I say wait and see what happens exactly.

AE_Collector

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Nope,  I think it's dirty sales tactics by Telus to try and get more people signed up to their expensive plans.  

[_Daniel_]

if a tower upgrade was happening that improved things, i feel they be touting that... not asking you (via text) to change your service tier with another company higher in the chain... which was also the "official" recommendation earlier in this thread