"priority" to main provider (ie Bell and Telus) on the common network...any truth?

[mih]

Considering switching from Bell to PM...Called Bell, and their retentions guy said that the service on the 'lower tier' providers on the Bell/Telus network is not the same.  

Specifically, he said that during load/busy times, one often might not get calls or messages through on the 'lower tier' providers, such as PM and Virgin, as the primary ones (or whatever wording he used for Bell/Telus) would get prioirity.

Any truth to this?

[sheytoon]

@Hmm

Where is your information coming from? Have you seen the settings in Telus's core network with regards to preemption and congestion control? If so, can you share your findings? If not, you are making unfounded statements based on carriers in other countries.

[Hmm]

Network prioritization is one of the teleco's best diritiest secrets. T- Mobile has openly admitted to giving their subcribers preference.

Network prioritization doesn't mean there are necessarily different features for the premium provider over the MVNO, but with Public Mobile and Koodo, there are network features only present with their premium brand, Telus. 

How network prioritization comes to play in simple terms is you have Johnny and Mike using the same device at the same spot. Johnny is on Telus and Mike is on Public Mobile or Koodo. The area where Johnny and Mike are now has become increasingly congested due to network saturation by users. Mike receives a call and then it abruptly ends. He looks at his phone and he sees that he has no service. He looks over to Johnny and asks him if he has cellular service. Johnny says he has 5 bars and proceeds to make a call without any issue. 

Telus or whatever premium provider you're on will give their own customers (who are paying more) a priority.

The thing is, most people will never experience this scenario because it can be quite rare unless you're a business professional and spend most of your time on the phone in congested or highly saturated areas. This is why many folks say they have no issue with network connectivity.

Nonetheless, network prioritization is nothing new and the only sure way to experience it is when there's a natural disaster. At that time, it will be obvious how the premium carrier subscribers will receive priority over the MVNO or flanker type brands. 

[sheytoon]

@mih
I think you posted this question in Howard Forums already, but I will answer it again for the benefit of others.

There is absolutely no difference on the Radio Access Network (RAN), other than B30 connectivity, which is not available to Bell at this time. Congestion happens on the RAN. Calls, texts, and data connectivity are not prioritized among Bell, Virgin, Telus, Koodo, Public Mobile.

My suspicion is that there may be a speed limit / throttling imposed by Telus for PM users at the EPC (core), but there's no priority either way.

[pchan]

I've been with Rogers, Koodo, and Telus before moving over to PM.

My experience is PM over the 3+ months have been great. I use it for conference calls at work during peak hours and I even have reception in the elevator. I always get through and never had a dropped call. The only thing I have notice that PM is slightly inferior to Koodo and Telus is the data sometimes switches over to 3G more often than before. I can live with that considering the amazing savings vs the other brands. Other than that no issues.

[Raven_Jet]

From my experience, PM is exactly the same as Telus. I play a lot of Pokemon Go when it release with PM as well as Telus and both operated the same. People I knew with Wind/Freedom had serious issues and couldn't play the game during peak times.

So just enjoy the great price and service from PM.

[computergeek541]

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@Vickel wrote:

only thing I have read on here is that for phone calls it usually cuts off at the 2.5 hour mark, while Telus/Bell/Rogers subscribers can call as long as they want. 

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Whether there's a priority difference or not, the only post that I read about calls being disconnected was from one user who commented about it (sorry, can't remember who it was).

But, the customer stated that it was around the 2.5 hour mark, and each time it happened, it was at slightly different amounts of time.  If there were a set time limit, the call drop would have happened at exactly the same amount of time into each call.

[Acekiller]

I found that doubtful, the only differences that I see between PM and the higher tier are the lack of physical stores, live CSR, and the occasion system glitches (payment system, add-ons etc)

[Jeremy_M · Accepted solution]

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@mih wrote:

Considering switching from Bell to PM...Called Bell, and their retentions guy said that the service on the 'lower tier' providers on the Bell/Telus network is not the same.  

Specifically, he said that during load/busy times, one often might not get calls or messages through on the 'lower tier' providers, such as PM and Virgin, as the primary ones (or whatever wording he used for Bell/Telus) would get prioirity.

Any truth to this?

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Hogwash at its best!

[CalvinW]

@mih I don't think we will ever get an absolute answer for this. It really boils down to who you ask. If you ask a Bell representative, they will tell you that their customers get a higher priority on the network than other carriers like PM. But if you ask the PM representatives, they will tell you everything is the same. 

[srlawren]

Tagging @Jeremy_M to please clarify when you have a moment.  Thank you!

[SD08]

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@Vickel wrote:

only thing I have read on here is that for phone calls it usually cuts off at the 2.5 hour mark, while Telus/Bell/Rogers subscribers can call as long as they want.

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Some people, if they have to talk to someone for 2.5 hours, would be looking for an excuse to end the call.  To them, this would be a feature, not a bug.  Haha! 

[Vickel]

only thing I have read on here is that for phone calls it usually cuts off at the 2.5 hour mark, while Telus/Bell/Rogers subscribers can call as long as they want. 

I came over from Rogers and havent noticed any differences.

[mih]

Yeah, don't get me started on my Rogers days.... 😉

[ShawnC13]

@mih  I didn't come from Bell but Rogers and I have as good or better service on my PM network.  I know they are different but by reading through here you will see a lot of people saying the same thing that they have not noticed any service differences.  Retention people are going to say whatever they have to, to keep you with them.  That is their job.  Rogers tried it with me as well saying a 3rd tier provider would a bad choice to switch to