Telus announces plans for LTE 4G network in Canada

Telus, a major Canadian telco has announced it will be rolling out a faster mobile, LTE (long term evolution) 4G network by early 2012.

Telus boasts its next generation network will support speeds of 150 Mbps while downloading and 70 Mbps during uploading, supporting manufacturer’s rated peak speeds. Canadians living in urban markets will be able to take advantage of Telus’ 4G+ LTE network beginning late this year.

In February of this year, Telus revealed its Dual Cell upgrade to its HSPA+ network, which aimed to bring download speeds of 42 Mbps. Environmental conditions and factors such as network congestion may affect the speed, however it appears that downloading will be 4 times faster using the Telus’ LTE network.

Back in 2008, the federal government auctioned off the airwaves allowing newcomers like Wind Mobile a chance to bid and enter the Canadian wireless market. Major Telcos also bought up a good chunk of the 2008 wireless spectrum to ensure the future development of their networks.

Telus’ LTE network will operate on the Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum, made possible by its investment of $882 million during the 2008 auction governed by Industry Canada. But if you’re a Telus customer living in a rural area don’t expect this next generation 4G+ network anytime soon. The fate of Telus’ LTE network in small cities and rural areas is dependent on whether the federal government will let it bid on the upcoming 700 MHz auction.

During the 2008 auction, Industry Canada gave the new entrants the ability to roam on the incumbent carriers network although companies such as Wind Mobile have not been satisfied with the rates the major telcos are charging. And, Wind additionally wants to stop large telcos (like Telus) from bidding on the 700 MHz blocks.

In order for the new carriers to get a fair shake, Wind is specifically asking the government to implement restrictions and caps on the fees. It’s also asking Industry Canada to keep the major telcos out of the auction due to the massive amount of the spectrum already controlled by Telus, Rogers and Bell. Considering that the expansion of Telus’ LTE network is dependent on the 700 MHz auction, it’s no surprise that the company is insisting that the 2012 spectrum auction to be left wide open allowing any telco to bid — no restrictions and no caps.

The Canadian telco currently earns an annual revenue of $9.8 billion and has 7 million wireless subscribers across Canada.

It will be critical for the Federal Government to enable an equitable opportunity for TELUS to acquire 700 MHz spectrum in the auction planned for late 2012 to support our plans to expand availability of 4G+ LTE wireless service to rural markets.