[finch]

How nice would this thought be? U/L Data $50 and City Rogers... I guess time will tell.

http://www.microcell.ca/EN/04/index....contentID=3523

[Mark Rejhon]

The conference call says that they plan to keep the Fido brand over the long term, and currently plan to keep the brands separate, with existing plans. But now Fido customers will roam on Rogers (very soon), with Rogers customers roaming onto Fido (shortly after). That's actual words from the actual companies themselves. They say they can flip the switch in just 1 hour, but say, 1 day to be on the safe side, to let Fido customers roam on Rogers. Vice-versa is going to take longer, letting Rogers roam on Fido.

Now, speculation -- probably some changes to existing plans, like perhaps cheaper North American roaming, etc. From what it seems like, it seems there will continue to be some kind of CityFido-like plan for the forseeable future, but Rogers may limit those customers to the Fido infrastructure -- who knows. Rogers is not likely to permit $50 unlimited data with full EDGE speeds, so Rogers will probably keep the $50 unlimited data at GPRS-level speeds. Fido customers will be the first to benefit immediately, roaming will be enabled very quickly after the takeover is finallized -- perhaps even within 1 day of the takeover (they even said 1 hour, but 1 day to be safe)

If it means improved reception on my BlackBerry without increases in prices, then I'm all for it. I'd rather Rogers buy Fido than Telus buy Fido, as Fido was going to cease to exist as an independent entity anyway -- It would have been a nightmare converting the spectrum from GSM to CDMA for Telus, but with Rogers, it's immediately usable compatible spectrum that can be used almost as easily as flipping a switch (so they say...!)

[headtailgrep]

I don't know guys..

I have a friend on the FIDO network, uses unlimited (true unlimited) GPRS on his laptop.. everywhere..

but the coverage is not so great, i'm sure it's mostly overlap between fido and rogers... where he gets no coverage, i get lots.

i'd expect that Rogers will depreciate most of the FIDO network eventually, at least the GSM/GPRS side..

Unless capacity issues come into play, if they haev to maintain two networks wher ethey could switch everyone onto one, they will switch, it will only work to benefit their bottom line..

either way, it will be interesting to see where this plays out. The competition bureau has to have something to say about this first though..

[Mark Rejhon]

It is confirmed that they WILL allow roaming (voice) on each other networks, if the deal is finallized. The conference call is available to the public, which clearly indicates an intention to let Fido customers roam on Rogers network, at the absolute minimum.

The devil is in the details, I know, but roaming, at least for voice, is a definite given from Ted Roger's mouth. Data roaming, I have no idea. The unlimited GPRS plan will probably stay since the conference call expresses an intent to keep the Fido plans for now -- but whether that is permitted to roam on Rogers (data roaming vs. voice) is up to speculation. But yes, it is possible some services will suffer. You never know. But better Rogers getting Fido, than Telus getting Fido, IMHO!

I heard a rumor that Rogers already approached the competition bureau to figure out if there was a regulatory issue.... It will be down to Rogers (GSM), Bell (CDMA), and Telus (iDEN/CDMA)