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Carrier

iPhone coming to Videotron March 28

technologyEdward Kiledjian

Videotron has had a "interest registration"  page for a while promising to notify you when the iPhone eventually made its way to its Quebec only network. 

Now we see these tweets

We know Videotron bought 700MHZ spectrum outside of Quebec with the hopes of expanding its services accross Canada.  We know the iPhone typically drives new subscribers to carriers so pairing it with an attractive monthly plan can be really bad news for Rogers, Bell or Telus.

Canadian carriers ready for t-911 but emergency centres aren't

technologyEdward Kiledjian
Image by UCL Mathematical and physical services under creative commons license

Image by UCL Mathematical and physical services under creative commons license

The Canadian wireless Telecommunications Association has been spearheading a 911 initiative to allow those with hearing or speech impairments to text 911 emergency response services. The trial, started in 2012, was such a success that CWTA members (all major carriers and their sub-brands) have been busy upgrading their networks to support the service nationwide.

On January 24 2014, the CWTA announced that its member carriers have completed the required upgrades but that the 911 control centres themselves haven't implemented the required technologies. 

“At this time, the T9-1-1 service is not available in any region of the country. The service will be implemented by 9-1-1 call centres in different municipalities or regions at different time periods over the next several years.”

Once the regional 911 control centres upgrade their equipment, carriers will be ready to act  act as an intermediary link between the affected user and the 911 emergency control centre. To use the service, a user will have to register with their carrier for it and have a compatible device. 

CWTA launches their Protect your data campaign

technologyEdward Kiledjian

The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association and the major Canadian carriers are joining forces to stop mobile device theft in Canada. By the end of September 2013, they will implement a new device verification process to ensure the device being activated hasn’t been declared lost or stolen. The purpose is to eliminate the secondary market for stolen devices making theft less attractive.

In preparation of this initiative, the CWTA has launched a special protectyourdata website to help consummers.

Le CWTA rend disponible un site web spécial qui aide les consommateurs à protéger leur appareil mobile et l'information contenue dans ces appareils. La version française est disponible ici.

 

Fido and Rogers implement new unlocking policy end of March

technologyEdward Kiledjian

I wrote about the new unlocking policies for Rogers and Fido a couple of weeks ago and it seem the start of this new policy is almost upon us. In a tweet from FIDO, I was notified the policy would start end of March.

For those unfamiliar with the new policy, the 2 carriers will unlock any customer device for $50 after a device has been active for at least 90 days (as long as the customer’s account is in good standing).

Their PR machine says this new policy is in response to customer demand but most of us feel this is a pre-emptive move in response to the CRTC’s investigation into mobile carrier practices. 

Apple users send 2 billion iMessages a day

technologyEdward Kiledjian

I wrote about Whatsapp [processing 18 billion](http://www.kiledjian.com/main/2013/1/4/whatsapp-processed-18-billion-messages-on-december-31-2012.html) messages on New Year's day.

During Apple's quarterly presentation, we learned that Apple users send 1 billion iMessages a day. Apple solf 47.8 million iPhones during the quarter and the total IOS devices sold to date (from inception) now totals 500 million. 

Apple also saw the number of total iCLoud users jumped to 250 million in December 2012.

2 billion messages may seem like a lot but then you look at the cross-platform Whatsapp and realize they have a long way to go. The real losers in all of this are the carriers who are seeing their cash cow (SMS) erode a little more every day.