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Videotron

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.

Government makes 5.27B$ from wireless auction

technologyEdward Kiledjian
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Now that the Canadian wireless auction for the 700 MHZ band is over, we can list the winners and losers. 

The first big winner is the Canadian government making a cool 5.27B$.

The biggest surprise was Videotron by winning licenses in Ontario, Alberta and BC. Which clearly means they have expansion plans like I wrote about here (link).

The biggest spender was Rogers with 3.3B$ next was Telus spending 1.1B$. Rogers spent more than Telus and Bell combined because it bought the largest number of paired blocks. Paired blocks are the preferred choice because they simplify deployment and improve interoperability between carriers. 

700MHZ auction results (link)

Videotron releases 2 new all you can talk plans with data

technologyEdward Kiledjian
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Competition is a wonderful thing for consumers and nowhere is this more needed than in the Canadian telecommunication business. Videotron has been a wonderful addition to the Quebec market forcing the BIG 3 (Rogers, Bell and Telus) to respond quickly by offering much more competitive plans [than they would normally].

Videotron has introduced 2 new all you can talk Canada Wide plans. These plans include all of the usual suspects including Voicemail, CallerID, Text Messaging and Canada wide calling. The only difference between the 2 is the amount of monthly data : 1GB or 6GB ($59.95 and $79.95 respectively).

You can read the details or sign up here. 

New 2013 Nexus 7 with LTE available in Canada

technologyEdward Kiledjian
New 2013 Google Nexus 7 with LTE tablet on Google Play for $349 CAD

New 2013 Google Nexus 7 with LTE tablet on Google Play for $349 CAD

As much as I love the experience of IOS devices, I believe the best deal on a 7" tablet right now is the 2013 Nexus 7 (link).

It is light, powerful and has an incredibly beautiful retina-like screen. Really puts the iPad mini to shame. Many have been eagerly waiting for the LTE variant of the new device and it is finally available in Canada. 

$349 buys you a brand new 7" tablet with: 

  • 32GB of storage
  • 2GB of RAM
  • 7-inch, 1920x1200 display (Full HD)
  • Fraunhofer designed sound system
  • comes with Android 4.3
  • LTE: 700/850/1700/1800/1900/2100 MHz
  • HSPA+: 850/900/1900/2100/AWS (1700/2100) MHz 

Since we are talking about the LTE version, I want to mention that the device has pentaband HSPA+ support which means it will work with Wind Mobile, Mobility and videotron, plus LTE support for the big 3 Bell, Rogers, Telus (and their sub-brands Koodoo, Fido, SOLO, etc)

iPhone 5c and 5s compatible with Videotron, Wind Mobile & Mobilicity

technologyEdward Kiledjian
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We are just days away from the shipping of the iPhone 5c and the sale of the iPhone 5s. When buying a smartphone [Apple or Android], the biggest cost during your contract are the data costs. Canadians looking to use one of our alternative carriers (Wind Mobile, Mobilicity or Videotron) should rejoice with the knowledge that all new iPhones will be compatible with the AWS bands used by these carriers (T-Mobile in the US). This also means that the phone will work perfectly when roaming in the US with a Roam Mobility SIM card.

Sure some iPhone 5's were compatible but not all and figuring out which one was compatible was a complicated act of mental gymnastics based on serial number look-up.  

Any iPhone 5c or 5s you pickup (unlocked) will work with these alternative cheaper carriers. 

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