Rogers Communications launched Canada's first LTE network this month. While done with little fanfare, it effectively ushered in the era of 4G, the next generation of high-speed wireless technology, in this country.
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The 4G label has been used for some time in marketing by the telecom industry (including Rogers) to describe networks that are significantly faster than the standard 3G technology. That's caused confusion for the consumer, because these aren't really true 4G networks.
To further muddy the issue, even Rogers's new LTE high-speed network is referred to by some as 3.9G, since it operates right at the bottom end of the official 4G speed range of 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps.
But marketing tactics and other debates aside, with LTE, Rogers is the first Canadian wireless provider to adopt a network infrastructure that has the potential to support the kind of data-transfer speeds considered to be the benchmark of the fourth-generation of wireless technology based on the standard known as Global System for Mobile (GSM).
GSM is the dominant mobile standard in most parts of the world, although many North American carriers, including Bell and Telus, have long used a competing technology called CDMA. That's about to change — Bell has also been running its own LTE trials and expects to launch its first network later this year, and Telus will likely follow suit in early 2012.
So far, the Rogers LTE network is only available in Ottawa. The company chose Ottawa to launch the network partly because Ericsson, which built the infrastructure, has a large laboratory there. Rogers said it will roll out LTE in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver later this year and in 21 other cities next year.
LTE mostly on laptops, not phones
Canada is playing catch-up to other parts of the world with the LTE rollout. LTE networks are already commercially available in 16 countries, according to the Global Mobile Suppliers Association — 17 with the launch of Canada's first network. In most of them, however, LTE is not yet being used on cellphones. Instead, it is being accessed via a USB dongle or a mobile hot spot.
In Canada, Rogers has dubbed its dongle the Rocket Stick and is selling it for $79.99 on a three year data plan and $169.99 with no plan. (Prices of monthly data plans for the Rocket Stick vary from $45 for 1.5 GB to $90 for 9 GB). A Rocket Stick — or Rocket mobile hot spot — is also required to access its high-speed HSPA+ network on a laptop.
.jpg)
The 4G label has been used for some time in marketing by the telecom industry (including Rogers) to describe networks that are significantly faster than the standard 3G technology. That's caused confusion for the consumer, because these aren't really true 4G networks.
To further muddy the issue, even Rogers's new LTE high-speed network is referred to by some as 3.9G, since it operates right at the bottom end of the official 4G speed range of 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps.
But marketing tactics and other debates aside, with LTE, Rogers is the first Canadian wireless provider to adopt a network infrastructure that has the potential to support the kind of data-transfer speeds considered to be the benchmark of the fourth-generation of wireless technology based on the standard known as Global System for Mobile (GSM).
GSM is the dominant mobile standard in most parts of the world, although many North American carriers, including Bell and Telus, have long used a competing technology called CDMA. That's about to change — Bell has also been running its own LTE trials and expects to launch its first network later this year, and Telus will likely follow suit in early 2012.
So far, the Rogers LTE network is only available in Ottawa. The company chose Ottawa to launch the network partly because Ericsson, which built the infrastructure, has a large laboratory there. Rogers said it will roll out LTE in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver later this year and in 21 other cities next year.
LTE mostly on laptops, not phones
Canada is playing catch-up to other parts of the world with the LTE rollout. LTE networks are already commercially available in 16 countries, according to the Global Mobile Suppliers Association — 17 with the launch of Canada's first network. In most of them, however, LTE is not yet being used on cellphones. Instead, it is being accessed via a USB dongle or a mobile hot spot.
In Canada, Rogers has dubbed its dongle the Rocket Stick and is selling it for $79.99 on a three year data plan and $169.99 with no plan. (Prices of monthly data plans for the Rocket Stick vary from $45 for 1.5 GB to $90 for 9 GB). A Rocket Stick — or Rocket mobile hot spot — is also required to access its high-speed HSPA+ network on a laptop.
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