Telus or Bell better in BC/Alberta???

My Bell contract's up and I need a new phone. Thinking of switching to Telus.

Reasons?
- Poor signal/frequent dropped calls in rural areas - even on the highway between Edmonton and Calgary, which is unforgiveable IMO
- Frequent delays of 10 - 20 seconds between the time I press SND and the time I hear the called number begin to ring
- When someone calls me, there's usually a delay of 1-2 rings between the time the caller hears the ringing on their phone, and the time my cellphone actually starts to ring.

Would really appreciate opinions from anyone who's used both Telus and Bell mobility in western Canada and can compare network quality.

Don't really care that much about customer service -- I don't seem to need to talk to them much, and I already use Telus for landline service so I know there's good and bad with both companies. (Although I'm still *astonished* by the time it took Bell to fix up the mess when they switched billing systems a year or so ago -- their execs should all have been lined up, blindfolded, and shot for allowing that fiasco.)

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› See More: Telus or Bell better in BC/Alberta???

I've used both, so here's my opinion:

Calgary area, Telus is an excellent provider. Calgary is their hub, and they built a very good network there. Even in the C-train in the tunnels, you won't loose a signal.

As for the rest of the province, both networks are seemingly identical.

The reason you have frequent delays of 10 to 20 seconds after you press "SEND" is due to traffic on the network. The more traffic, the longer it will take to process a call.

When someone calls you, it will never be symmetrical ringing. This, again, is because of the network. When someone calls you, the network needs to find where you are, and then the closest tower to you needs to send a signal to your cellular phone. This takes more time than a landline which is hardwired. Therefore, you will always have that delay in the cell phone.

As for which to go with, either is a good choice over any GSM network. However, I must also point out that Bell plans to be bringing the EV-DO network to Alberta this year. EV-DO (EVolution Data Optimized) is wireless high speed data access for your phone. So, take for example you're downloading ring tones, screen savers, browsing the web, etc. Right now with the 1X network, it's about as fast as dialup internet for your computer. With EV-DO, it'll be about as fast as high speed internet. Around 500 KB/s to 700 KB/s. Bell is the leader in Canada for wireless data connectivity, so that is something to consider.

In Kelowna both networks are good. Bell, however has the worst customer service in the world. If email a concern in they promise to call back within 24hrs. My last go around it took over 3 weeks to have a manager actually call me. If you call in trying to restructure your plan they will set you up in a new one promising that it will save you tons of money based on your past usage... then every bill after that is significantly higher. They will charge you a pile of one time service fees for the changes without telling you up front about them. If you call in to complain about being sold a plan you didn't need and being charged fees you were not told about, they tell you that you did not have to take the customer service persons recommendations and refuse to reverse any fees or to switch you back to your old cheaper plan (because amazingly they don't offer it any more).

Bell employees are lying manipulative jerks. I would rather drink my own pee than ever deal with them again.

Telus for Alberta, definitely.

I am appalled at the crime of the manipulative lying bastards at Bell. I am ready to close my account ASAP and NEVER have anything to do with them again, and I don't give a rats ass how good their cell service might be.
I just went through the situation described above. I'd been in the hospital this spring and finally realized i could reduce my plan from the $100 to the $20 plan. The agent i spoke with tried to "not hear" the plan I wanted, and hear the next most expensive one instead several times. Then, she only warned me that if i accidentally used any data from that day forward, it would be expensive.
I have kept my airplane mode on except when i need to call someone from town, using Wi-Fi only for emails and internet.
What the agent failed to warn me about is that they were going to Pro-rate the days up until the day I changed plans, like $100 divided by 30 days X 12 days. If I'd gone over that amount of data usage, I would be charged.
MY BILL (under the new $20 plan) CAME TO $123-- more than my original $100 plan!!!!!!
When I phoned Bell again to "inquire" and receive this information, it was also pointed out to me that Bell had been so kind and curteous enough as to refund me for the remaining pro-rated days of the $100 plan. Like, oh, so nice and fair of them. I asked for the $20 plan and now have to pay $123.
When I explained what seemed unjust to me, she said Bell had no way of knowing how much data I'd used before I switched, that i'd used the data and it was only fair that i had to pay, that it was my decision in the first place to switch plans, and that that's why they (supposedly) advise customers never to switch in the middle of a billing period. Well, no one warned me. Do they do this advising telepathically?
My blood is boiling. BELL SUCKS ASS. THEY ARE THE NEWEST SOCIETAL DEVIL OF A CORPORATION IN ACTION.

WELL, when I phoned to (politely) cancel my account, I was transferred to a manager who told me I could not cancel my account until the three year period of my contract was over; HOWEVER, he then wanted to hear why i was displeased with my bill, put me on hold for 15 minutes, but got my balance owing reduced to $11.96.

SO, I got through to good customer service by threatening to cancel my account. It took 2 hours out of my day, but i do not feel so ripped off.

My daughter lives in Calgary, and has Telus. She loses service frequently in her condo building. Her friends, with other providers, never lose service at her condo. Telus says they have a tower issue and they won't fix it for over a year. Bottom line....we have a phone with a 3 year contract that is useless to her.