Bell or Telus in Ontario (Toronto)

Hello,

I'm looking for some facts on how Bell compares to Telus in the province of Ontario. Specifically, Toronto and Whitby areas. I'm currently with Telus, but am thinking of switching to Bell. I experience a lot of dropped calls on the Go-Train around the Danforth, Rouge Hill and Pickering stations. Is this a phone issue, or network? I currently own the LG 4600, and IMHO, it's a piece of junk!

I can get the V710 from Telus for free on a 3 year contract,(it's normally $99, but they're waiving the fee to entice me to stay) but I haven't really heard a lot of good things about this phone. I like the E815 ($149.99 on a 3 year), but am now leaning towards the A920 ($99.00 on a 3 year).

Would Bell match Telus's price on the phone, or at least give the equivalent in the form of a credit on my bill, in order to get my business from Telus?

Any information on these phones, as well as how the two networks compare in Ontario would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

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I don't know much about the Ontario networks, but I will certainly try and help you out.

You may be dropping calls for several reasons. The phone does indeed affect reception. Some phones are better than others at receiving the cell phone tower's signal.

That said, the network may also be busy. Your dropped calls, are always at the exact same spot ? Or does it happen more randomly ? If it's more randomly, then it's possible that the network is overloaded. See, the way the digital signal works, the more people that use it, the more it shrinks. Let me try and show you:

********************** Y **************** P ***

Assuming that the *'s are how far the signal can go from the tower, it's roughly about 20km, but a lot can influence that in both ways good and bad. Now, let's say you are the P and the Y is the tower. You are in the middle of the signal area, you can process a call. Now, let's say the stock market crashes and 3500 stock brokers all get on their Telus phones to make a last will before they hang themselves.

********************** Y **** B ********** P ***

Ok, so same area, you're in the same spot, now all the stock brokers are firing up their phones (where the B is). Now the tower certainly won't have enough power to keep all these phones going (the tower's phone capacity varies, depending on how much power is being run to the tower's power box, so how powerful the tower is, I cannot comment on). So what the digital signal does, is it shrinks.

***** Y **** B *** P

Basically, the tower has to make a choice on what phones it will keep servicing and which ones it will drop. So, it does the easiest thing possible. (Remeber that the signal is a 360 degree circle straight out from the tower) It shrinks the signal into a smaller radius, say 15km, then 10km, then 5km, etc. This way, it will continue to service the phones that are closest to it. As the stock brokers get off their phones and hang themselves (let's hope they weren't selfish and left their phones connected to their lawyers), the signal will once again spread out to it's optimum range (range in cell phone terms is called footprint).

Now, on to your Bell Mobility questions. Bell has one of the most advanced networks in Canada, and it's available already in Toronto / Montreal. The EV-DO (EVolution Data-Optimized) network brings high-speed to the wireless internet for your cell phone. So while you are used to the 1X with Telus (when you go online to download things from your phone, etc), which is just about as fast as dial-up internet for your home computer, Bell Mobility is running the EV-DO network, which is about as fast as cable or DSL for your home computer. In that regard, Bell Mobility by far has the upper hand in the cellular industry.

Also note that with Bell Mobility, you can get a local phone number in every province and territory in Canada. Good to know if you ever get transferred, have to move, unexpected things happen, etc. Not so with Telus, as they do not have service everywhere.

As for phones, they're more or less the same phones like Telus has, just look a little different and have different model numbers. The A920 seems to be an excellent phone. We've tested it here in the Yukon and it outperforms quite a few other phones.

The bottom line is, don't look at what you're going to pay for the phone. That's a one time fee that you pay upfront, that's it. What you need to look at are the plans, how the network fuctions, and what the future looks like for each company.

Abom,

Many thanks for your time and detailed response.

The dropped calls do always occur in the same spots, and yes, I agree that the price of the phone should not be my primary concern, at least not in this case ($100.00 only).

Do you mind if I PM you?

Regards.

Sure, feel free to PM me.

If the calls always drop in the exact same spot, then it's more than likely a hole in the network. I'm surprised you notice it in Toronto though, as even here in Whitehorse with the extreme elevation changes (you can drive for 5 minutes from downtown to a newer neighbourhood and the elevation changes 200+ meters) we only have the odd spot here and there.