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End of Analog

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Anonymous
July 27, 2005 4:14:54 AM

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

Surprise, surprise, I got a letter today saying that since "Fido" has
"new, enhanced" coverage available, they're discontinuing analog roaming
for those of us with dual-mode phones.

I don't have to pay the extra $5/mo, but if I place or receive a call
while outside of the "basic" area, I'll be charged $0.25/min, regardless
of plan. No, it won't tell me if I'm in the basic or enhanced area
unless I call a number to ask.

What a freaking crock. I can't wait until we get number portability.

--
Rob.Russell@Canada.Com, Unicorn of Usenet & Bastard of Bandwidth
"If my son wants to be a pimp when he grows up, that's fine with me. I
hope he's a good one and enjoys it and doesn't get caught. I'll support
him in this. But if he wants to be a network administrator, he's out of
the house and not part of my family." Steve Wozniak, http://www.woz.org

More about : end analog

Anonymous
July 27, 2005 4:14:55 AM

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

What is that number?

"Rob Russell" <colonel@engsoc.org> wrote in message
news:D c6jlu$c8o$1@driftwood.ccs.carleton.ca...
> Surprise, surprise, I got a letter today saying that since "Fido" has
> "new, enhanced" coverage available, they're discontinuing analog roaming
> for those of us with dual-mode phones.
>
> I don't have to pay the extra $5/mo, but if I place or receive a call
> while outside of the "basic" area, I'll be charged $0.25/min, regardless
> of plan. No, it won't tell me if I'm in the basic or enhanced area
> unless I call a number to ask.
>
> What a freaking crock. I can't wait until we get number portability.
>
> --
> Rob.Russell@Canada.Com, Unicorn of Usenet & Bastard of Bandwidth
> "If my son wants to be a pimp when he grows up, that's fine with me. I
> hope he's a good one and enjoys it and doesn't get caught. I'll support
> him in this. But if he wants to be a network administrator, he's out of
> the house and not part of my family." Steve Wozniak, http://www.woz.org
Anonymous
July 27, 2005 4:14:55 AM

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

And how long did you expect Rogers to allow their customers to roam on the
Bell network?

"Rob Russell" <colonel@engsoc.org> wrote in message
news:D c6jlu$c8o$1@driftwood.ccs.carleton.ca...
> Surprise, surprise, I got a letter today saying that since "Fido" has
> "new, enhanced" coverage available, they're discontinuing analog roaming
> for those of us with dual-mode phones.
>
> I don't have to pay the extra $5/mo, but if I place or receive a call
> while outside of the "basic" area, I'll be charged $0.25/min, regardless
> of plan. No, it won't tell me if I'm in the basic or enhanced area
> unless I call a number to ask.
>
> What a freaking crock. I can't wait until we get number portability.
>
> --
> Rob.Russell@Canada.Com, Unicorn of Usenet & Bastard of Bandwidth
> "If my son wants to be a pimp when he grows up, that's fine with me. I
> hope he's a good one and enjoys it and doesn't get caught. I'll support
> him in this. But if he wants to be a network administrator, he's out of
> the house and not part of my family." Steve Wozniak, http://www.woz.org
Related resources
Anonymous
July 27, 2005 4:14:55 AM

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

Rob Russell wrote:
> I don't have to pay the extra $5/mo, but if I place or receive a call
> while outside of the "basic" area, I'll be charged $0.25/min, regardless
> of plan.


That is one decision that I was expecting. It makes good business sense for
Rogers to end the deal with Bell and get customers to spend the extra
"roaming" money on its own network. And I suspect the number of customers with
analogue capable phones is quite low now.

One needs to find out though if 1900 coverage is truly deployed everywhere
there was analogue coverage. Since most fido customers don't have 850 capable
phones, if large swaths of coverage are covered only with 850, it means that
this news means reduced coverage for fido customers with bi-mode phones.


However, this brings big questions with regards to billing. Will "roaming" be
billed by the second of minute ? Will the $5.00 deal still exist ?
Anonymous
July 27, 2005 1:31:23 PM

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

"JF Mezei" <jfmezei.spamnot@teksavvy.com> a écrit dans le message de news:
1122432658.14e6129b9effdf409a668c0dbc614376@teranews...
> Rob Russell wrote:
>> I don't have to pay the extra $5/mo, but if I place or receive a call
>> while outside of the "basic" area, I'll be charged $0.25/min, regardless
>> of plan.
>
>
> That is one decision that I was expecting. It makes good business sense
> for
> Rogers to end the deal with Bell and get customers to spend the extra
> "roaming" money on its own network. And I suspect the number of customers
> with
> analogue capable phones is quite low now.
>
> One needs to find out though if 1900 coverage is truly deployed everywhere
> there was analogue coverage. Since most fido customers don't have 850
> capable
> phones, if large swaths of coverage are covered only with 850, it means
> that
> this news means reduced coverage for fido customers with bi-mode phones.
>
>
> However, this brings big questions with regards to billing. Will "roaming"
> be
> billed by the second of minute ? Will the $5.00 deal still exist ?

As august 2 everybody will be able to use the "enhanced" rogers network for
25 cents/min. This is probably why the analog is withral. The only problem
is the rogers network is still smaller than Bell analog! For exemple Percé
in Quebec where lot of tourist go is not covered by rogers. Let's hope they
will use some of the Fido towers to cover these places in the future.
Anonymous
July 27, 2005 7:53:14 PM

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

Blandine Bigard wrote:
> As august 2 everybody will be able to use the "enhanced" rogers network for
> 25 cents/min. This is probably why the analog is withral. The only problem
> is the rogers network is still smaller than Bell analog!

Not the only problem. On august 3rd, the cost will really be $0.45 per minute
to use the enhanced coverage area. Remember the 100% increase in long distance
rates to some absurd value in 2005.

I also heard that starting August 16th, roaming in the USA will cost CAD$0.50
per minute, billed by the minute, plus the $0.20 perminute for long distance.

OK, now the good news: starting august 3rd, one should be able to dial *#123#
and find out if one is in a fido or rogers-extended area at which point you
can decide whether to leave you phone turned on or not in order not to be
billed $0.45 per incoming call. (the number doesn't work yet). The ability to
test whether one is in basic or extended area is very good thing and removes
some of the bad feelings about this change

When in extended coverage areas, your monthly plan minutes are not used. So
even if you have 1000 minutes, the minute your phone sees a rogers extended
area tower, you get dinged $0.45 per incoming call (and the same for outgoing
call unless you are making a local call).

The $5.00 monthy roaming thing remains, and in such a case, you use up your
monthly plan minutes.

If you talk more than 20 minutes in extended area, the $5.00 becomes good
(assuming your monthly plan has spare minutes).

One good advantage of this change is that in extended coverage areas, you will
be able to call fido service to either request the $5.00 etc etc.

If you make a permanent forward to your voice mail, or turn off your phone
while in extended coverage, you will not be billed extended copverage or long
distance fees when someone tries to call you.
Anonymous
July 28, 2005 7:31:04 PM

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

"JF Mezei" <jfmezei.spamnot@teksavvy.com> wrote in message
news:1122432658.14e6129b9effdf409a668c0dbc614376@teranews...
> One needs to find out though if 1900 coverage is truly deployed everywhere
> there was analogue coverage. Since most fido customers don't have 850
> capable
> phones, if large swaths of coverage are covered only with 850, it means
> that
> this news means reduced coverage for fido customers with bi-mode phones.

There is GSM 850 and 1900 coverage wherever there was Rogers analog
coverage. There is not, however, GSM coverage in every place where there
was Bell/Telus/SaskTel/MTS/Aliant coverage, which is the analog coverage
that Fido was using. I have a Rogers phone, and had a Fido phone with a
zero-minute package exclusively so that I could have analog roaming to be
reachable in places where Rogers doesn't work in Saskatchewan, but I've
cancelled my Fido service now because that advantage no longer exists.

Jim
Anonymous
July 30, 2005 12:10:25 AM

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

*#123# - which doesn't work yet, and won't ever work on some of the
older handsets.

Go Go Gadget T.T. <tt@mailnot.com>:
> What is that number?

> "Rob Russell" <colonel@engsoc.org> wrote in message
> > I don't have to pay the extra $5/mo, but if I place or receive a call
> > while outside of the "basic" area, I'll be charged $0.25/min, regardless
> > of plan. No, it won't tell me if I'm in the basic or enhanced area
> > unless I call a number to ask.

--
Rob.Russell@Canada.Com, Unicorn of Usenet & Bastard of Bandwidth
"If my son wants to be a pimp when he grows up, that's fine with me. I
hope he's a good one and enjoys it and doesn't get caught. I'll support
him in this. But if he wants to be a network administrator, he's out of
the house and not part of my family." Steve Wozniak, http://www.woz.org
Anonymous
July 30, 2005 12:11:50 AM

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

Go Go Gadget G M <greggm@sympatico.ca>:
> And how long did you expect Rogers to allow their customers to roam on the
> Bell network?

So long as it made them money. I was paying per minute for it, I
suppose Bell was getting paid per minute, and Rogers was taking its cut.

--
Rob.Russell@Canada.Com, Unicorn of Usenet & Bastard of Bandwidth
"If my son wants to be a pimp when he grows up, that's fine with me. I
hope he's a good one and enjoys it and doesn't get caught. I'll support
him in this. But if he wants to be a network administrator, he's out of
the house and not part of my family." Steve Wozniak, http://www.woz.org
Anonymous
July 30, 2005 12:15:00 AM

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

Go Go Gadget JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@teksavvy.com>:

> One needs to find out though if 1900 coverage is truly deployed everywhere
> there was analogue coverage. Since most fido customers don't have 850 capable
> phones, if large swaths of coverage are covered only with 850, it means that
> this news means reduced coverage for fido customers with bi-mode phones.

I have a tri-mode for use in the city (Nokia 5140), so I'll just use
that in the country. For other customers that don't have 850-capable
phones, I'm sure they'll get dirt cheap or free access to one if they
call to cancel over this.

> However, this brings big questions with regards to billing. Will "roaming" be
> billed by the second of minute ? Will the $5.00 deal still exist ?

Because I was an analog user, I suspect I'm getting a better deal than
those that were not analog users. The $5 deal was offered to me, but my
"Robers Roaming" will be by the second and at $0.25/min.

What about text messages while roaming? No word on that -- which
concerns me because I'm on an unlimited SMS plan.

--
Rob.Russell@Canada.Com, Unicorn of Usenet & Bastard of Bandwidth
"If my son wants to be a pimp when he grows up, that's fine with me. I
hope he's a good one and enjoys it and doesn't get caught. I'll support
him in this. But if he wants to be a network administrator, he's out of
the house and not part of my family." Steve Wozniak, http://www.woz.org
Anonymous
July 30, 2005 12:17:44 AM

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

Go Go Gadget JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@teksavvy.com>:

> OK, now the good news: starting august 3rd, one should be able to dial *#123#
> and find out if one is in a fido or rogers-extended area at which point you
> can decide whether to leave you phone turned on or not in order not to be
> billed $0.45 per incoming call. (the number doesn't work yet). The ability to
> test whether one is in basic or extended area is very good thing and removes
> some of the bad feelings about this change

When I'm wandering around the suburbs, how am I going to call that
number when my phone rings?

No, that number doesn't remove any of my bad feelings. Maybe if they
integrated it with callerID so that I'd know that way.

--
Rob.Russell@Canada.Com, Unicorn of Usenet & Bastard of Bandwidth
"If my son wants to be a pimp when he grows up, that's fine with me. I
hope he's a good one and enjoys it and doesn't get caught. I'll support
him in this. But if he wants to be a network administrator, he's out of
the house and not part of my family." Steve Wozniak, http://www.woz.org
July 30, 2005 2:38:40 PM

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

Any word on City Fido mixed in with Rogers 25 cents across the board for
their enhanced coverage?

"Rob Russell" <colonel@engsoc.org> wrote in message
news:D ce2o4$jb3$3@driftwood.ccs.carleton.ca...
> Go Go Gadget JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@teksavvy.com>:
>
>> One needs to find out though if 1900 coverage is truly deployed
>> everywhere
>> there was analogue coverage. Since most fido customers don't have 850
>> capable
>> phones, if large swaths of coverage are covered only with 850, it means
>> that
>> this news means reduced coverage for fido customers with bi-mode phones.
>
> I have a tri-mode for use in the city (Nokia 5140), so I'll just use
> that in the country. For other customers that don't have 850-capable
> phones, I'm sure they'll get dirt cheap or free access to one if they
> call to cancel over this.
>
>> However, this brings big questions with regards to billing. Will
>> "roaming" be
>> billed by the second of minute ? Will the $5.00 deal still exist ?
>
> Because I was an analog user, I suspect I'm getting a better deal than
> those that were not analog users. The $5 deal was offered to me, but my
> "Robers Roaming" will be by the second and at $0.25/min.
>
> What about text messages while roaming? No word on that -- which
> concerns me because I'm on an unlimited SMS plan.
>
> --
> Rob.Russell@Canada.Com, Unicorn of Usenet & Bastard of Bandwidth
> "If my son wants to be a pimp when he grows up, that's fine with me. I
> hope he's a good one and enjoys it and doesn't get caught. I'll support
> him in this. But if he wants to be a network administrator, he's out of
> the house and not part of my family." Steve Wozniak, http://www.woz.org
Anonymous
August 1, 2005 3:15:20 AM

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

A four legged furry Fido CSR told me that without the $5.00 fee to access the
extended coverage area, GPRS will still work and will be billed at regular
rates and/or take from your GPRS package.


In the end, while I do not wish to give Rogers any kudos, but this change is
actually an improvement.

Users can now use GPRS in all of Rogers's coverage as part of your Fido
package (eg: no roaming costs).

The convenience of being able to use your phone on Roger's network without
having to Call Fido to enable roaming at $5.00 per month is there and benefits
old and new customers alike, whereas in the past, only a few had
analogue-capable phones.

And unless you spend more than 20 minutes talk time while outside of Fido
footprint, this is cheaper than paying for the $5.00


Obviously, it would have been preferable to have free access to all of roger's
network at Fido rates. But that is not something you'd expect from Rogers
since Fido is going downhill to reduce the price differential between Fido and Rogers.
Anonymous
August 3, 2005 11:57:36 AM

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

Jim MacKenzie wrote:
> There is GSM 850 and 1900 coverage wherever there was Rogers analog
> coverage. There is not, however, GSM coverage in every place where there
> was Bell/Telus/SaskTel/MTS/Aliant coverage, which is the analog coverage
> that Fido was using. I have a Rogers phone, and had a Fido phone with a
> zero-minute package exclusively so that I could have analog roaming to be
> reachable in places where Rogers doesn't work in Saskatchewan, but I've
> cancelled my Fido service now because that advantage no longer exists.
>
> Jim

In Nova Scotia the only Rogers 1900 coverage I'm aware of is around
Halifax. In the rest of the province they only have GSM 850. I was
told this by a friend who travelled to the Annapolis valley and Truro
area last year. I also confirmed it in the last month driving on the
sunrise trail and in Cape Breton along the Bras D'Or lakes.

-Ralph
Anonymous
August 15, 2005 6:07:19 PM

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

<ralphdoncaster@yahoo.ca> wrote in message
news:1123081056.258276.313460@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
>
> In Nova Scotia the only Rogers 1900 coverage I'm aware of is around
> Halifax. In the rest of the province they only have GSM 850. I was
> told this by a friend who travelled to the Annapolis valley and Truro
> area last year. I also confirmed it in the last month driving on the
> sunrise trail and in Cape Breton along the Bras D'Or lakes.

That's interesting. Rogers built their GSM network here in Saskatchewan
with 1900 first, and added 850 later. Are you sure they didn't do the same
thing in Nova Scotia? GSM 850 wasn't even an official entity until after
the GSM network went online.

Jim
Anonymous
August 15, 2005 9:52:16 PM

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

Jim MacKenzie wrote:
> That's interesting. Rogers built their GSM network here in Saskatchewan
> with 1900 first, and added 850 later. Are you sure they didn't do the same
> thing in Nova Scotia? GSM 850 wasn't even an official entity until after
> the GSM network went online.

Cantel had deployed an 850 analogue network widely across canada. Under
AT&T, it converted some of that bandwidth to 850-TDMA.

AT&T (formerly Cantel) got some 1900 bandwidth usable after
Fido/Clearnet were given an official headstart. Like Fido/Clearnet, AT&T
deployed 1900 mostly just in cities where it needed the extra bandwidth.
With dual frequency phones, it wasn't a big issue for customers. Being
much younger, the 1900 network hasn't spread to the same footprint as
the older 850 one.


AT&T both in USA and Canada were able to quickly deploy GSM on their
1900 network because the network hardware/software and more importantly
handsets were already available. This deployment was fairly quick,
especially since the 1900 footprint wasn't as big as the 850.

Later, when 850 hardware/software and handsets became available, both
were able to deploy it on their network.

I assume that Rogers is pretty good at adjusting bandwidth allocation
between analogue, TDMA and GSM during this transition period ,
increasing GSM channels at the expense of TDMA as customersd switched
from TDMA to GSM handsets.
Anonymous
August 16, 2005 12:41:26 AM

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)

There were a few areas in rural eastern Ontario, between Toronto and
Ottawa, where the Bell analog service was available to Fido users with
a dual mode phone (e.g. my 7190). Neither Rogers 850 nor 1900 works in
some of these remote places, so we have lost some functionality.

Any improvement in GPRS is of no use to me as I don't use my phone that
way.
!