Expanded Coverage Frequency

[Guest]

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

Like others, I received a letter from Fido saying analog would be
discontinued. It also said I had access to the expanded network for free
as long as I continued my 2 year agreement. It said nothing about a 25
cent per minute charge, go figure.

My question is, do I need a handset that supports 850mhz to have access to
the expanded network or is expanded coverage available on 1900mhz? I want
to know if buying a quad band phone will get me better coverage in rural
Ontario.

Rob

 

[Guest]

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

Robert Brown wrote:
>
> Like others, I received a letter from Fido saying analog would be
> discontinued. It also said I had access to the expanded network for free
> as long as I continued my 2 year agreement. It said nothing about a 25
> cent per minute charge, go figure.

Most interesting. I wonder if Fido will become like Rogers with different
plans depending on where you live in Canada.


> My question is, do I need a handset that supports 850mhz to have access to
> the expanded network or is expanded coverage available on 1900mhz? I want
> to know if buying a quad band phone will get me better coverage in rural
> Ontario.

You'd need to navigate through the Rogers web site to try to get coverage maps
that show 850 and 1900 coverage areas separately,. Fido only shows on colour
and doesn't differentiate between the two.

From what I was told, pretty much all Rogers towers now carry both 850 and
1900. However, since 1900 doesn't propagate as well, coverage quality wouldn't
be as good as 850.

The only real way to know is to take your 1900 only phone to where you
regularly go and see if you have good coverage or not.

The drones who answer the phones don't have access to the real network maps
done at the engineering department who probably know exactly where there is
coverage and where there isn't. The coverage maps we are allowed to see are
maps done by the amrketing dept who don't really know about mountains blocking
coverage between the antenna dna the town. (that was the case with Fido in
Hudson Québec where the antenna was near the highway, but the twon itself was
shielded by a hill, thus no service, even though Fido's maps showed full
service in Hudson.

 

[Guest]

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

In article <Xns96A3708F65B7Crbrownsofthomenet@216.196.97.142>,
Robert Brown <rbrown@softhome.net> wrote:
>Like others, I received a letter from Fido saying analog would be
>discontinued. It also said I had access to the expanded network for free
>as long as I continued my 2 year agreement. It said nothing about a 25
>cent per minute charge, go figure.

Of course it didn't, you won't pay the $0.25 rate as you've opted
for the $5 Enhanced Network Option -- which is free as you've a Fido
Agreement.

>
>My question is, do I need a handset that supports 850mhz to have access to
>the expanded network or is expanded coverage available on 1900mhz? I want
>to know if buying a quad band phone will get me better coverage in rural
>Ontario.

All of Rogers' coverage is 850 & 1900. In rural areas, 850 will
work better when you are not near the tower.