Bell & Telus Announce Canada-wide HSPA/GSM Network Starting 2010

bell logo  telus logo

Bell and Telus have announced the joint development of a long-rumoured, fast, nation-wide, HSPA wireless network to begin service as early as 2010.

In the near term, the network will support both existing CDMA mobile handsets used by current Bell and Telus customers, plus GSM–based handsets.  GSM is the global standard currently used by Rogers in support of the iPhone, among other mobile devices.

Over the longer term, this 4G network could ramp Canadian wireless download speeds to as fast as 100 Mbps. Current Canadian 3G networks have 7 Mbps maximum download speeds.

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Canada’s National Do Not Call List Starts Sept 30, 2008

stop calling me - Canadian National Do Not Call LIst If you dislike getting unwanted telemarketing calls, starting Tuesday Sept 30, 2008, Canadians will be able to sign up for the new “National Do Not Call List”. The list Is modelled after the U.S. National Do Not Call Registry established in 2003.

[Oct 1 Update: The service is working intermittently right now.]

Once you put your number on the list, telemarketers (with exceptions listed below) cannot call you. If they do, you can report them. They face fines from $1,500 to $15,000 per infraction.  The do not call list will not, however, stop calls from:

  • registered charities seeking donations
  • newspapers looking for subscriptions
  • political parties and their candidates, and
  • companies with whom you have an existing commercial relationship; for example, if you have done business with a company in the previous 18 months––such as a carpet-cleaning company––that company can call you.  The biggest offenders like your bank, telephone company, cable company etc. can still call and harass you. Grr!

Unfortunately your registration lasts only three years. Mark your calendar to register again three years from now.

Questions and answers about the national do-not-call list are available on this government website. For more info, you can read about it here on Wikipedia or here on Michael Geist’s site.

iOptOut Option

ioptout Canadians may also wish to register with Michael Geist’s free “iOptOut” service which allows Canadian consumers to opt-out of calls from those organizations mentioned above that are otherwise exempt from the national list (click thumbnail for larger view).  iOptOut’s FAQ is here.

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