Rogers Communications announced yesterday it has extended its network sharing agreement with Manitoba Telecom Services (MTS) to offer 4G LTE services across the province of Manitoba, while enabling MTS customers to access faster LTE services and to roam on Rogers’ LTE network nationwide. Starting 17 June 2013 Rogers will roll out its LTE Max network – offering multi-band 2600MHz/AWS (2100MHz/1700MHz) services enabling theoretical maximum speeds of 150Mbps – to customers in Winnipeg, Brandon, Victoria Beach and Grand Beach. Rogers will continue to expand LTE Max coverage to additional markets in 2013 with plans to reach more than 90% of Manitoba’s population over the next five years. This agreement builds on the network sharing arrangement Rogers and MTS signed in 2009 that resulted in the joint deployment of a 3.5G HSPA+ mobile broadband network covering 97% of Manitobans. Under the LTE network sharing arrangement, MTS and Rogers will share the costs of deploying and operating LTE technology in Manitoba.
Beginning on 17 June Rogers customers living in Winnipeg, Brandon, Victoria Beach and Grand Beach who currently use an LTE device with an LTE SIM will have access to Rogers LTE Max, while additional markets in Manitoba being added to the higher speed LTE Max service this summer will include Portage la Prairie, Selkirk, Steinbach and Ste. Anne.
MTS’s LTE network has been available in Winnipeg and Brandon since August 2012. Via the new network sharing deal, MTS’s LTE users will have access to peak data speeds of up to 150Mbps, doubling the previous speed capability. MTS previously announced plans to expand LTE coverage to six additional communities in 2013.
Having launched commercial LTE services in July 2011, Rogers says it has seen an 80% increase in wireless internet usage year over year. Today, Rogers offers what it says is the highest speed mobile broadband in Canada to more than a million customers, with LTE coverage of 70% of the population, and intends to reach 95 additional LTE markets across Canada in 2013.