BCE’s HSPA Network Debuts Soon

Bell Canada, the subsidiary of incumbent Canadian telecom carrier BCE Inc. (BCE - Analyst Report), has reportedly accelerated the deployment process of its next-generation high-speed wireless network. The Canadian operator will begin commercial launch of the much anticipated 3G high speed packet access (“HSPA”) network in November, ahead of the originally scheduled launch in February 2010.  
 
The 3G HSPA network represents an upgrade to Bell Canada’s existing CDMA based wireless network and is set to emerge as the largest HSPA network in Canada . The company has collaborated with its Canadian peer Telus Corp. (TU - Analyst Report) for sharing the expenditures (estimated to be US$1.05 billion) related to this advancement which will support a vast range of next-generation smartphones (including iPhone). Moreover, Bell Canada has signed a North American roaming agreement with AT&T (T - Analyst Report).
 
Bell Canada is expediting the HSPA network launch as the company targets to leverage the attractive business opportunity represented by the upcoming holiday season when more and more wireless handsets will be sold. The new wireless network will also provide support to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver of which Bell Canada is the official telecom partner.
 
Leveraging the HSPA network, Bell Canada and Telus will be well positioned to launch Apple Inc’s (AAPL - Analyst Report) iPhone before the end of 2009. Rogers Communications (RCI - Analyst Report), the only Canadian carrier currently operating an HSPA network, is likely to lose its iPhone exclusivity in Canada as early as in November 2009.   
 
The new HSPA network, which effectively complements Bell Canada’s existing 3G EV-DO wireless network, will deliver peak downlink speed of up to 21 megabits per second (Mbps). The company targets to address 93% of the Canadian population with HSPA covering nearly 20,000 cities and towns across rural and urban areas.
 
Bell Canada continues to experience decline in wireless revenue per user due to lower customer usage in a weak economy and intense price war which forces customers to opt for cheaper price plans offered by competition. Additionally, wireless subscriber growth has slowed due to higher churn (customer switch).
 
The network upgrade to HSPA will enhance Bell Canada’s wireless voice and data service deployments, maximize network efficiency, lower operational cost and facilitate future transition to Long Term Evolution (“LTE”), a 4G wireless broadband technology offering faster data-transmission speed for handsets.

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