“Fastest & Largest”: Bell vs. Rogers Legally speaking

Bell and Rogers have always had a very “friendly” attitude towards each other when it comes to who is actually the “fastest and largest network” in Canada. Nothing screams friend like a court case.

Back in January Rogers filed the complaint with the Advertising Standards Canada (ASC) stating that Bell Mobility went against the Canadian Code by placing the statement “fastest and largest network across North America” in one of their ads. Rogers was concerned because it was based on different technology (Bell used EVDO and Rogers’ HSPA technology) and was potentially misleading customers.

In April, Bell stated that they “now has positive, independent and indisputable results that provide sufficient evidence to challenge this claim with a confident statement of our own: ‘The results are clear and indisputable: Overall, Bell is faster and reliable. Bell clearly demonstrated a superior advantage when it came to speed”.

Times have changed now as Bell is preparing to launch their new HSPA network… with times changing so does the marketing and legal fine print. Bell used to say their “Canada’s largest 3G network” with the legal being “Based on total square km of the 1xEV-DO network vs. Rogers HSPA coverage as of July 6, 2009″.

However, with the Apple iPhone being announced last week they now write they reach “93% of the Canadian population across more than a million square kilometres” and the legal as “Based on tests of average upload and download speeds using HSPA devices, on the shared HSPA/HSPA+ network available from Bell, vs. Rogers’ HSPA/HSPA+ network as of Sept. 15, 2009 in large Canadian urban centres. Speed may vary due to topography, environmental conditions, device type and other factors. HSPA/HSPA+ not available in all areas. Based on total square kms of coverage of the shared HSPA/HSPA+ network available from Bell, vs. Rogers’ HSPA/HSPA+ network as of Sept. 15, 2009.”

Looks like Bell has done some more internal testing and compared to Rogers network and devices with recent dates as Sept. 15, 2009.

In Rogers press releases they state that “The Rogers HSPA network, Canada’s fastest and most reliable, is now available in all of Canada’s top markets from Victoria to Halifax, reaching almost 85 per cent of the country’s population. Proven to operate Canada’s fastest mobile data network as well as the most reliable network for voice with the clearest reception and fewest dropped calls, Rogers Wireless is Canada’s largest wireless provider and the only carrier operating on the global standard GSM and highly advanced HSPA technology platforms.”

With all these new advancements in technology and each carrier fiercely competing against each other… would it not make sense for us to actually see these test results instead of simply trusting the fine print? Especially the most recent Bell related one from September 15th that compares both HSPA network and HSPA devices.

Let’s see the actual results please!

Related posts:

1. Rogers claims Bell ads are false as “fastest and largest network”
2. Rogers HSPA+ announcement: “Bell is not concerned”
3. Bell has “undisputable results” of being “Faster than Rogers.”
4. Bell attacks Rogers BlackBerry plans: “Bell vs. Rogers”