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What was the best Canadian Wireless story of 2009?

By on December 29, 2009 at 9:20am in Mobile News, Various News

In 2009 the Canadian wireless scene dramatically changed. We had the big 3 (Rogers, Bell and TELUS) bringing on new devices, lowering plans and suing each other. In addition, Canada eventually saw a new national player, WIND Mobile enter the ring. There are so many wireless memories to remember and we thought it would be cool if you gave us a bit of feedback on what the best 2009 headline was. Here are a few worth remembering:

- New carriers Dave Wireless, Public Mobile and WIND Mobile building brand presence
- TELUS suing Rogers for false claims about being the “most” Reliable network in Canada
- Rogers suing Bell for being the “most” reliable network
- Videotron preparing for their new network entrance
- Joshua Jackson leading the Rogers Android “Revolution” and intros the HTC Magic & Dream
- CRTC blocking Globalive from launching WIND… Industry Minister eventually giving the go ahead
- Bell taking over complete control of Virgin Mobile
- Bell buying all The Source locations (January 1st they’ll only have Bell/Virgin phones)
- TELUS & Bell launching their HSPA+ networks
- Nokia finally releases the 5800 XpressMusic
- Koodo Mobile offering “sale” prices almost all year
- Carriers who started to charge for incoming text messages
- Several of the same devices now available via all carriers (Bold 9700, iPhone etc…)
- Virgin Mobile’s “Screw You Recession” initiative
- Solo Mobile almost being non-existent
- The LG Canadian Texting Championships
- Launch of the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1
- RIM’s continuing re-invention with the Storm2, Tour and the introduction of the “trackpad”
- The CRTC apparently selling the “National Do Not Call List”
- Carriers dropping the 911 Fees and System Access Fees
- Bell exclusively launching the Palm Pre

So… what was your the most memorable wireless story of 2009?

Related posts:

  1. Canada goes all out with Twitter (Koodo & Virgin added)
  2. Rogers Wireless to launch mobile phone payment pilot mid-2009
  3. Dave Wireless proudly says “Competition is Coming”
  4. Round 61 in the Canadian Wireless Spectrum Auction takes the total to $3,742,149,964

Discussion

16 comments for “What was the best Canadian Wireless story of 2009?”

  1. I’d say Bell-Telus launching their HSPA network, how relatively flawless the launch was and the great phone selection they brought with it.

    If I was Rogers, used to having a monopoly on GSM/HSPA phones and the customers attached to them, I’d be more scared of that than Wind.

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    Posted by Hugo B. | December 29, 2009, 9:59 am
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  2. Without a doubt, the entire WIND mobile story. WIND made it their brand identity to challenge the status quo. No matter what you think of the outcome of the CRTC/government drama, WIND is a game changer, and 2010 will see the incumbent giants forced to adapt for the first time ever.

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    Posted by superkev | December 29, 2009, 10:03 am
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  3. By far, the best thing that happened was the 40% of the AWS spectrum being allocated to new entrants in the Canadian wireless market.

    I was extremely surprised to see this coming from a conservative government none the less.

    It is the catalyst that will drive the wireless prices down as the new entrants start their networks up.

    What sux about the AWS auction is that in Quebec, Quebecor/Videotron got ALL the spectrum, thus creating less competition compared to the rest of Canada where there will be at least 2 new carriers setting up shop.

    Adi

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    Posted by Adi | December 29, 2009, 10:06 am
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  4. Opening of Wind Mobile

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0

    Posted by frank yu | December 29, 2009, 10:10 am
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  5. - New carriers Dave Wireless, Public Mobile and WIND Mobile building brand presence

    This had much coverage by the Media and the interwebs.

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    Posted by John Henry | December 29, 2009, 10:56 am
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  6. The palm pre!!!

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    Posted by Mathieu Le Reste | December 29, 2009, 11:01 am
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  7. Android has finally come to Canada.
    The HTC Dream, HTC Magic and the LG Eve are available at Rogers, the HTC Hero is available at Telus and the Samsung Galaxy is available at Bell.
    Let’s hop that 2010 will bring updates to these already old Android-1.5 devices … the future of Android in Canada is at stake!

    (I just want to remind you that less of 30% of current Android devices are running Android 1.5 or less … so let’s hope Canadian customers won’t be the last ones to upgrade to Android 1.6 at least)

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    Posted by Mathieu | December 29, 2009, 11:21 am
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  8. Hands down it’s Wind Mobile.

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    Posted by Jim R | December 29, 2009, 12:03 pm
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  9. Yep definitely Wind and how CRTC so hopelessly got it wrong. Conservatives wanted competition, the big three didn’t, only makes sense CRTC was overturned. Canada’s rates are among highest in the world any government needed to do SOMETHING!

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    Posted by RichieBoy | December 29, 2009, 12:04 pm
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  10. It isn’t true that Videotron got everything in Quebec… Public Mobile did get a licence and will deploy in QC and Ontario, so we will see 2 entrants.

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    Posted by Hugo B. | December 29, 2009, 12:32 pm
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  11. Wind opening Android coming to Canada!!!

    Even though both are flawed at the moment hopefully they will be a huge success.

    Wind will make a impact in the cell phone biz in Canada in 2010,bringing better prices and customer service to a monopolized market.

    If Rogers can fix their support for Android and get 1.6 and now 2.0 and future updates out in a timely fashion Android could be very huge in Canada.

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    Posted by chrisyak | December 29, 2009, 3:13 pm
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  12. WindMobile and maybe the the SAF going bye bye but hands down WIND

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    Posted by Nadim | December 29, 2009, 3:25 pm
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  13. In terms of industry ISPs, we have two clear stories:

    1) Bell/TELUS and the launching of their HSPA+ network.
    2) WIND and the entire Globalive saga.

    In terms of devices/hardware, worldwideCanadian news, we have a few more stories:

    1) Android coming to Canada
    2) iPhones multi-carrier release
    3) RIMs growth and success (hey, they’re Canadian remember?)
    4) Palm’s launch of the Pre (redesign of everything for them)

    But I think WINDs saga alone takes the cake. Bell/TELUS HSPA was neat and all, but it didn’t really change the game as drastically as most expected, just gave us some great new devices. But considering the prices and how our Big3 are acting – who cares..?

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    Posted by Pederson | December 29, 2009, 4:55 pm
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  14. W I N D ‘ S L A U N C H ! ! !

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    Posted by ricardo | December 29, 2009, 5:53 pm
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  15. Its premature to say Wind’s launch was story of the year because their launch hasn’t accomplished anything yet.

    I think that CRTC review of Globalive/Orascom is story of the year. Its the first time that the public has been witness to a hearing of that nature. It was very interesting to witness the usually private workings of the CRTC and the carriers. The CRTC decision was also significant, followed by the Governments (illegal) decision to overturn it.

    The review, decision and overturning are story of the year in my opinion. Not Wind’s actual launch.

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    Posted by TNSF | December 30, 2009, 9:57 am
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  16. Wind off course.

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    Posted by Rob | June 4, 2011, 1:19 pm
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