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MTS celebrates 25 years of wireless service in Manitoba, announces LTE expansion plans

Ian Hardy — Mon, 06 May 2013 20:07:55 +0000

Today, May 6th, marks the 25th anniversary of regional carrier MTS placing their first wireless call in Manitoba. Kelvin Shepherd, President of MTS, said that “Since the first cell phone call was placed in 1988, MTS’s wireless network has grown to encompass over 200 cell sites that simultaneously support over one million calls, millions of texts, and terabytes of data every day.”

MTS launched their LTE network this year in Winnipeg and Brandon, but declared that they’ll be expanding to Selkirk, Portage la Prairie, Steinbach, Ste. Anne, Grand Beach and Victoria Beach. MTS’ LTE coverage map currently reaches 60% of the population and “over the next five years” they are “poised to become substantially larger and reach even more Manitobans.”

MTS, according to their Q4 2012 results, currently has 497,367 wireless subscribers.

Source: MTS

MTS releasing the Galaxy S4 on May 3rd, company says “your solar system is about to be rocked”

Ian Hardy — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:07:22 +0000

All the Canadian carriers – Rogers, Bell, TELUS, Fido, Virgin, Koodo, WIND, Mobilicity, Videotron, SaskTel, and Eastlink – all announced plans to launch the Samsung Galaxy S4 in the coming days. Most have offered pre-orders to their customers and stated that the 5-inch Android will arrive in-stores on May 3rd. Manitoba-based MTS has brought some relief to their customers as they’ve now confirmed plans to bring the GS4 to their lineup. Unfortunately there’s no date or pricing listed, just that it’s “coming soon” and that “your solar system is about to be rocked.”

Update: A press release just went out that stated MTS will have the Galaxy S4 available on May 3rd for $199.99 on a 3-year contract.

Source: MTS
Via: CNW
(Thanks Gordon!)

MTS starts taking BlackBerry 10 pre-orders

Ian Hardy — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 15:49:14 +0000

This almost rounds out all the Canadian carriers BlackBerry 10 launch. So far we’ve seen Rogers, Bell, TELUS, Virgin, SaskTel, Koodo, WIND and Mobilicity. Videotron is missing, but regional Manitoba carrier MTS is hopping on the BB10 train and has started to take pre-registrations/pre-orders for the upcoming device.

MTS noted on Twitter that “Exciting BB10 news! You can now add your name to a pre-sale list at participating MTS Connect stores. More details to come at a later date.”

We’re now a glorious five days away from RIM officially unveiling BlackBerry 10 and the two new BlackBerry 10 smartphones. Everything will unfold itself on January 30th.

Source: Twitter
(Thanks luqman!)

MTS goes after Bell one more time, puts on paper why they are “better for you”

Ian Hardy — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 18:03:20 +0000

The battle for Manitoba continues. Bell, Virgin and MTS are all taking jabs at each other from rate plans, coverage and service. MTS is standing their ground now and listing on paper the ways they are “better for you than Bell.” In a nutshell: better coverage, LTE is active, unlimited data and better bundling options. It’s turning out to be a lovely soap opera. For those in Manitoba… what are your thoughts on all this heated competition?

Bell offers MTS customers a free iPhone 5 if they switch, but MTS says it’s a bad offer

Ian Hardy — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 18:47:43 +0000

Manitoba, like Saskatchewan, B.C., Quebec and Ontario, is a new battleground for carriers to duke it out. A couple day ago we saw Bell target Tbaytel customers by offering the “phone everyone is talking about for $0.” Now, according to a report in the Winnipeg Free Press Bell is at it again, but this time it’s regional carrier MTS.

Bell is apparently taking advantage of MTS’ declining market share – now sitting at 53% – in the province and going for the jugular. They are offering up the iPhone 5 for free to those customers who make the switch.

Sounds enticing for those who want the iPhone 5 a cheap price. MTS also carriers the iPhone and Kelvin Shepherd, president of MTS, says his customers should think twice before switching as his network stronger, faster and more powerful” than Bell’s. “If I wanted to tell you the bad things (about such an offer) I would tell you that a free handset on a network that is not very good in Manitoba probably does not equate to a really great offer. Our strength is we have 97 per cent coverage in Manitoba, Bell has less than 60 per cent. We have LTE (long term evolution, faster and more powerful than a 4G network), they don’t. We have more than 100 stores, they have a lot less than that.”

Source: WFP

(Thanks Chris!)

MTS launches the Sony Xperia T

Ian Hardy — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 13:24:19 +0000

Manitoba regional carrier MTS has finally released another LTE-enabled smartphone. Added their growing list is the Bond Phone – also known as the Sony Xperia T. We’ve had some hands-on time with this 4.55-inch Android (see here), but a quick rundown of specs has it running Ice Cream Sandwich (Jelly Bean upgrade coming early 2013), 1.5Ghz dual-core processor with an Adreno 225 GPU, 1GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, 13MP camera with a 1.3MP front-facing camera and an 1850mAh non-removable battery.

MTS’ LTE network is currently live in Winnipeg and Brandon, but if you live outside that coverage zone you’ll hook onto their HSPA+ network. As for the price of the Xperia T, MTS has it listed for $79.99 on a 3-year (currently the lowest price) and $559.99 outright (currently the highest price).

Source: MTS

MTS will release the Samsung Galaxy S III, now accepting pre-orders

Ian Hardy — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 12:24:33 +0000

MTS is joining all the other carriers in Canada and finally announced plans to release the Samsung Galaxy S III. There’s no official launch date yet, or pricing, but eager customers can now pre-order this Android ICS powered-device. The GS III has been available since May and has seen a gradual price reduction ever since – this weekend will see it hit $0 on a 3-year at some Big Box retailers. The no-contract price, depending on the carrier, is around the $650 mark.

Source: MTS
(Thanks to everyone who send this is in!)

MTS reports Q3 2012 results: Subscriber base now totals 494,564, market share in province slips to 53%

Ian Hardy — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 14:15:32 +0000

Regional Manitoba carrier MTS announced their Q3 2012 results today. Nothing earth shattering, but certainly respectful as they have a 53% market share – unfortunately this has been slowly dropping as other carriers have muscled their way in. In addition, MTS launched their LTE service in both Winnipeg and Brandon and expanded coverage to over 97% of Manitoba’s population. Wireless revenue for the quarter was the same as last year at $91.5 million, but now brings the year-to-date wireless revenue up 3.3% to $272.2 million.

Average revenue per user (“ARPU”) jumped to $60.58, mainly caused by the adoption of smartphone and data usage – which increased 29.4% in Q3 2012. MTS noted that as of September 30th 53.5% of all postpaid wireless subscribers had data plans, up from 39.9% in Q3 2011. MTS’s subscriber base now totals 494,564.

From a device perspective, MTS recently launched the Apple iPhone 5, Sony Xperia ion and is on tap to release the Xperia T (The Bond Phone).

Source: CNW

iPhone 5 available today at SaskTel, MTS and NorthernTel Mobility

Ian Hardy — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 11:30:20 +0000

Today is a good day for those SaskTel or MTS customers who’ve been waiting for the iPhone 5 to arrive. Just 1-week after it officially launched last week, the Saskatchewan and Manitoba regional carriers are quick to release it. Much praise can be given to the build out of their HSPA+ or in MTS’ case their new LTE network

Both carriers will have both the Black & Slate and White & Silver colours, also in 16GB ($179), 32GB ($279) and 64GB ($379) flavours. Read our full review of the iPhone 5 here.

In addition, we’ve reached out to MTS to see why they’ve only listed the iPhone 5, which is LTE-compatible, on their “4G HSPA+ network” and not their “4G LTE Network.”

Update: NorthernTel has also become one of the carriers to offer the iPhone 5. Prices are the same as above.

Source: SaskTel & MTS & NothernTel

MTS releasing two new rate plans for their iPhone 5 launch tomorrow

Ian Hardy — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 17:21:09 +0000

MTS revealed last week that they would be launching the iPhone 5 on September 28th. They only listed specs, but didn’t reveal any sort of pricing model. Not too much of a surprise, MTS is selling the iPhone 5 in all versions for the same price as all the other carriers: $179 for the 16GB model, $279 for the 32GB model and $379 for the 64GB model.

In addition, they’ve also come out with a couple new rate plans. First a $48.50 that gives 1GB data, 250 anytime minutes, Unlimited nights and weekends, plus unlimited texting. Second is a $63.50 that gives “Unlimited Data,” 300 anytime minutes, unlimited nights and weekends, and unlimited texts.

Kelvin Shepherd, President of MTS, stated that “MTS is very excited to offer iPhone 5 with unlimited data plans so customers in Manitoba can make the most out of features like FaceTime and Maps.”

Who’s buying?
Source: CNW