We received an interesting inquiry and we thought we’d share it with you.
Canadian_Kool: I realize that you have a difficult band of spectrum, but I heard that you were able to use a commercially available CDMA phone on your network. In that case, I would strongly recommend that you allow people to purchase old CDMA phones and load your PRL file onto it and bring their own phones to Public. Is this even technically possible?
Public Mobile: Thanks for your question. The phone we used to make our first phone call on our G Block spectrum was a commercially available phone that had been tuned to support our G Block spectrum. Since then we’ve been talking with a variety of phone manufacturers who will provide us with a selection of phones for launch. Our phones will also be capable of supporting commercially available PCS (Personal Communications Service) blocks of spectrum, so if you ever needed to make a 911 call outside the Public Mobile network footprint, the phone would still place the call.
No, unfortunately you will not be able to use an old CDMA phones on the Public Mobile network.
Tags: cdma, g-block spectrum, pcs, public mobile answers your questions, technology | Posted in People and Places, Support
Do we know when is the actual launch date? I know in some videos you mentioned that the service will be ready for xmas. Is it true?
If one can place a 911 call from outside the Public Mobile footprint, I assume we will be able to call anyone from outside the footprint? I understand there will probably be roaming charges, but I just want to know that if someone calls me when I’m on the way up to cottage country that they can reach me?
Public Mobile: I understand you don’t want to tell us about what features will be included in your $40 unlimited talk & text plan for competitive reasons. What I would like to know, however, is whether or not your phones will work (not just 911 emergencies) outside your networks coverage area? This is a big deal for anyone who will be traveling 50K outside the GTA. No need to tell us what roaming or long distance will cost. Just whether or not any service will be available outside the coverage area?
Hi Dave – thanks for the questions. The answer to your first question is yes, our phones will have the capability of roaming on CDMA networks from other providers. The answer to your second question is initially we will not offer roaming but that may be added over time.
Thank you.
Hi Lindsay,
I’m interested in understanding the roaming capabilities that you will be offering. Will the phones be dual mode to support roaming? Do you envision having WiFi devices in the future that could offer offload to WiFi while roaming?
BTW: I’m in Toronto next week and would love to stop by your offices!
Simon