Hello CD's:

we are in the process of swiching our cell phone service provider, from Rogers single plan to Virgin Mobile couple plan which is 350 minutes combined for $50., with no system access and other fees...the deal sounds far better than our rogers plan..

Does anyone have used this Virgin mobile services, or know about it, how the network and overall deal is..please share your expereince.

Thank you, and wish you all a fantastic 2009!!

Virgin/ Bell/ Solo are all the same. They use the same network.

Solo is a discount brand of bell. Virgin is sort of a franchisee where it is branded and sold as virgin, entire network, services, systems are same as Bell. Also all are CDMA.


Similar for Rogers and Fido. Fido is the discount brand for Rogers.

In virgin /solo/fido only customer services is lower for eg you are prompted to use more self serve rather than call and you may be billed for eg $ 3 per call for some issues which you can solve onllne.

Otherwise in terms of network / connectivity etc no difference between Virgin/Bell and Solo exactly the same.

Trust this helps.

Rajiv

I used virgin mobile since last 3 years,good service with no hidden charges. Now they have better selection of phone.On prepaid plan call display and voice mail are free.

Many people say that the main problem with CDMA phone is that they do not work in basement, elevator and some building while GSM phones work everywhere.

Can someone reconfirm?

Thanks

Hello Kalia,

CDMA / GSM connection has no relation to the technology.

The connection would be good or bad depending where you have the towers in place.

For eg some place Bell may be better and some place GSM wold be better. I have both Bell and Rogers connection ( one for me and one for my wife) and it is relative , you can get dropped calls on both.

for eg leave Canada, one of the biggest providers in USA , Verizon is CDMA, Reliance in India is CDMA.

GSM is more preferred as majority of networks use GSM in the world and for that reason, there is more publicity as well as due to higher demand the hardware ie.phones/ technologies are cheaper.

So in terms of connectivity I would not say Bell / Virgin/ Solo is lower compared to Rogers / Fido.

Incidentelly point to note Telus is also CDMA.

Having said that in the next two years Telus / Bell etc would convert to HSPA a version of GSM.

So go ahead use any provider Bell/ Rogers in Canada, you should not have a problem, get the right plan for your self.

Regards,
Rajiv

Hi there,

When you say Bell and Telus will also shift to HSPA (kind of GSM), in that case does one need to buy new phone again to have HSPA/GSM connectivity?

I feel GSM phones can be used anywhere in world by unlocking and buying local SIM when travellin.

Would you not recommend that one should prefer GSM service provider?

Thanks

Sir,

Definately then GSM would be of benefit- you can unlock and use local SIM. That is why Bell/ Telus are going in for HSPA ( advanced version of persent day GSM technology).

However if you are going abroad for a short time you will generally use long distance cards and and you are going for a long time in addition to SIM card you shall also buy local GSM phones which are now very cheap. For eg GSM phone in India available for $ 20-$ 30.

But these changes are going to occour slowly in the next 2 years and also for some time you would be able to use both ( GSM and CDMA). So if you plan on using your hardward beyond 3-4 years , you may be in a problem. Generally research has shown that people upgrade their hardware ( Phone ) every 2 years.

Please let me know if you have any questions.