[say1988]

I am looking at upgrading to a Blackberry, and while i am currently with Virgin and have had no issues with them they don't offer anything to keep me without the best price, so I am looking for the best plan and right now Telus seems to have it with their student options (of course I am waiting to see what other companies role out in the next couple weeks).

However I have heard before that Telus has network issues and that it is often unreliable, even where they have coverage. Of course this may be out of date or the specific area. I am looking to use it in Southern Ontario (namely Kitchener, Toronto, Barrie, and Bruce County). The main people I know had them around North Bay a couple years back.

Has anyone experienced these issues? How does it compare to Bell's (specifically Virgin access if there is differentiation)?

[Cross posted on Bell board, I don't know how separate and biased these boards are]

[wxmancanada]

TELUS, Bell, and Virgin, when you really break it down all work off the same network, Virgin being a brand of Bell, Bell and TELUS share towers. So, if you have good coverage with your Virgin device right now, you'll more than likely have the same coverage on TELUS. This of course depending on if you have a HSPA device right now.

TELUS and Bell joined forces in 2009 to birth their new HSPA network, it was a joint project in which Bell took care of the towers in the East, TELUS took care of the towers to the West. Of course, there are some vice-versa towers, such as a TELUS tower in a Bell region, but in the grand scope of it all: East of Manitoba all TELUS/Bell customers use Bell towers, whereas West of Manitoba TELUS/Bell customers use TELUS towers.

To sum it all up, TELUS/Bell/Virgin's network coverage is leaps above where it was a few years ago and they're building it more so every single day.

[TheDeej]

I've never had any problems with coverage ever and I've been with Telus for 10 years as of last month.

[Lenerdosy]

Few years back when I was on bell it was crap everywhere. Then I switched to telus which was best in my area then a few months later Telus announces their new network which give way better signal everywhere. Guys I know on new network never have issues but being on cdma I still get dead spots. Overall you should be fine.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[meganVee]

I have been with Telus for 5 years and have never had an issue with them from their network to customer service I have always had an excellent experience!!!

[say1988]

Thanks. Currently i have just a regular phone so I wouldn't know. But I know plenty of people that use Bell stuff without problem.

I am still hesitant, because the experiences of me and people I know seem to indicate that staying with smaller brands (even subsidiaries) tends to result in better service and overall a better experience than going with the big telecoms directly (namely Bell and Rogers). I don't know where Telus fits in to this, they are far smaller in Ontario, but I believe they are a major player out West.

[wxmancanada]

Well - if it's anything to you - TELUS has by far the best customer support in the business. I mean, when you really break it down: I'm a Rogers employee, but my personal lines are all with TELUS, coverage is better in my home town and the support is above and beyond everyone else.

You call TELUS for help with something, there's a 90% chance you get the right person the first time, or you might have to be transferred once at most. Unlike another unnamed carrier where you call for "Wireless" support and get "Cable" repair and having to be transferred 11 times. True story.

It's all the same network at the end of the day, it's just a matter of who supports it best.

[the_sleuth]

Network Coverage and quality depends on where you live.

I was in Toronto with Bell no issues for 10 years. I moved to Halton Region and Bell reception was spotty. I switched to Telus for almost 3 years and no issues. However, in Muskoka or Kawartha regions, both Bell and Telus are spotty. My friends on Rogers have better coverage and less dropped calls in cottage country.

[costco1]

I thought in the west Telus is in charge and east, Bell is in charge of towers. It's interesting to hear there is coverage difference especially with HSPA network.

In general I find all networks are pretty reliable. Odd dropped calls once a moon but nothing that's out of ordinary.

[Falling]

Just wish they would improve their coverage in the mountains,

[blackberry-unlocking710]

I would go with Bell...