Wind Mobile has completed upgrades to its 3G network throughout Vancouver. But the highly coveted high-speed spectrum purchased by the regional wireless provider last year isn’t rolling out just yet.
Dean Price, Wind’s Western Canada general manager, said the upgrades announced February 4 means the carrier’s former Alcatel-Lucent radio systems have now been replaced by Nokia (NYSE:NOK) radio systems as of the end of January.
“It’s given us from a 40-watt to 60-watt power boost for each site,” he told Business in Vancouver.
Price said the network has also gone from 10 megahertz (MHz) of spectrum to 20 MHz thanks to the acquisition of some AWS-1 spectrum from a deal made last year with Rogers (TSX:RCI.B) and Mobilicity.
“It’s better coverage, better download speeds, fewer dropped calls,” he said.
Price added all these upgrades did not pertain to the high-speed AWS-3 spectrum Wind purchased in a federal auction last year for $56 million.
This ultra-powerful spectrum would be used for an LTE network as opposed to Wind’s current 3G network.
Wind founder and ex-CEO Tony Lacavera told BIV last March it would take the company nine months to three years to deploy the AWS-3 spectrum.
He said Wind would also need to invest $300-400-million in infrastructure to build the LTE network.
In December, Shaw Communications (TSX:SJR.B) announced it was buying Wind Mobile for $1.6 billion, giving Shaw access to 940,000 subscribers in B.C., Alberta and southern Ontario.
Meanwhile, upgrades to Wind’s 3G network in Calgary will begin within two weeks, according to Price.
