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calling comparison |
Question:
I am still doing research on
the digital cell phones.Can anyone
tell who will provide the best service
at the best price .Currently there
is Cantel Telus and Clearnet.Currently
we own a Clearnet phone its ok so
far but I don't really know about
coverage out of town how good it is.Can
anyone tell me what company they have
and why they like it.The Clearnet
belongs to my wife and I want to get
another phone but I am not sure what
to get. There is Microcell coming
out soon owned by Shaw cable I understand.Will
it be worth the wait
Answer:
I have spend the last days doing some
"field tests", i.e. comparing
the PCS (personal communications service)
services offered by Cantel and Fido
in Ottawa, Ontario. I am currently
using both providers to decide which
one I should choose as the permanent
one (Cantel's store gives me 90-day
money back guarantee and Fido has
the 30 days).
I use Nokia 2160 EFR with Cantel and
Nokia 2190 EFR with Fido, so we are
basically talking here about very
similar models, especially with respect
to sound quality they offer. Cantel
uses IS-136 (TDMA) technology at 800
MHz, while Fido uses PCS1900 (GSM1900)
at 1,900 MHz. Both these technologies
currently offer very similar features,
like caller ID, text messaging, paging,
etc., but only GSM allows to not only
receive but also SEND a message from
the handset. Fido also offers
Fax Messaging. I have no information
if Cantel offers the same.
Before I start I would like to also
point that some people have expressed
opinion that since Cantel chose to
utilize IS-136 technology and implemented
it at 800 MHz frequency results in
these services not constituting PCS.
It is my opinion that any discussion
related to technology used by a particular
provider and their relation to the
so called "true" PCS is
purely academic and has no impact
whatsoever on the user. Do not
get involved in totally meaningless
and time-wasting discussions whether
CDMA (used by Clearnet and Bell Mobility)
is better than GMS, or TDMA being
nothing more than the old og system
disguised as digital, or GSM being
European and not really suitable for
the North America, or any such nonsense.
The only differences which really
matter to the users are the signal
quality, coverage, services offered
and their cost. These are the
issues I will concentrate on here.
My experiments (carrying around and
using both phones) indicate that Cantel's
in-building penetration is generally
noticeably (at some locations even
significantly) better than that offered
by Fido. It seems to me that
TDMA at 800 MHz is more successful
in getting through masses of concrete
and steel (I am talking here mainly
about multi-level shipping centres
or larger commercial structures) than
GSM at 1900 MHz. In the underground
garages, especially those located
under commercial complexes, both TDMA
and GSM loose their signal in no time.
I also noticed that both networks
provide consistent and excellent coverage
within the Ottawa region, although
Cantel seems to offer somewhat larger
digital coverage than Fido. I
have not encountered any coverage
holes (except for the above in-building
problems) with either one. This
could be attributed to either very
good network implementation by both
providers, or general low building
heights and more open spaces in Ottawa.
However, I noticed that Fido's
signal strength tends to fluctuate
a bit more than Cantel's (but then
Cantel had many more years to built
their network of base stations than
Fido, so it is to be expected that
their coverage will be more even).
With respect to voice quality I must
definitively state that GSM at 13
kbps sampling rate sounds MUCH better
than TDMA at 8 kbps. That is
if one DOES NOT choose Nortel PCS
1911 phone from Fido. That phone
does not have Enhanced Full Rate (EFR)
vocoder support, so there is much
more, and infinitely louder, background
noise and the voice itself sounds
noticeably worse than with EFR equipped
Nokia phones. (On the other
hand, if someone is joining Fido now
with the goal of buying dual mode
- digital and og - Nokia 6190, said
to be the most advanced PCS handset
on this continent - and only needs
a "temporary" phone to get
by until 6190's arrive around beginning
of February 1998 - going with the
cheaper Nortel phone might be not
a bad idea).
Cantel's voice is much flatter and
more artificially sounding, at least
to my ears. However, both networks
occasionally generate some barely
detectable background noise. Cantel's
noise is more readily detectable due
to its higher pitch. I wonder
if this may somehow be related to
the so called "comfort noise"
added by digital providers to make
the conversation breaks sound more
natural.
So, when it comes to communications
and coverage, both networks are comparable,
except for some locations within shopping
centres or large commercial complexes
(especially if there are no windows
or glass roofs in the vicinity), where
Cantel offers better signal penetration.
Handsets offered by both providers
are similar. Both offer Ericsson
flip cover phones for $150. Cantel
also offers Nokia 2160 EFR for
$150, while Fido offers almost identical
Nokia 2190 EFR for $100. Fido
also has Nortel PCS 1911 phone, which
is the only one among them without
the enhanced full rate vocoder support.
However, there is a difference between
these offerings. Cantel's phones
are dual-mode units, i.e. they can
operate in both digital and og coverage
areas. As a user moves outside
of the digital zone, the phone will
automatically switch to og mode allowing
the user to fall back on the extensive
og network offered by Cantel. Fido's
phones are all digital only right
now, but the dual mode Nokia 6190
is expected to ship at the end of
January or beginning of February 1998
with the regular price of $250.
Another difference is that Fido's
phones are built to GSM standard,
i.e. they utilize a SIM card. This
little wonder contains user and provider's
information (including all custom
services subscribed to by the user),
authorization and encryption info,
as well as the user's telephone directory.
SIM allows the user to use any
GSM phone as if it was his. All
you do is plug your SIM in the handset
and off you go. Fido claims
that this will work worldwide, i.e.
one can take their SIM card to, say,
Europe, rent a phone there, plug in
the card and then when somebody calls
that user's Fido number here in Canada,
the phone he/she carries in Europe
will ring. SIM also allows for
encoding all transmissions based on
the user's individual encryption key,
so that the conversation cannot be
intercepted and decoded by anybody
else. SIM card provides some
clever protection against unauthorized
use of the phone or even its theft.
Service cost appears to be similar
on the surface, but they are quite
different in certain respects. Both
Fido and Cantel bill you by the second,
except that with Cantel this means
"by the second after the first
minute". If your conversation
lasts, say 35 seconds, you will be
charged for 35 seconds with Fido,
but for the full minute with Cantel.
There is also a difference as
to when the actual charging (or timing)
your calls starts. With Fido the clock
does not start until your call is
actually answered by a person or answering
system. With Cantel, if the
call is answered, the duration time
is measured from the moment you pressed
the SEND button on your phone.
This can add quite a few seconds to
the duration of your call, depending
on after how many rings the party
you are calling
decides to pick up the phone.
Cantel offers two standard plans.
The first plan gives you 100
min/month plus 100 first incoming
min/month plus Caller ID, Call Waiting,
Conference
Call, Call Forwarding and detailed
billing for $19.95/month. The
other plan gives you 500 min/month
plus 100 first incoming min/month
plus Caller ID, Call Waiting, Conference
Call, Call Forwarding and detailed
billing for $35.95/month, but these
are ONLY evening and weekend minutes.
With the second plan, if you
call during the day (8:00 a.m. to
6:00 p.m. Monday to Friday ) you pay
$0.40/min. With both plans,
if you exceed your limit, you pay
$0.40/min for each additional minute
during each work day and $0.10/minute
outside of that time (i.e. evenings
and weekends).
Fido also offers two plans. The
first one gives you 100 min/month
ANYTIME for $20.00 The other
one gives you 400 min/month ANYTIME
for $40.00 (this is the best deal
there is: $0.10/min!). Each
additional minute is $0.20 ANYTIME.
Both plans include Call Waiting,
Conference
Call, Call Forwarding and detailed
billing.
The cost of add-on (custom) services
is quite different between the two.
Fido's custom services are significantly
less expensive than Cantel's. For
example, Cantel wants $6.95/month
for Personal Voice Messaging (they
offer a scaled down voice messaging
package for $3.95, but with limited
number of messages and no message
indicator sent to your phone), while
the full blown Personal Voice Messaging
(incl. numeric paging and message
indicator) costs only $2.00/month
at Fido. Another example is
text Messaging for which Cantel charges
$15.00/month and which Fido offers
for $2.00 (free unlimited messaging
between Fido handsets, $0.25/message
for operator assisted text messaging.
There is even a bigger difference
when it comes to long distance rates
offered by both companies. While
Fido surcharges you mere $0.15/minute
for any call made ANYTIME within the
home province and $0.20/minute for
any call ANYTIME to the rest of Canada
and to U.S., Cantel charges Bell's
standard landline rate PLUS 8.0% surcharge.
I mentioned earlier dual mode phones
and falling back on the og network,
when outside of the digital coverage
area. Cantel uses their own
og network for that and its use is
free of any surcharge (you pay the
same air time rate as if you were
inside their digital network). Fido
uses Bell Mobility's og network and
they apply $0.20/minute surcharge
for its use.
In summary, it is my opinion that
the digital services offered by Fido
are more attractive than those offered
by Cantel, providing you are located
in Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa-Hull,
Toronto or Vancouver. If you live
somewhere else you are out of luck,
but only for now. I am sure
that Fido intends to keep growing
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