LandlineFREE - Dropping Ma Bell For Good

It is still very early to say just how widespread WIND's initial coverage will be, so far, we've mainly been hearing about "Calgary and Toronto", as I stated in my previous article. Secondly, we really don't know how quickly they'll be expanding, but hopefully fast once they work out the initial kinks.

However, WIND's definition of these areas, or at least Toronto anyway, is very conservative.

By Toronto, WIND actually means covering the Stoney Creek to Oshawa corridor. This means that WIND will initially have coverage in:

• Hamilton
• Burlington
• Mississauga
• Oakville
• Ajax
• Pickering
• Whitby
• Scarborough

I can personally confirm that they are setting up storefronts in Jackson Square in downtown Hamilton and in Eastgate Square in East Hamilton/Stoney Creek.

Based on WIND's "careers" page, it would appear that the next areas for roll-out of service are: Vancouver, Edmonton, Ottawa. Interestingly, they don't appear to be hiring anyone west of Oakville, so now I'm unsure about Burlington and Hamilton.

Chances are they'll also cover urban and suburban areas north of Toronto as well, like Markham and Richmond Hill. My guess is that Barrie won't be covered under the initial launch.

Keep in mind that WIND owns spectrum all across Canada (except Quebec), so they'll be growing organically outward from these areas, especially to areas which have some level of population density. Likely they'll set up some "islands" of coverage too, like in London and Windsor. WIND is not for cell phone service at the cottage or while on the road, that's for sure. One interesting thing to note is that it is often easier to cover suburban and rural areas with cell phone service than urban areas, because it can be very difficult to erect a tower in an urban area, and the "cells" or "zones" need to be numerous in order to provide coverage inside buildings and basements.

Don't forget to read my article about how WIND's launch can help you benefit even if you don't live in their coverage area.

One big question is how much roaming on other networks (like Bell, Telus and Rogers) will cost.

Another is just how significant their growing pains will be. It is impossible to truly simulate how well a cellular system will hold up in practice with users all over the place constantly moving around and varying their usage. Your basement may well be served by Rogers, Bell and Telus, and not at all by WIND, so be sure to borrow a friend's WIND phone for a few days to test it out before buying their phone.