Wind to launch in Nova Scotia in 2012

[TorontoColin]

"We have plans to be in Atlantic Canada," Ken Campbell said in an interview.

"I’m sorry to say it will not be this year. It would certainly be safe to bet we’ll be there the following year."

Campbell said Wind Mobile has lots of planning to finish before beginning its push into Atlantic Canada, including acquiring sites for towers, stores and a call centre.

"It has always been our intent to operate from coast to coast," he said.

Good news for those out east. Given Wind's track record I would expect a Halifax launch initially, followed by them creeping outwards to different municipalities.

I'm also hearing that they're almost ready to light up Barrie, Kitchener-Waterloo, and London in Ontario, and Victoria in BC. Also apparently targeted for 2011 is Niagara Falls and Winnipeg.

[DefconZero]

Good news!

My contract with Rogers is up then, and although I'm on a heavily discounted retentions plan, I'll be happy to see some competition!

[sherwooddavid]

Any update on when Wind Mobile will arrive in Halifax ?
My Telus contract expires in a couple months and I'd love to get the Wind $40 package !

[NovaMan]

They are scheduled to come to Halifax in October, November or December.

I am guessing though that preparing for a court case slowed Wind Mobile down a bit from its planned expansion. Competitor Public Mobile continued a lawsuit all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada this year. Public Mobile took Wind to court claiming that Wind received the majority of its funding from a foreign company Orascom Telecom Holding. On April 26, 2012, the Court announced that it will not hear the case about Wind Mobile's foreign ownership, but I imagine that this pending court case would have slowed expansion or at least put it behind schedule, but I am only guessing here.

The last story I found (January 9, 2012) from the Halifax Chronicle Herald stated that Wind was coming to Halifax during the last quarter of this year.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/busines...e-call-halifax

In an interview Friday with The Chronicle Herald, Anthony Lacavera, Wind Mobile’s chief executive officer, confirmed land acquisition deals are underway and engineering and design work is forging ahead on the construction of more than 30 cellular towers in Halifax Regional Municipality.

Pending permits, municipal reviews and public hearings, Wind Mobile will be up and running in the fourth quarter, Lacavera said.

[sherwooddavid]

Any updates ? Will Wind mobile launch in Halifax in 2012 ?

[TorontoColin]

Nothing yet. I'd be surprised if they launch before the end of the year. As great as Halifax would be (if nothing else it's good PR to be able to claim coast to coast) the population density just doesn't make it a priority over Southern Ontario or Winnipeg.

Eastlink still claims they will be launching before the end of the year.

[sherwooddavid]

Thanks for the info.

[Abstract954]

I guess the chances of seeing WIND in St. John's anytime soon are pretty slim.

[habskilla]

Originally Posted by TorontoColin

Nothing yet. I'd be surprised if they launch before the end of the year. As great as Halifax would be (if nothing else it's good PR to be able to claim coast to coast) the population density just doesn't make it a priority over Southern Ontario or Winnipeg.

Why do people still hang onto the idea that you need a large population density to do xxx? Just isn't so. The Atlantic provinces are the least populated and poorest provinces in Canada, yet, we have FTTH service called FibreOp. FibreOp is not just in the "large" cities, but also in small villages like Petitcodiac, population 1,429.

Businesses don't roll out xxx because they don't want to. Or they think yyy is more important to do.

[TorontoColin]

Two reasons. First of all, a cell tower costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. You need to have enough subscribers using that tower to justify its existence. The lower the population density, the fewer customers you are likely to have, and so the longer it will take to make that money back.

Second of all, companies like Wind can only build out the network in so many places at a time. Therefore the logical thing for them to do is target the places with the highest population density first, so they have a higher likelihood of attracting customers.

[habskilla]

and rolling out FTTH to a village of 1500 isn't? I'd dare say Wind has a much better chance of making a profit in Halifax than BA will ever do in Peti.

You second point is true. Wind thinks rolling out to the highway 400 corridor is more than Halifax.

[TorontoColin]

And they're right. There are over 8.5 million people in the Golden Horseshoe region. If covering the 401 corridor convinces just 1% of them to join Wind, that's still twice as many people as if they could capture a full 10% of Halifax.

There's a big difference between Wind and Bell Aliant. Wind needs to convince every customer they get to leave their previous provider (who probably has them in a contract) and sign up with Wind instead. Bell Aliant already has many customers among the people they upgrade to FTTH, and I'd bet their customers average a lot more than $40/month.

There's also the problem that Wind's AWS frequency is not ideal for rural coverage, which is why they tend to build island coverage, which is less appealing for small towns where people may need to travel outside of the coverage more regularly.

There is a business case to be made for small towns like Petitcodiac, which is why it presumably has cell service at the moment. However, that business case is far weaker than areas of higher population density, where the same tower might offer access to ten times the number of customers. Halifax is on their list, I'm sure, and I would be surprised if they don't start building there next year. If you're in a Maritime town with a population below 100,000, however, I wouldn't hold my breath for the next 5 years.

[troy_279]

last time i checked fibreop wasn't available in petitcodiac.....

[habskilla]

Can't find the Peti announcement right now, but take your pick from any of these small towns.

New Brunswick

Available now in Moncton, Bathurst, Fredericton, Saint John, Rothesay, Quispamsis, Dieppe, Riverview, Grand Bay-Westfield, Miramichi, Shediac, Woodstock, Grand Falls & Sussex

Now rolling out in Campbellton, Edmundston and Hampton

PEI

Available now in Charlottetown & Summerside

NS

Available now in Sydney, Sydney River, North Sydney, Sydney Mines, Glace Bay, New Waterford, Spryfield, Annapolis Valley, New Glasgow, Truro, Hammonds Plains, Prospect, Bedford, Sackville & St. Margaret's Bay

Now rolling out in Halifax, Bridgewater, Yarmouth, St. Margaret's Bay, Dartmouth, Beechville, Lakeside, Timberlea, Eastern Passage, Lake Echo, Elmsdale, Waverley, Digby, Antigonish and Lunenburg (check my home address)

Coming soon to Amherst (contact me when I can get it)

NFLD

Now rolling out in Conception Bay South, Mount Pearl, Paradise, St John's, Logy Bay, Gould's, Corner Brook, Grand Falls-Windsor and Gander

I think Mississauga, Brampton, and Woodbridge have more people and density that all of the Maritimes.

My point is density is a factor, but not as important as business wiliness to just do it.

[sherwooddavid]

Still nothing new on Wind coming to Halifax. I asked them when they where coming on their Facebook site and they didn't respond.
Oh well at least we have Eastlink now !