The wireless mobile scene in Canada is as restless and expensive as ever. While those in larger cities are used to paying more for their wireless service (due to a lack of competition), those in more regional areas, like Manitoba or Saskatchewan rely on smaller companies, such as Wind Mobile to offer more competitive pricing. The problem with the regional carriers is that they generally do not provide the coverage or services of the Big Three – Rogers, Bell, and Telus.
It was back in December when Wind Mobile and Nokia Networks signed an agreement for LTE deployment. Wind Mobile picked them as their sole network infrastructure and equipment provider. Wind Mobile currently only provides 3G services for both voice and data and yet, it is the fourth largest provider. Wind Mobile is also the slowest network in Canada, so the switchover to LTE will help them gain new customers. Wind Mobile has secured the funds it needs to purchase the equipment and get it installed and ready to go.
Next, we heard that Wind Mobile would have their LTE launching by the end of 2016. They do keep moving forward on this and it could actually happen. Shaw purchased Wind Mobile for $1.6 billion a while back and so far, it has proven to be a wise investment. Last December, Shaw and Wind Mobile claimed they were “dedicated to doing what is necessary to improve our network.” They tackled problems in Greater Vancouver area and Calgary and moved to Edmonton. Moreover, while their growing LTE network is becoming a reality, there is a lack of smartphones that support AWS-3 spectrum.
This is where the new LG V20 smartphone comes in. This is a smartphone which is expected to be released next month and is confirmed to work with Band 66. More devices are sure to arrive on the scene, but here we have a premier device ready to work on Wind Mobile’s LTE network out of the box. Which will also allow Wind Mobile a few bragging rights to draw new customers to their network with such a high-end smartphone. The LG V20 comes with a 5.7-inch IPS LCD display and a second display on top for feeding you the day, time, and notifications. It has a powerful Snapdragon 820 processor and Adreno 530 GPU, packs 4GB of RAM and expandable UFS internal memory.