Telus Corp. and Bell Canada customers now have wireless service in all TTC subway stations and additional tunnel areas after Rogers Communications Inc. expanded access for its own customers nearly a month ago. Commuters wait to take the subway at Christie Station in Toronto on Friday, June 22, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tijana Martin
TORONTO – After tense negotiations and public sparring throughout the year, Canada’s major telecommunication carriers have reached a deal to offer wireless coverage on Toronto’s subway system.
A spokesperson for Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne’s office said the companies reached the agreement on Thursday but declined to comment further.
In a statement, Rogers spokesman Cam Gordon said the terms of the deal could not be disclosed due to confidentiality.
“We stepped up to bring 5G to Toronto’s subway system and committed from the start to work with other carriers to join the network on reasonable commercial terms,” he said.
“We’re pleased that we’ve reached commercial agreements.”
Bell declined to comment on the deal.
Telus did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the agreement.
Those companies wanted a joint build of the TTC’s mobile network using a consortium model similar to that of Montreal’s Metro, rather than a pay-for-access approach.
In a July filing to the CRTC, Rogers proposed a framework modelled on the existing commercial agreement between Freedom Mobile and BAI Canada. Under a licensing fee model, its rivals would have access to the distributed antenna system in Toronto’s subway system.
The TTC, as part of a public procurement, awarded Australia-based BAI a $25-million contract that would see it develop a wireless network in the Toronto subway system in 2012.
But BAI and the TTC only managed to sign on one carrier, Wind Mobile. Later rebranded Freedom Mobile, its customers had been the only riders since 2015 with access to mobile service on select TTC platforms and tunnels.
Rogers acquired the cellular network in the subway system from BAI Canada earlier in April and has been working to upgrade it.
It gave its own customers a head start on using the network when it activated cellular service in the busiest sections of the Toronto subway system in August.
The federal government then mandated that Rogers give Bell and Telus customers equal levels of service on portions of the subway where there was existing cellular infrastructure by Oct. 3, which it complied with.
That included the Line 1 stations and tunnels in the so-called Downtown U from Union Station north to St. George and Bloor-Yonge, plus Spadina and Dupont stations. As of October, all users were also able to access the network in 13 stations on Line 2, along Bloor Street from Keele station to Castle Frank, plus the tunnels between St. George and Yonge stations.
Then last month, Rogers turned on wireless service for its own customers at all remaining Toronto subway stations plus tunnels between Sheppard West and Vaughan Metropolitan Centre stations – again leaving its rivals to play catch up.
On Thursday, Telus said it was now providing service “in all connected areas of the TTC.”
“Now, customers can use their devices to stream content and keep in touch with friends and family while staying safe on transit,” said spokesman Richard Gilhooley.
Bell followed suit on Friday, saying that “as of today, Bell customers can now talk, text and scroll in all Toronto’s TTC subway stations and in select tunnels.”
“Going forward, our customers can expect access at the same time as Rogers’ customers whenever a new station or tunnel is added to the TTC network,” said Bell spokeswoman Jacqueline Michelis.
The carriers had faced a deadline of next Wednesday to reach commercial agreements for subway service over the long term.
In September, Champagne handed down a decision that gave the carriers one month to reach a commercial agreement over wireless access on the TTC, or face a 70-day arbitration process to solve the matter.
All major wireless providers must offer full network access in every TTC station by June 2024, according to his office.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 15, 2023.
Companies in this story: (TSX:RCI.B, TSX:BCE, TSX:T)
