Telus and Bell to become iPhone-friendly

An iPhone from Bell Canada Inc. or Telus Corp.?

It's possible as the two cellphone companies are about to announce a shift to network technology that is compatible with Apple Inc.'s hot-selling mobile device, according to reports that have surfaced over the past few days.

The two cellphone companies — Canada's second- and third-largest providers, respectively, after Rogers Communications Inc. — are poised to announce a conversion from their current wireless technology and toward the more popular kind used by their rival, according to a report Monday from UBS Investment Research.

Both companies have cellphone networks that run on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology, which is used by fewer than 20 per cent of the providers in the world, while Rogers uses the near-ubiquitous Global System for Mobile communications (GSM).

A switch would bring the networks of Canada's three big cellphone providers into closer alignment and allow customers to take their phones with them when switching providers, rather than buy new ones as they currently do. It would also give the cellphone companies access to a greater variety of handsets, including the iPhone, and lower their costs because such devices are manufactured in greater volumes than CDMA phones.

It's a matter of time before Telus and Bell Canada convert their wireless networks to the rival system used by Rogers Wireless, UBS analyst Jeffrey Fan wrote in a note yesterday.

A greater selection of handsets, higher technological certainty and extra revenues from roaming fees make the transition appear "imminent," Fan wrote.