Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - GSM or CDMA mobile net in Canada?

Planning to cross Canada.
I know you have both CDMA and GSM but..
will i get problems with the mobile network if my mobile-phone do not support CDMA and only support GSM?

Just take a megaphone. That's what the Canadians call a cell phone, anyway! :)

Rogers Wireless is GSM

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers_Wireless

Correct me if i'm wrong but i believe that Roger's GSM is pretty much only available in cities. Rural CDMA coverage is actually pretty good (in Alberta anyway due in large part to the oil industry).

And dude... when you say 'cross Canada', do you mean all of it? ie Victoria to St. Johns (or vice versa)?!

Correct me if i'm wrong but i believe that Roger's GSM is pretty much only available in cities. Rural CDMA coverage is actually pretty good (in Alberta anyway due in large part to the oil industry).

And dude... when you say 'cross Canada', do you mean all of it? ie Victoria to St. Johns (or vice versa)?!

Yes then i mean all of it. From the tip of Newfoundland to Vancouver.
Seem to me that CDMA belongs to the 90s, most countries has 100% GSM or even has begun to install 3G net. So if i get problems in rural areas i might has to consider a phone with CDMA just to be on the safe side.

Yes then i mean all of it. From the tip of Newfoundland to Vancouver.
Seem to me that CDMA belongs to the 90s, most countries has 100% GSM or even has begun to install 3G net. So if i get problems in rural areas i might has to consider a phone with CDMA just to be on the safe side.

Wow, that sounds like an awesome trip, i'm so jealous. lol, i live here and i'd never get around to doing that. You'll have to start a thread with lots of pics when you do it.

Don't even get me started on the GSM/CDMA, as someone who used to travel internationally for business, it was a constant source of frustration. But you might want to do what i did when traveling, buy/rent a 'pay as you go' phone.

I would suggest asking on http://www.howardforums.com/.

In urban centers you can use GSM on the Rogers network. Outside of urban centers coverage will likely be much better on the CDMA networks of Bell and Telus. I'm sure the companies have coverage maps on their sites, but I would take those with a grain of salt.

I'm told none of these networks are really "GSM" or "CDMA", but are the 3G descendants of those- but the names have stuck. Telus and Bell are going LTE some time soon, according to reports (3.5G with an upgrade path to 4G).*

*Not that I really care... I just know my phone/PDA works, and Telus keeps me happy.

EDIT: also note that it not just a question of network type, but also of the frequencies used!

Rogers network uses GSM on 850 and 1900MHz bands. I believe 850 is exclusive to NA so you would to check if you phone supports that band. Normally a quad-band phone is required to operate in Europe and NA.

The simplest solution would probably be to buy a cheap pre-paid phone once you get here.

See Rogers coverage map here:
http://your.rogers.com/Store/Wireless/coverage/info.asp?cm_re=home-_-badge-_-reliable#Page_2

I don't know if the OP is still reading, but I came across this map:
Canadian Cell Towers
(http://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/cancellsites.html)

Unfortunately the map does not specify the sort of network used by the "other" companies, but overall I would say that CDMA is the way to go if you want Newfoundland to British Columbia coverage.