Mike

Company Background

Mike is a Canadian cellular network using Motorola's proprietary iDEN technology. Telus acquired the Mike network from Clearnet Communications when Telus purchased the company in 2000.

Telus markets the Mike service to business users because of iDEN's push to talk services which allow users to avoid long distance charges as well as airtime. Compared to other wireless plans in Canada, Mike has some competitive US roaming options, and includes Call Display, Voicemail, and Call Forwarding.

Some handset models also feature built-in GPS devices. Possibly due to software problems, these built in GPS receivers have been argued to be mere advertising stunts, as their ability to actually acquire a GPS fix in any reasonable amount of time is very limited.

IDEN Phones have access to mobile data, at speeds similar to GPRS, or 1G.

Coverage

Mike has their national iDEN network deployed in 6 provinces. This includes Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia.

The company has not expanded their iDEN network in some time, but the coverage provided is sufficient for the market Mike targets.

Coverage wise, Alberta and Ontario have excellent coverage, where British Columbia has fair coverage, with Manitoba only covering the Winnipeg area, and Nova Scotia covering the Halifax area.

Mike is an all digital network offering voice, data, sms, and direct connect anywhere there is coverage. The Mike network competes directly with Bell's 10-4 walkie talkie service over their 1x data service. Mike's direct connect is still the fastest in the industry with under one second delay before connection.

Mike is not considered a "run off" of another network like Virgin Mobile and Fido. Mike uses its own network which is the only one of its kind in Canada.

Roaming

Roaming is available on Sprint Nextel in the United States, as well a Mike customer can internationally with NII Holdings on Nextel Brazil, Nextel Peru, Nextel Mexico, and Nextel Argentina.

Current Roaming Rates Updated August 12, 2009

International iDEN customers can roam on the MiKE network at their associated roaming rates. US company Boost Mobile can roam on MiKE, at a rate of $0.20 per minute for Direct Connect (PTT) and $0.10 per SMS. Voice calls cannot be made while roaming in Canada, they give a "RESTRICTED" message when calls other than 911 are dialed.

Use of SIM cards

iDEN Networks utilize SIM cards much like GSM networks. Mike currently uses 128k SIM's which come with all of their new phones. SIM cards allow you to "swap" the card into another phone for quick use, technically letting you use your own iDEN phone. Since iDEN phones are harder to come across and unlocking them can be difficult, foreigh handsets usually do not end up being used on their network.

When a foreign handset does end up being used, only basic calls and direct connect actually function, where the SMS, MMS, and data services are not programed into the phone for the Mike network.

Java Applications

Majority of Motorola iDEN phones on MiKE are data capable with the built in OpenWave browser. The browser supports WAP and xHTML web pages. While a data plan is required for browsing, if a Java web browser is used, data is not billed to the account. This alternative gives the user unlimited data within the 3rd party browser for free. A good solution for browsing is Opera Mini. Other Java applications like Google Maps and Palringo use network data, which none of would be billed. Additional 3rd party software on your computer is required, with a Motorola data cable in order to install the applications.

Handset Lineup

Updated October 18, 2009

BlackBerry

Research In Motion started making Blackberry Smartphones for iDEN networks back in 2002 to compete directly with the success of Motorola's iDEN phone sales. Since Motorola was the only manufacturer of iDEN handsets, RIM launched the BlackBerry 6510 in August. With the phones huge success in sales, the Blackberry 7510 was launched in January 2004, the Blackberry 7520 in December 2004 and the 7100i in November 2005. The 7100i was the first iDEN blackberry to support SureType(tm) just like on the Blackberry Pearl series. It wasn't until 3 years later in September 2008 when RIM launched the Blackberry Curve 8350i for Sprint NEXTEL. An upgrade from the 7100i was really needed, and two of the biggest perks of the 8350i was the built in Wi-Fi receiver and the Blackberry OS 4.7. Generally all iDEN Blackberrys were design received for Sprint NEXTEL, but majority of iDEN operators around the world have picked up the devices, as they sold quite well in the United States. MiKE's phone lineup has been almost identical to Sprint NEXTEL's.

Handset Pricing and Selection

The handsets offered by Mike have been known to be priced very high compared to Nextel pricing in the US. Retail pricing is sometimes double the Sprint Nextel retail prices, and often the 3-year contract pricing is still high. Prices have come down in recent months, quite possibily due to a slow growth in subscribers.

The Mike service is only offered on monthly plans, while prepaid service has been kept to their TELUS and Koodo brand.

Selection of handsets has improved greatly, mainly because some of the newer released phones such as the Motorola i9 and Blackberry(tm) 8350i. There are some models like the i930 smartphone and the sleek bar style i290 never made it to the phone lineup.

Data Plans

MiKE offers 7 data access plans for both Motorola and Blackberry(tm) phones. Although Motorola phones can technically only have the Unlimited Browsing plan, a regular could be added to the account. This wouldnt be the logical choice since 3rd party applications on MiKE phones do not incur data usage or charges.

WiDEN

WiDEN is a 2.5G technology developed by Motorola which is an upgrade to iDEN networks. WiDEN allows for speeds up to 100kbps, very comparable to EDGE and 1XRTT. At this time TELUS has not deployed WiDEN on their Mike network, rather has been upgrading their EV-DO towers, and deploying their HSPA network. WiDEN used a large portion of the wireless spectrum that iDEN uses, which lead to decreased network capacity. For this reason, Sprint Nextel has taken down their WiDEN overlay on all towers right after Sprint purchased Nextel communications.

See also

• MOTO Talk
• Push to talk
• Telus
• Sprint Nextel