With all the buzz last night at W.T.’s Civic Bandwidth Event, and much
discussion about both Toronto Hydro, and Bell/Rogers Wi-Max, one
sea-change was missed.

Rogers/Fido has started rolling out the latest 850mhz UTMS/HSDPA
network, that is currently sweaping the international telco community.
In fact, if you could get hold of a 850mhz 3G phone you could access it
in the down town areas. When will things get more official, and you can
buy that dick-tracy video watch, who knows.

HSDPA, which has better performance than Bell’s EV-DO service, has to be
viewed as a direct competitor to the wi-max and Toronto Hydro services.
Only this time with the advantages of compact technology and true
mobility. Overseas, in more rural areas, its is even becomming accepted
as the cost-effective solution for commercial Internet access. Far
cheaper than deploying land based solutions.

While this won’t affect Wireless Toronto, which is focused on free
access at the community level, it’s certainly going to make for fun
times at the commercial end of the market.