Microcell Telecommunications

Fido Solutions

Fido
Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Mobile network operator
Founded	1996
Headquarters	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Key people	Josée Bourdage/Fadel Chbihna (general manager)
Products	Feature phones, mobile broadband modems, smartphones (Android, BlackBerry OS, iOS)
Services	GSM (including EDGE and GPRS), HSPA (including HSPA+), LTE, mobile broadband, SMS, telephony
Revenue	CAD$ 1.02 billion
Net income	CAD$ 800 million
Total assets	CAD$ 3.4 billion
Number of employees	20,000
Parent	Rogers Communications Inc.
Website	Fido.ca

Fido Solutions is a Canadian cellular telephone service provider owned by Rogers Communications. It used to be owned by Microcell Telecommunications. Fido remains a separate entity from Rogers. Although Fido's parent company, Rogers Communications, also operates another wireless brand named Rogers Wireless, it remains mostly separate as Fido has retained its own retail chain, customer service call centres, network servers and CEO. Fido pioneered the concept of providing unlimited service in select Canadian cities. Fido was the first carrier in Canada to launch a GSM-based network and the first wireless service provider in North America to offer General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) on its network.

The original development of Fido was funded in part by Voicestream, now T-Mobile US. Fido was the first provider in Canada to offer a network with the GSM standard.

In November 2004, Microcell was acquired by the other competing GSM carrier, Rogers Communications, for an estimated $1.4 billion. At the time of acquisition, Fido had 1,275,094 customers. The company's name was changed to Fido Solutions shortly thereafter. Fido has retained its data roaming service with T-Mobile. Shortly thereafter, Rogers also bought Sprint Canada, a telecom services reseller that was an MVNO partner with Microcell. As of May 2013, Fido had a customer base of 3,372,763 customers, making it Canada's fourth-largest wireless carrier.

Since its inception, the Fido network runs on GSM 1900 and offers coverage in major urban areas in Canada. This network continues to exist today. The end result is that both Fido and Rogers customers can now access and use all the towers of either network or both with a single account, device and SIM card. Regardless of which network is accessed, Fido customers will see “Fido” as the network name, and Rogers customers will see “Rogers” as the network name.

Similarly, HSPA+ service is available in 850 MHz and 1900 MHz frequencies. The maximum theoretical download speed is of 21 Mbit/s.

Fido Solutions has launched their LTE network in Halifax, Kentville, Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Kelowna, London, Hamilton, Sudbury, Timmins, Windsor, Vancouver, St. John's, Quebec City, Moncton and other urban areas. Telus Mobility, Rogers Wireless, and Bell Mobility, other Canadian network operators, have also launched their LTE networks in most major urban areas.