Rogers Canada 4G & LTE Wireless Network Coverage Maps

When it comes to the search criteria for selecting a cell phone carrier, checking its coverage should be at the top of your list. It’s important to make sure that the cell phone carrier you select will cover the areas you visit the most as well as your home. Rogers coverage is one of the best in Canada, covering 97% of Canadians throughout Saskatchewan, Alberta, BC, Manitoba and more.

Rogers’ Coverage Map

As you can see from the above map, Rogers coverage extends over Saskatchewan, Alberta, BC, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, with additional service in select regions of the Maritimes, Newfoundland and Labrador and the Territories. It’s safe to say that Rogers coverage, using its own network and extended coverage, stretches over most of Saskatchewan and Alberta, but you’ll find a few uncovered areas in some of the other provinces.

In Ontario, pretty much all of Toronto is covered, but Rogers coverage has a lot of holes in the northern part of the province. This pattern continues throughout Quebec with Quebec City and most other neighboring southern cities being covered, and only a handful of central and northern cities being covered, like Chibougamau and Radisson.

In British Columbia, the majority of the province’s coverage starts at the southern end and takes a line from Penticton to Prince George and all the way over to Kitimat.

Overall, Rogers coverage is pretty spotty across the northern parts of the country, like Yukon and Northwestern Territories, but there are still a few cities in each territory that the network covers.

Roaming/Extended Rogers Coverage

Extended coverage is a service that phone carriers provide for occasions when you wander outside your carrier’s network, also known as roaming. While your carrier may not have a tower in certain areas, they can have a signed agreement with another carrier that enables their customers to get service in those areas.

Rogers offers extended coverage to most of their wireless customers except for those who have prepaid and zone-based phone plans.

There is no additional charge to use extended coverage, however if you are on a call under Rogers coverage and then enter an area that is under extended coverage, you will lose the call. Once you see “EXT” at the top of your phone screen, you can call back.

While Rogers Extended Coverage works for calls, text, and data, there are a few features that may be compromised during extended coverage, including:

• Name display
• Pound numbers (#) and other short codes
• 4-1-1 Directory Assistance
• N-1-1 codes such as:
  • 2-1-1 Community Information
  • 3-1-1 Non-Emergency Municipal Government
  • 5-1-1 Weather & Traveller Information
  • 7-1-1 Access to Message Relay Service (MRS) by the deaf
  • 8-1-1 Non-urgent Health Teletriage Services

It’s important to note that while Rogers’ extended coverage is for occasional use outside of covered areas, the majority of your cell phone use should happen within network. If it seems like the bulk of your cell phone use is happening under extended coverage, Rogers may limit or restrict your plan.

LTE vs. HSPA+ Coverage

Rogers Wireless features 4G LTE coverage over most of their network with older, 3G HSPA+ in some outlying rural areas.

There was a time when HSPA+ was all the rage with its almost-4G capabilities. HSPA, High Speed Packet Access or Evolved High Speed Packet Access, is basically just a superior version of HSUPA and HSPDA 3G.

In theory, HSPA+ was designed to run at download speeds of up to 168Mbps and uplink of 22Mbps. However, it’s important to keep in mind that these are theoretical speeds, and the actual speeds that users experience are much slower. Most cell phone carriers advertise their HSPA+ as being 4G, while some would argue that a more realistic number is 3.75G.

LTE, Long Term Evolution, is not an advancement of HSPA+, but rather the base for an entirely new framework. LTE is the complete redesign and revamping of the former 3G design and is significantly faster than HSPA+. Currently, Rogers features a 700 MHz LTE spectrum in select Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto communities giving better range and coverage inside buildings.

While Rogers LTE currently holds superior in the speed department compared to HSPA+, Rogers HSPA+ currently covers more area in Canada than the LTE.

Rogers’ Coverage Compared

Rogers used to have the largest coverage area, but recently Bell Mobile and TELUS Mobile have surpassed Rogers with 28.8% coverage in provinces. Rogers only covers 19.91% in provinces and offers extended coverage where its network coverage is lacking. Still, Rogers covers far more area than Freedom Mobile, who only covers 0.46%.

Rogers 5G

Because cell phone technology continues to advance, Rogers plans to roll out their 5G, fifth generation network, in 2020. This eagerly-awaited (although controversial) update to the already impressive 4G network is expected to offer one-millisecond response time, which is 400 times faster than the blink of an eye.

Aside from being faster, it is expected that the new network will be geared more towards controlling IoT, which means “Internet of Things,” in reference to objects that are not usually known for being online, for example, controlling lights and other appliances with your smartphone. 5G phones and devices will be available, but current 4G LTE devices will continue to function just the same.

The rollout of the new 5G may raise some concerns surrounding network security, however Rogers has partnered up with Ericsson (instead of HAUWEI), notably the “North American 5G partner of choice” and guarantees that all Rogers 5G devices are certified and meet Government of Canada standards. Rogers estimates consumer-level 5G will roll out in 2020 and full nationwide coverage within a few years after that.