"This is I think a proactive move with respect to raising the barriers to entry to those new entrants," said Brownlee Thomas, Montreal-based principal analyst for enterprise telecom services at Forrester Research Inc.

Rather than ditch their CDMA and EVDO networks, Telus said it will support its EVDO and Mike networks "for the foreseeable future" while Bell said it "continues to expand and enhance" its national CDMA network. Mike is a push-to-talk service that Telus inherited when it acquired Clearnet Communications in 2000.

"Certainly for the foreseeable future we will be offering EVDO," said Stephen Howe, senior vice-president, wireless network and chief technology officer at Bell Mobility.

But this does not mean EVDO will be available forever, Thomas suggested.

"EVDO is excellent technology with very efficient use of radio spectrum," she said, but noted Rogers Communications originally offered cellular service using TDMA before overlaying its network with GSM.