UBS: Telus Mobility, Bell Canada looking at W-CDMA/HSPA overlay

Could the CDMA camp be losing a pair of stalwarts? According to a report released this morning by UBS Investment Research, Canada’s two largest CDMA operators Telus Mobility and Bell Canada are set overlay their current CDMA-based networks with W-CDMA/HSPA technology.
“Based on our industry checks, we believe Canada’s two CDMA operators . may announce they intend to roll-out W-CDMA/HSPA networks,” wrote UBS analyst Maynard Um in a report on CDMA giant Qualcomm Inc. “The move is reminiscent of Vivo’s shift away from CDMA, which caused quite a sentiment stir for [Qualcomm] due to CDMA market deceleration concerns (but the market actually continued to grow). Unlike Vivo which moved to GSM ([Qualcomm] doesn’t get [revenues] in GSM), Telus/BCE will overlay HSPA, where [Qualcomm] should benefit.”
Telus Mobility and Bell Canada had no comment on the report, while and Um did not return a call for comment.
Um’s remarks seem to indicate that both operators are not yet ready to ditch their CDMA-based networks, but the move could forecast a decision by both operators to eventually migrate to Long Term Evolution technology for their 4G networks. A technology shift by both operators would make sense as both carriers rely on the other for roaming coverage across Canada; Telus Mobility’s network is concentrated in Western Canada while Bell Canada is in the east.
Canada’s other nationwide operator, Rogers Wireless, has already begun deploying an W-CDMA/HSPA network.
Verizon Wireless has announced plans to deploy a LTE network on top of its current CDMA-based network, while Sprint Nextel Corp. has yet to announce an upgrade plan for its CDMA-based network.