New wireless entrant Videotron Ltd. has reached a deal with Rogers Communications Inc. that will let its future customers in Ontario and Quebec use their phones across the country.

Videotron, a subsidiary of Quebecor Media Inc., also announced a separate deal to share some of Rogers' transmission towers in Quebec and the Ottawa region so Videotron won't have to build as many of its own, the company said in a news release Wednesday.

The company confirmed that it plans to roll out its new wireless network in early 2010 after paying $554 million to buy a chunk of the Canadian wireless spectrum at an auction in 2007.

The company has licences that allow it to sign up wireless customers only in eastern Ontario and the province of Quebec. Under the new deal, those customers will roam on the Rogers network while they are travelling in the rest Canada. Videotron said it could not yet release information about roaming rates.

Videotron already offers wireless services in Quebec by reselling airtime purchased from Rogers. Those customers already have service equivalent to that of other Rogers customers across the country.

In October 2008, Videotron announced it would be investing $800 million to $1 billion (including the cost of the spectrum) on a new wireless network based on high-speed packet access (HSPA) technology, a derivative of the global system for mobile communications (GSM) standard that is used by Rogers.

At the time, it estimated the new service would be available in 12 to 18 months, and said existing Videotron wireless customers would be migrated to the new network at no cost.

Videotron also offers internet access, cable television and home phone services.