Regulatory approval has been granted for an agreement between Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. and Rogers Wireless that will allow them to share the cost of deploying a new high-speed network.

The corporations announced their intention in July to create a partnership to develop and to operate a new high-speed wireless network in Manitoba, but the agreement was subject to approval by regulatory authorities.

With that approval now in place, MTS and Rogers announced they will share the costs of deploying the expanded 3.5G high speed packet access wireless network.

The MTS Allstream division will also get access to the national Rogers network as a roaming partner and will have the opportunity to launch a national wireless business offering under the Allstream brand. No further details were provided on what that offering might be.

The various agreements will enable Rogers Wireless and MTS Allstream to offer more wireless customers across the country access to innovative mobile products and a wide variety of choice in network services, said Rob Bruce, president of Rogers Wireless.

It is expected the new network will be in place by the end of 2010.

With files from The Canadian Press