CRTC to force Rogers, Telus and Bell to charge less for domestic roaming

[Igster]

The CRTC has ruled today in favour of regulating domestic roaming rates, in a decision that will likely affect the Canadian wireless industry more than any other in recent memory.

While the regulator has not codified the exact amount carriers will be allowed to charge their domestic roaming partners, incumbents Rogers, Bell and Telus will likely be forced to share their airwaves with Wind Mobile, Videotron, Eastlink and other smaller carriers, considered new entrants, for fees much lower than they are today.

http://mobilesyrup.com/2015/05/05/cr...g-in-november/

[Finger Cookin]

Roaming costs (especially for texts and calls) are what finally forced me to reluctantly switch from WIND. If this results in lowered charges from WIND, I would switch back in a heartbeat.

[Stud_McCool]

Doesn't WIND already have a good roaming rate with Bell/Telus at $0.15/min calling, $0.05/ text and $0.05/MB data?

[Finger Cookin]

The data was cheap, the others added up. For my use, at least.

[CKPThunder]

Doesn't Wind have a special offer for unlimited voice, text and data roaming in Canada for $49? I thought I heard something like that. Here it is.

http://windmobile.com/cross-canada-plan-49

[Winsor_Pilates]

I just used the Rogers roam like homes while away in Europe and loved it.
For $10 a day I could use my phone and data just as I always do and they maxed out at 10 days ($100) even thought my trip was longer.

I'm sure it's still terrible compared to most of the world, but I had no problem paying that for full usage; especially since I need my phone for business.

[Azure]

I guess $10/day is better than getting a $4000 bill when you get home.

Either way they are still ripping you off.

If they charge $5/day, I'd start calling it a good deal.

[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by CKPThunder

Doesn't Wind have a special offer for unlimited voice, text and data roaming in Canada for $49? I thought I heard something like that. Here it is.

http://windmobile.com/cross-canada-plan-49

That's if you're in the Wind zones for the cities they offer coverage in. I moved outside Calgary, so everything was roaming. I used my phone like normal and used Wifi at home like usual, and my first bill came in at over triple my usual charges.

[psyang]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

That's if you're in the Wind zones for the cities they offer coverage in. I moved outside Calgary, so everything was roaming. I used my phone like normal and used Wifi at home like usual, and my first bill came in at over triple my usual charges.

That's not true. The new cross-Canada plan (which is only for Albertans, it seems) includes nation-wide roaming - Wind home or away. But you do need at least 50% of your data to come from Wind Home in a 90 day period, so it may not work in your situation if you use data from home (Wind Away) most of the time.

It's unclear what happens in the States, however. One person who jumped on the plan showed that US talk/text/data was included.

This is a cut and paste from my WIND account after I made the switch:

Unlimited Data (2GB full speed allotment)
Unlimited Canada wide Texting
Unlimited Global Texting
Unlimited Canada/US-wide Picture/Video Messaging
Voicemail+
Call Control (Caller ID, Missed Call Alerts, Conference Calling, Call Forwarding, Call Waiting)
Use your unlimited features anywhere on WIND/Partner networks
Unlimited US Roaming Unlimited Data, Text and 2400 minutes of CA/US-wide Talk
World Traveller reduced international roaming rates

To be honest I didn't expect US roaming when I signed up. I thought it was only Canada wide and I was a bit disappointed when I read the posts above saying the US Talk & text add ons were not available on this plan. I figured they would eventually come out with a North America plan for around $60 (after the CRTC decision was announced) and I would hop on that when the time came. But low and behold... surprise

But the T&Cs seem to indicate that it's not:

All unlimited features are available from the WIND Network and our partner networks across
Canada.

9. The following monthly add-ons are not eligible with the Cross-Canada 49 Plan: World Saver, Un
limited US Talk & Text, and Premium Data.

[Finger Cookin]

They must have just changed the Cross Canada plan to include unlimited roaming then, because I can assure you I was on a Cross Canada plan since November of 2014 that cost me just over $46/month with all fees and taxes included. After my move outside Calgary in March, my first bill was $157 and included 20+ pages detailing my itemized Away charges.

I see the new plan you're discussing came in effect on May 1, which was almost 6 weeks after my movie. I might switch back now. Every other plan Wind is offering right now offers Unlimited features only on their network by the looks of it.

[Finger Cookin]

It also says that 50% of your overall usage (not just data) in 90 days should be on the Wind network, or they "may" contact you to suggest another plan. To give you a sense of my usage in the first month I moved (which was mid billing period, also):

Calling: 107 H, 273 A
Data: 28 MB H, 569 MB A (would be lower now with Internet service working and Wifi use)
Texting: 215 H, 1544 A

Doesn't look like this plan would do much for me in my situation. Good to know it exists though.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by Azure

I guess $10/day is better than getting a $4000 bill when you get home.

Either way they are still ripping you off.

If they charge $5/day, I'd start calling it a good deal.

That is the cost for the service if roaming in the US