Mobile Rates Going Up Due to 2 Year Plan Changes

[Mr.Coffee]

the whole argument that to start a phone company you have to build towers next to wild roaming buffalo in middle-of-nowhere Alberta so that 1 guy can have cell phone access is ridiculous.

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/cana...l-wb-data.html

Over 80% of people in Canada live in urban areas. Over 14 million Canadians live in cities over 1 million people in size. You can access large amounts of people without a huge extensive network, and you can compete in urban areas. You don't need to plot the countryside in cell phone towers.

I'm not certain infrastructure is the true reasoning behind why new entrants aren't entering the Canadian marketplace... and I'm not sure what is. I just don't get why people say because Canada is big you can't have fair priced cell phone plans.

[Azure]

Even the rural buildout will become much cheaper as 700mhz LTE is rolled out.

What the carriers are doing is just ripping off the consumer even more. Happens when you don't have a true free market, and the government is incapable of doing anything right.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Azure

Even the rural buildout will become much cheaper as 700mhz LTE is rolled out..

This.

[maidestone]

Originally Posted by Handsome B. Wonderful

Sure, if your phone actually supports Wind's network.

...and if you don't mind spotty (at best) reception indoor including inside the airport and most shopping malls.

I was an ardent fan of Wind in the beginning and I have been telling everybody how great their cheap unlimited plans were. Then I started to discover more and more areas within the city where my phone had no signal at all. After six months, I have had enough. I am currently back with Fido, paying more for less, but enjoying the knowledge that I am connected 99.99% of the time.

[Brannigans Law]

Originally Posted by maidestone

...and if you don't mind spotty (at best) reception indoor including inside the airport and most shopping malls.

I was an ardent fan of Wind in the beginning and I have been telling everybody how great their cheap unlimited plans were. Then I started to discover more and more areas within the city where my phone had no signal at all. After six months, I have had enough. I am currently back with Fido, paying more for less, but enjoying the knowledge that I am connected 99.99% of the time.

Yup. Wind is really bad but you can still save huge coin going with the fake competition, or even Virgin. Virgin uses Bells network which is infact Telus out here... and it's dirt cheap for low usage plans and very flexible for higher use plans.

[Anduril]

Originally Posted by Brannigans Law

Yup. Wind is really bad but you can still save huge coin going with the fake competition, or even Virgin. Virgin uses Bells network which is infact Telus out here... and it's dirt cheap for low usage plans and very flexible for higher use plans.

Speaking of which, details about Virgin have so been leaked.
http://mobilesyrup.com/2013/07/16/vi...on-august-1st/

What will be interesting to see is Fido does from this point forward. They've been doing viable 2 years contract options for a while now but now the competitors' new 2 year phone prices equivalent ($240 for a S4) to Fido's 3year. At the same time, I haven't taken a close look lately but right now Fido looks to have the best value in their plans with something like $39 for 450 Canada wide mins, 600MB data and everything else or $50 for some more minutes and 1GB data.

[Igster]

Verizon once again confirms interest in Canada, but says ‘This is really an exploratory exercise for us’

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

the whole argument that to start a phone company you have to build towers next to wild roaming buffalo in middle-of-nowhere Alberta so that 1 guy can have cell phone access is ridiculous.

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/cana...l-wb-data.html

Over 80% of people in Canada live in urban areas. Over 14 million Canadians live in cities over 1 million people in size. You can access large amounts of people without a huge extensive network, and you can compete in urban areas. You don't need to plot the countryside in cell phone towers.

I'm not certain infrastructure is the true reasoning behind why new entrants aren't entering the Canadian marketplace... and I'm not sure what is. I just don't get why people say because Canada is big you can't have fair priced cell phone plans.

Yeah totally man. Ya know what the gove.. err CRTC should do, is develop a spectrum auction, ya know that stuff phones work over in the air, to allow the new users easy access into the big3 dominated market.

Then ya know what, we should let them have ample access to foreign investment monies, so they can spend spend spend on the network.. ya know ? i think they should start in the big cities too.. the calgary's/toronto's/montreal's.. ya know? where they'll be certain to get the high margin, ARPU-rich type clinet.. cuz those are the ones who are just itching to leave their existing big3 provider right? Of course they are, i know this..

Then once, they've developed this huge network, and their margins are rich,.. THEN.. Then.. (get this).. they can go after those, high maintenance, aft-calling, low margin, low arpu user, because at that point their network has been built out for a while, that acquiring the "lower price-point" user, will still be profitable for them.

ACTUALLY YA KNOW WHAT, I'm going to write the CRTC about more than just new entrants, I'm going to write about reducing term limits, from 3 to 2 years, because just like the banks & mortgages, I don't think Canadians should be allowed to amortize purchases for long periods of time.

right guys?




right?







guys?

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by Anduril

Speaking of which, details about Virgin have so been leaked.
http://mobilesyrup.com/2013/07/16/vi...on-august-1st/

Virgin notes that “Dearly Beloved Team Member…do not despair! We’re still the same Virgin Mobile you, and our Members fell in love with. As you know, our industry is as exciting as it is ever-evolving! We know price increases aren’t easy, but we’ll continue to bring the heat! Moving to 2 Year Agreements will allow us to provide Members with the flexibility to upgrade to a hotter smartphone when the time is right! (Who doesn’t love a hot, shiny new phone?) Meanwhile, nothing else changes to how we do business!”

I love that I pay a fraction of the Bell plan on Virgin, but man does their dripping PR shtick drive me nuts. Even their automated call in is so over the top I almost cancelled.

"Hey radical dude, time to bring the realness with some totally bodacious customer service, just punch in your gnarly phone digits and well hook you up with someone who loves to hang ten on flip side bra!"

(Ok maybe I exaggerate, but not by much)

Can anyone else see the suit in Toronto writing this junk?

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

Free data and voice roaming to US could be a significant marketing tool in Canada too I guess.

This alone would bring me to Verizon.

[Azure]

No kidding. Verizon could simply kill the massive cash cow that Canadian carriers are making with their ridiculous US roaming rates.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Igster

Verizon once again confirms interest in Canada, but says ‘This is really an exploratory exercise for us’

If Verizon is going to penetrate the Canadian market there isn't a better time to do it then now. Hopefully that quote is just them saying nothing as to not leak any info. Buying up Wind and Mobilicity now and getting prepared for the 1700mhz LTE auction in January could make them a huge player in the Canadian market quickly.

[Anduril]

Rogers 2 year contract terms leaked.

Seriously. Telus and Rogers are offering 250MB of data for $70 per month.

Also on a related note, chatted with my retail support with Bell and for those on any older plans, specifically those with the $60/mth with 6GB data, won't be able to renew those plans on a new 2 year term.
Couldn't see for sure but it's likely that going on a month-to-month version (10% off) won't be applicable either.

A good time for more Nexus devices/MotoX in Canada.

Edit: Now Fido jumps in as well on August 9th.

[Mazrim]

Unlimited nationwide talk & text? Is that with Rogers to Rogers phones or it it free long distance? That would be impressive if so.

Are they not offering smaller amounts of call minutes anymore?

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

Unlimited nationwide talk & text? Is that with Rogers to Rogers phones or it it free long distance? That would be impressive if so.

Are they not offering smaller amounts of call minutes anymore?

Rogers, TELUS, and Bell all appear to be going the unlimited calling route.

Rogers and TELUS are going Nationwide, and Bell going local.

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

Unlimited nationwide talk & text? Is that with Rogers to Rogers phones or it it free long distance? That would be impressive if so.

Are they not offering smaller amounts of call minutes anymore?

It'd be for any Canadian number.

I honestly can't believe it took them this long to make that standard. Despite being on a so-called budget carrier (Koodo) I've had Canada wide minutes for years.

[Jing]

Originally Posted by cam_wmh

A mobile touch screen computer with latest chipset, in a slick easy to use package, for $200?
LOL.

You should write the CRTC, over those big horrible, Canadian telco companies; Samsung, Motorola, Apple & petition them to legislate their pricing too.

http://www.amazon.com/Unlocked-Quad-.../dp/B00D64RHMQ

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

Unlimited nationwide talk & text? Is that with Rogers to Rogers phones or it it free long distance? That would be impressive if so.

Are they not offering smaller amounts of call minutes anymore?

Rogers makes next to nothing on talk and text now, so they are writing it off so it simplifies things for their staff and customers picking a plan.

They would rather lose a few bucks a month on a plan than have their support/sales personnel spend the time to walk people through being comfortable with their plans.

This is from the mouth of our rep on our business side, but I assume the concept is the same on the consumer side as well.

[Anduril]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Rogers, TELUS, and Bell all appear to be going the unlimited calling route.

Rogers and TELUS are going Nationwide, and Bell going local.

Bell is a $10 add on for Canada wide, effectively bringing them right up with Telus and Rogers for the most part. Though it's kinda nice they give us what kind of lube to use.

It's looking like for Telus and Rogers, they're following the States heavily in starting to push even more share plans. Not sure what Bell will end up doing since they don't anything in place.
http://mobilesyrup.com/2013/07/23/co...wo-year-plans/

[renny]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

Unlimited nationwide talk & text? Is that with Rogers to Rogers phones or it it free long distance? That would be impressive if so.

Are they not offering smaller amounts of call minutes anymore?

I've had unlimited nationwide talk and text for many years now and I'm on Fido. We Canadians are just used to being gouged and are OK with it. That's the big problem.