The wireless industry in the USA is miles ahead of the industry here in Canada. The apparent differences are mainly in the pricing and value for money.
The USA is better in these areas:
- Price
- Data
- Long distance
With price, it is easy to tell why. Most carriers don’t have a system access fee. Most carriers offer plans that include the basics like voicemail and caller ID. That usually isn’t the case in Canada. On data, many carriers offer unlimited data. The pricing seems to be about the same in a few areas. The $30 - 6gb puts us nearly on equal footing but it is set to expire soon. Most plans in the USA allow for no roaming or long distance in the USA. That is not the case here in Canada.
There are a few signs that the industry is changing in Canada.
The first would be that the new carrier(s) are coming next year sometime. Globalive (yak), Quebecor, and others will probably set up some kind of regional or national service. The good news is that they will probably choose GSM. We know they are coming. We know they are going to have to offer us some incentive to switch.
Not so fast. Rogers/Fido doesn’t want us going anywhere. First of all they have us all locked into a 3 year contract with our iPhones. That is one point. Another point would be the latest plans they are offering.
The first plan is the Killer Offer from Fido. For $17.50 you get 200 minutes and unlimited evenings/weekends.
This is the Killer offer aka EPP:
The second would be the My10 Student Plans from Rogers. These plans are awesome. Too bad they are not available to everyone. Unlimited talk and text to 10 people is basically unlimited. Unlimited talk and text Canada wide is fantastic. That is getting closer to USA type plans.
Here they are:
That is similar to what Koodo Mobile is offering:
What I think we will see in Canada as a whole is no more long distance on any calls. In the USA, there is no long distance. We shouldn’t have it here. This is the 21st century and the operator doesn’t have to manually connect you to the person you are calling. Long distance doesn’t cost anything extra to the providers so we shouldn’t have to pay extra for it.
I know that Koodo and Rogers are offering plans with no long distance included, but I think the new providers will go one step further - no long distance changes within Canada on all plans. That will make a difference. That may force the big players to make changes to all the plans. I happen to like Koodo. They are really putting forth some good ideas with the no SAF and other plan options. It’s too bad that Koodo isn’t GSM and doesn’t offer any data.
I do see the tides changing in the Canadian wireless industry. The details remain to be seen. I fear that these new carriers will only offer basic services and not cater to people like us - iPhone users.
What are your thoughts?
Subscribe to our RSS feed so you don't miss any updates. You can also subscribe by email.
Make sure you enter our latest Contests!
Loading ...
September 27th, 2008 at 8:46 am
This was the main reason I was able to negotiate such a sick plan with Fido before getting my iPhone. I’m on a 3 year contract but I won’t get a better deal. I recommend that everyone call ur provider and demand that they give u a better deal because it’s possible and they are clearly ripping you off.
I just hope they get better data plans which is what I’m holding out for. I think they will in a year and I’m happy to be patient.
September 27th, 2008 at 9:54 am
How can anyone like Koodo with the phones that they have? Not only the customer service is worse than Bell but also they are making you pay upfront first.
What they are doing is you kind of pay for the phone then you get credit back on each bill. This is total bs. You only get 10% credit from your monthly bill. If your bill is $20 a month then it will takes you more than 6 years to get your $150 credit (They call it TAP).
Very smart marketing. I have to say the one who comes up with this idea is genius. 6 years “contract” with a crappy phone. No thanks.
PS: I just saw this on their web site. “You may be required to pay for some services when you call in to talk to a Customer Service Rep” I need to pay to ask them to fix their problem? Why would we call CS if we don’t have issues? Just to say hello? :-/
September 27th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
I would have to say Koodo is good in that they offer great talk and text plans. When it comes to the things you pointed out, they totally suck and that is why many people won’t join them.
September 27th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Like you said, Koodo’s plan and features are very nice.
Their phones are for 50+ years old customers. Who will still use a CDMA Motorola K1? Maybe that’s why the Koodo’s ads are so old school.
From what I heard, Telus owns Koodo. There’s no point for Telus to have 2 companies running CDMA network. I think one of the two will switch to GSM in the future.
September 28th, 2008 at 2:37 am
Yeah Koodo is owned by Telus. Koodo is geared to those who make emergency calls only. Their ads are getting annoying, but the ads seemed to be geared towards students. Either way, most of us need more than voice and text but they are on the right track with no SAF and good plans.
September 28th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
I don’t see any sign the whole canada mobile industry will be changed soon. Mobile network build up takes time. Right now it’s kinda late for a new company coming in.
On the other hand, we’ve seem how Fido ended up with part of Rogers. I’m pretty sure it will happen again on other new companies. Rogers just too BIG for GSM network.
September 28th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
I’m 22 and have Koodo and I love it! THe phones may not be the latest, but I only use it for ‘talk and text’. Any idiot who thinks watching TV makes sense on a one inch screen deserve to suffer. Even the iPhone seems to be a ripoff as the latest youtube video clearly shows how slow it compared what they show in their ads.
As far as paying for customer service; it’s nothing new, Apple wouldn’t talk to me after 3 months unless I paid $59 per call to solve my computer issues. Cell service far less complicated than solving software issues. I haven’t called in once.
Zeta