Should budget cell phone users choose new player Public Mobile?
The faucet is on. The providers are starting to trickle in.
More than a year after the CRTC announced new players would soon freshen up the wireless market – and only three months after WIND Mobile made a bid to become our saviour from the Bell/Telus/Rogers stranglehold – a new discount network can be seen on the horizon trying to save Canadians cash.
Public Mobile announced today it will launch in Toronto and Montreal this May, basing its service on a budget, unlimited talk-and-text plan for $40 a month.
Ahead of its network debut, the carrier has some 25 stores open in the two cities selling phones already, according to the Canadian Press.
Now, with WIND and its 30,000 new clients having mounted a steady, albeit modest, push to dethrone the Big Three, what will this mean for Public Mobile’s chances of developing a lasting consumer base?
Let’s compare the two:
Public Mobile’s only plan ($40/month) is comparable to WIND’s “Always Shout” plan ($45/month). Both services offer unlimited outgoing/incoming calls*, unlimited text messaging and long distance across Canada*.
The Public plan is $5 cheaper per month, but doesn’t include voicemail/caller ID, which WIND’s plan does. Public Mobile charges exactly $5/month for those add-ons, though, so the comparison is pretty much a wash. They’re essentially the same, presuming you want voicemail and caller ID on your phone.
Of course, there’s a reason I keep sticking asterisks and words like “essentially” in the Public/WIND judgment here. As I’ve maintained since January, WIND Mobile is only a solid deal if you live in Toronto, Calgary and Edmonton (their only current coverage areas) and don’t plan on using your phone anywhere else. Outside of those cities, your unlimited calling goes out the window, and suddenly you’re paying 25 cents per minute no matter where you call.
Public Mobile, too, has the same problem. Maybe worse. Only users in Toronto and Montreal should even consider Public at this point (those two, like WIND’s three home zones, will be the only initial coverage areas come May), but here’s the kicker: if you are outside the Toronto/Montreal city limits with your Public phone, it won’t work – at all. You won’t be able to make or receive a single call outside these zones, not even for 25 cents a minute. All you’ll have is a paperweight in your pocket.
If you can handle these drawbacks, WIND or Public are for you. After all, both carriers have no qualms over who their target demographics are; they want budget users and Canadians with no existing cell phones. They want the people that don't live and die by their mobile handsets.
But – and I can’t believe I’m saying this – most poeple might be better off with one of the Big Three carriers for now. Until WIND and Public develop their service and expand their coverage areas, the two networks appear like a “stay away” when you consider the above plan deficiencies and lack of desirable phones.
For now, seems like WIND and Public would provide more headaches than actual savings.
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
Posted by: Zakimar | Mar 19, 2022 8:47:30 AM
As soon as my plan with Roger's expires in less than one year I'm switching to ANYONE else. I used to love Roger's. I had their cable, home telephone, high-speed, cell, magazine subscriptions and rented their DVDs. Now because of their greed AND poor customer service all I have left is the cell and won't be keeping that either. Thank God for the new competition, I'm just surprised the Government allowed it. I guess the big three were even too greedy to fatten their kickbacks/bribes to the Government decision makers.
Posted by: Ana | Mar 19, 2022 1:40:13 PM
Had the exact same experience as Zakimar with Rogers. As soon as I switched all my services & bundled them, my problems began. I'll never deal with Rogers again. I was hoping to try out Wind or Public Mobile, but after your article, guess I'll be waiting still. I live in the GTA but not central Toronto, so those services would be useless for me. I'm hoping they'll expand their target market once their companies look to be sucessful. Or perhaps the next provider to enter the market will at least make their cellphone coverage include cities like Oshawa, Waterloo and Peterborough, as well as Toronto. It doesn't affect me if they're not Canada wide.
Posted by: Don | Mar 19, 2022 6:26:41 PM
Living in northern Alberta I am expecting i will pay a lot more for a long time. Our options a limited
Posted by: Sharon | Mar 20, 2022 6:00:11 AM
As soon as I can afford to, I am switching to pay-as-you-go. I've been paying about $60-70 for my phone, my boyfriend more. With a $100 credit that is good for a year, and voip like MagicJack, I could be saving about $600 a year, give or take.
Posted by: Wendy Paterson | Mar 22, 2022 12:37:47 PM
I've had experiences with Bell and Rogers and dislike both of them,I no longer have a cell phone and other than having to find a phone booth sometimes i've saved alot of money.....
Posted by: Ralph Rack | Mar 23, 2022 7:37:00 AM
It will be so nice when some company can knock ROGERS and BELL OFF THEIR PERCHES as they have a pricing policy that must say its been three months and we should mbe able to raise rates even in the middle of contracts. In other words we don't have to honor a contract but the consumer does.
VIRGIN set up as an independent and as soon as they plucked many custmers away from BELL they sold the Company(VIRGIN MOBILE) andtheir customers to BELL. VIRGIN made a lot of money and their customers then became again BELL profit makers.
No doubt PUBLIC and WIND mobile companies will do the same as what VIRGIN did.
MONEY IS THEIR MOTIVATOR -- THIS IS OUR SOCIETY.
The owner inventor of the MAGIC JACK , and the owners of MICROSOFT and APPLE as they get older will sell off their personal interests and then watch what happens to the computer and phone industry.
I am 65 plus and feel sorry for the future of those under 30 - no trust, honesty, morals, no family loyalties and no faith, and many more shady police and lawmakers. The MOTTO of this current decade is "DRUGS AND MONEY WIN".