Walmart to offer cell phone under own brand

This is a good start. Now if we could get A&P, Loblaws, Tim Hortons and in on the act then we might have something approaching cellphone competition here in Canada.

If you think that this is a "good deal" you should check out Straight Talk also sold in Wal-Mart. It's $45 a month for unlimited everything, calls, texts and data all on an amazing provider.

Hi,
I for one would be very happy for this service as a family pack. It's about time someone starts thinking of us out here. The pricing seems fair and leaves to be seen as per the other amenities.
Cell phone for me is not only a gadget, but a safety friend. I'm an elderly person, and, my son likes to call during the day to inquire how I am, and it makes one feel more secure; knowing there's someone out there you can call back, but with the orices as we pay, it's almost a luxury. The bills go up faster the wind. Hope it does come out here while I'm here. I know quite a few people whom it would really help economy wise.
Diane A

SP: Loblaws already offers a competing cell phone under the President's Choice brand name. This is run over the Bell network but does compete against Bell and all the other carriers.

There are also new carriers entering the market such as Wind,etc... They are not national yet but will be as time and revenue permit.

hi its tmie u business people came down from your last stone high on these expensive drugs that most middle class workers cant afford. most businees people got there heads in there assholes.they dont see the light outside there rectume,someone as woken up at crappy walmart and started making common business sence. the more money you leaves in the middle class pockets the more their will be for more chinese junk.

IF INDIAN COMPANIES ENTER THE CANADIAN MARKET, CRAPPY COMPANIESL IIKE BELL, AND CHEAP ROGERS WILL BE DONE FOR. I HOPE THAT HAPPENS. I HATE BELL AND ROGERS.

if you don't like the cell phone rates, turn them off.....................

people can live with out cell phones,,,, if people stop using them the price would come down

I would absolutely get this plan!! We pay WAAAYYY too much for phones in general here in Canada. I hope it comes to Canada sooner rather than later!!

Sorry, a couple of the comments on here really caught my "fancy"

Okay JJ, yes, we should all deal with Indian companies so you can call there for support...of course we probably do anyways. That will remove what jobs Canadians have in the existing companies, other than selling, that provide these phones and send them overseas....oh, and was it really necessary to yell? There are other companies besides Bell and Rogers so use them.

To warren campbell, at least learn to write correctly, seems like you got whatever it is the business people you talk about have.

I would look at a phone service that offered a good variety of services for a reasonable price with no contract. My only concern is the initial cost of the phone and any other peripherals and the coverage area. A phone without reception where I live would not be a deal no matter what it costs. I am not worried about data coverage, at least not at present, so that will not pose a problem or additional cost for me. If the costs are the same here in Canada I figure a plan like this would save me about $100 per month if there are no other hidden charges.

Here is a good idea for a cell phone company to reposition it's self, try travel service just for business travelers. Unlimited Roaming for both voice & data.

Another thing to consider with the phone being more, if you saved the money on the plan over a certain amount of time the plan could very easily pay for itself. I would look into the service but a huge factor that I consider is coverage. I am now with Bell and, personally, feel that their service cannot get any worse so I do not worry in that regard. I do however have much respect for Telus and how they treated me as a customer when I was with them and I would have gladly stayed with them as a provider if I could get a decent reception. Everyone has different luck with different companies so this is just my 2 Cents.

FYI folks, I was talking to a gentleman recently, who was a director of national sales for a well known telecommunications corporation. Our conversation evolved around the cell phone business, and I was shocked to hear from him the actual costs in association to cell phone lines, fiber optics, etc. The profit margins for ALL the cell phone companies is HUGE and every cell phone user is getting raped in the process. He told me the insider information in confidence, and said " Who wouldn't want to get into the cell phone business; the net profits will make your chin hit the floor, so it is no surprise that all these companies are trying to capitalize on this extremely profitable business. Walmart getting into the cell business is no surprise, as they also saw the lucrative profit margins and we all know how the carnavor exec's at Walmart think. We all lived without a cell phone before 1987, so you have no one to blame but yourself. Tim Horton's profit margin is huge as well, so just think how much you are contributing to their greedy exec's every time you order your double double. Capitalism at it's finest....

Thank you Warren for the most entertaining comment I have read in along time. I'm am lucky enough to spend alot of time in the U.S. and have switched to Verizon. The bill is 1/3 that of any canadian carrier and the service is just as good if not better(regardless of which side of the border I'm on). Any competition for the canadian carriers should be welcomed, we've been taken advantage of long enough.

I think this would bring down the prices of the bigger cell phone companies,by way of competiton. I would definitely get a phone WALMART BRAND if it was only 45.00 per month for unlimited calling and texting. I think the public would be doing a lot of switching. Over here in Canada we have been waiting for one price unlimited.

Sure bring it on wallmart, you will make shit pile of cash in canada with a one price plan. It might have the Canadian money hungry bastards thinking twice about their product.

I pay $50 bucks a month and I got data unlimited calls and texts voicemail, and call display and thats including taxes so its not that amazing of a deal other providers certainly do have good plans when they have promotions. Walmart should make it $25-30 bucks a month especially because there is no data.

Just a quick follow-up to my earlier post. From what I've seen most cell carriers in Canada aside from the big 3 are merely re-branding's of the big 3's products so if you get disgusted with Bell and move to Solo, Bell sheds no tears. Cost wise, the network cost of a txt message is in the range of 1/10th of a penny per message (think about that for a second when you are paying $0.25+ per message). Close to 80% of Canada's population lives in cities so the "Canada is large we can't survive with competition argument is pretty vacuous. RIM has shown that Canada can compete on the world stage why can't Rogers or Bell? In other countries on Pay as you go the money is regarded as an interest free loan to the phone company till you use it as opposed to having money 'expire'. The airwaves that the cell carriers use are public property that are leased for a flat fee so the relative cost goes down as the usage goes up yet your per minute billing changes very little. If Canada decided to lead the world & transmit all TV & Radio via the internet we could open that spectrum as well nationally and theoretically provide much better WiMax etc cell coverage allowing for greater use of the airwaves, cheaper cell costs and more local dramatic arts productions distributed nationally at a much lower cost with the only main losers being Bell & Rogers. So the next time you look at your $300 cell bill you should ask how much of it is going to your local MP.

Good for them. Im tired of getting F'd in the butt by telus. I hope the big three get more companies competing for the costumers dollar