Fri 22 Feb 2008
One thing that puts Canada behind many other countries is the extremely high mobile rates available to consumers. I quickly realized that something was amiss when within the first month of activating my wireless (mobile) Rogers pay-as-you-go SIM card I had used up all of the credit that I had purchased. I had assumed that there would be enough credit to last me at least three months, if not six!
What I discovered was that not only was I being charged per minute for my outbound calls but I was also being charged for incoming calls! What a joke. This concept was completely foreign to me as I didn’t have anything like this on any plan that I was on in Sydney.
I complained about the situation to my friend Emery, a true Torontonian, and he was quick to point me to the following chart:
At first glance the chart looked potentially fabricated, like somebody was taking the piss out of the Canadian mobile data industry and exaggerating the figures. Experience however tells me that it may be closer to the truth than I had originally thought.
Rogers, Fido (also owned by Rogers) and to a lesser extent Bell certainly have the market in their grips. “Oligopoly” some would call it.
On a positive (more positive than otherwise) note Rogers has two attractive plans for saving on mobile rates - the $1 a Day Unlimited Evenings & Weekends Plan and the 1ยข Evenings & Weekends Plan. For more info on these refer here. As always be careful to read the fine print. I’ve decided to stick with my All Day plan simply because it’s unlikely that I’ll be forcing people to call me after 8pm, which is where I’d get most benefit/savings from those plans. I may have to think about it further.
Related reading
- Canada Worse than 3rd World Countries when it comes to Mobile Data Access
- Canadian Mobile Rates and the effect
March 4th, 2008 at 11:59 am
I don’t pay for incoming calls!
I’ve been using Telus Mobility since 1999, and I get much better deals with them than I’ve ever heard from anyone else.
The trick is, you have to negotiate. It’s a lot harder to do that when you’re a new customer or on a Pay As You Go Plan. (In fact, Pay As You Go gives you zero leverage, you have to be on a plan.) My company paid for my phone from 1999-2005 while I was in Vancouver, but when I moved to Toronto from the U.S. two years ago, I was considered a new customer. But I chose a plan that had unlimited incoming calls (no airtime charges) even at that time.
Unfortunately, on Pay As You Go, you are stuck with Rogers/Fido.
March 4th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Fair point there Gail. I have since discovered that I may be able to acquire a phone and plan through my company, so I will continue to investigate my options. Thanks for the tip! Definitely more leverage on a plan versus on PAYG. Seeing as my time here, for now anyway, is limited I didn’t want to sign up for a 24-month or greater plan. Actually at the time I was only considering staying in TO for 6 months but I’ve since decided it’s much too fun here
April 11th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
[...] 3. I’ve got a new phone and cell number. I’m on a plan and work is paying for it yay! Bye bye crappy Rogers PAYG! [...]