New Province-Wide Calling Plans + Limited-Time Offer on Canada-Wide Calling Plans

[Catherine_T]

[Edited: Feb 16, 3:45PM EST]

Hey Community, 

Public Mobile is introducing some changes to our suite of rate plans. Effective February 16, 2021, we will offer two types of plans: plans that include Province-wide minutes, and plans that include unlimited Canada-wide minutes. The Canada-wide calling plans will be priced at an additional $5/month, compared to the Province-wide calling plans.  All of our plans will continue to offer Canada-wide data and unlimited international texting.

We never take the decision of changing our plans lightly.  That's why, for a limited time, we’re offering our Canada-wide plans at a $5 discount. That means customers who value Canada-wide calling can still access these plans at the original prices before they change. 

The introduction of a Province-wide calling plan comes as a result of our commitment to give you more options on features and provide savings to help you create and customize the plan that’s right for you.  If you don't value Canada-wide calling, you can still access our plans starting at $15 per month.  If you value Canada-wide calling, it will continue to be available for an additional $5 per month. 

See below for more details on our new plans: 

New province-wide calling plans: 

Province-Wide Calling
Monthly Rate	Province-wide Minutes	Data (*with 500MB Autopay)
$15	100 Minutes	250MB
$25	Unlimited	1GB*
$35	Unlimited	2.5GB*
$40	Unlimited	5GB*
$45	Unlimited	6.5GB*
$50	Unlimited	8.5GB

For more information on how province-wide calling works, check out this Help Article.

Concurrent with this launch, we are offering $5 off all Canada-wide rate plans for a limited time. 

Canada-wide calling plans:

*Current promotion: $5 off Canada-wide plans for a limited time

Canada-wide Calling
Monthly Rate (*Promotion price)	Canada-wide Minutes	Data (*with 500MB Autopay)
$30 $25*	Unlimited	1GB*
$40 $35*	Unlimited	2.5GB*
$45 $40*	Unlimited	5GB*
$50 $45*	Unlimited	6.5GB*
$55 $50*	Unlimited + U.S. Talk	8.5GB

How to change your plan: 

1. Log in on Self Serve
2. Go to “Plan and Add-ons”
3. Select “Change Plan”
4. Select your preferred plan. You will have the option of changing your plan immediately or upon the next renewal date.

FAQ’s:

What happens to existing customers’ plans?

There is no impact to existing customers' plans. All customers’ plans will be grandfathered, including those who had scheduled rate plan changes before this update. Note, if you change your plan you may not be able to go back to your previous plan if it is no longer available on our website. 

What is happening to the $15 plan?

All plans in the Canada-wide suite have unlimited Canada-wide minutes. The $15 limited talk plan will remain in the Province-wide suite and will have 100 Province-wide minutes with 250MB of AutoPay data bonus.

Can I buy an add-on with Canada-wide calling?

Yes, we currently have a $5 for 500 Canada-wide minutes add-on available which you can purchase in Self-Serve.

How does Province-wide Calling work?

For more information on province-wideon how province-wide calling works, check out this Help Article. 

To learn more about Public Mobile plans, click here.

- The Public Mobile Team

[MoreYummy]

they are doing the rogers way to "promote"  

[HALIMACS]

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@computergeek541 wrote:

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@MoreYummy wrote:

when will the plan $5 off promotion expired?  

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Can this really be called a promotion?  I think that much of the criticism that Public Mobile has received was when they called this a sale/promotion instead of saying that it was notice that plans would be changing soon. Public Mobile still would have received negative feedback about the changes, but I do not believe that the feedback would have been as bad.

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Fully agree @computergeek541 .  This was not a promotion.  It never was.  

They were simply positioning the changes with a marketing spin to entice new customers by suggesting prices were "lower" for a Limited Time Only.

On the plus side, it did give current customers the option to 'lock in' a plan at the soon-to-be historical prices.   Gotta give them kudos for at least doing that...

[computergeek541]

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@MoreYummy wrote:

when will the plan $5 off promotion expired?  

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Can this really be called a promotion?  I think that much of the criticism that Public Mobile has received was when they called this a sale/promotion instead of saying that it was notice that plans would be changing soon. Public Mobile still would have received negative feedback about the changes, but I do not believe that the feedback would have been as bad.

[LurganIeUk]

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@MoreYummy wrote:

when will the plan $5 off promotion expired?  

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While a crystal ball is not totally reliable...I would say 30 days after Feb 16. So if you have the urge and see the value I would jump on it ASAP. Today is March  6......10 days left??

[dabr]

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@MoreYummy wrote:

when will the plan $5 off promotion expired?  

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@MoreYummy   No one knows...it could happen at anytime and I don't think PM is going to give any further notice as to the expiration date.  They certainly made no mention of the fact that the previous $15 plan would be removed and promptly replaced with the current province wide calling option .  Although there was a customer who had got wind of that happening from a retailer and posted a thread about it a few days before these changes came into effect.

Probably best to act quickly (schedule a plan change) if anyone want's to be grandfathered into the old prices for those plans.

[MoreYummy]

when will the plan $5 off promotion expired?  

[dabr]

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@cynthialing wrote:

Yup even just for a week will be great.  I can refer a few friends for the $15 plan if it’s offering Canada wide.  If province wide only, my friends want to know any promotions like 1 month free for new activation.  I think I’ve had seen the 1 month free promo during Christmas but too bad they didn’t want to switch at that time.

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@cynthialing   Unfortunately, PM opted to get rid of the Canada wide calling for the $15 plan which now only facilitates province wide calling.  But the add-on of $5/500 mins (Canada wide) is still available and very cost effective way of adding extra mins for the times the customer has used up all their limited plan mins, or need to make an out of province call.  Plus the domestic add-ons don't expire and will stay with the account until they're completed depleted.

PM always seem to offer promotions of a free month (30 days) or extra data every other month or so, so your friends could opt to wait for another promo if they're not interested in locking into one of the Canada wide plans available right now for $5 off now (really just the old regular price) which could end at any time without warning.

[cynthialing]

Yup even just for a week will be great.  I can refer a few friends for the $15 plan if it’s offering Canada wide.  If province wide only, my friends want to know any promotions like 1 month free for new activation.  I think I’ve had seen the 1 month free promo during Christmas but too bad they didn’t want to switch at that time.

[MiltonMike]

It sucks that they are not having the same sale for the $15 Canada wide plan.

[fujiyama]

Whoa, I didn't check in for a while and missed a bunch of big announcements. It will take some time to read through all of it, ha. This change won't affect my usage and luckily I'll be grandfathered, but still sucks to see the step back to provincial vs. Canada wide. 

[Triguy]

@Pipcan 

You will be grandfathered.

What happens to existing customers’ plans?

There is no impact to existing customers' plans. All customers’ plans will be grandfathered, including those who had scheduled rate plan changes before this update. Note, if you change your plan you may not be able to go back to your previous plan if it is no longer available on our website. 

[JK8]

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@Pipcan wrote:

I’m not clear here.  I am on $25 plan for Canada wide.  To maintain Canada wide and get discount do I need to change my plan or do I get it automatically, being grandfathered 

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If you are on the current $25 Canada wide calling plan it will be grandfathered. Do nothing.

[Pipcan]

I’m not clear here.  I am on $25 plan for Canada wide.  To maintain Canada wide and get discount do I need to change my plan or do I get it automatically, being grandfathered 

[LoreckAvery]

Interesting...not sure I like this but glad to be grandfathered in 

[Nezgar]

@mobileguy What has been reported on these forums was if you had a scheduled plan change to the Canada-wide $15 plan when the province-wide plans were introduced, your plan change was cancelled as that plan was removed. So you only got to keep it if you were already active on the plan prior to then...

[mobileguy]

@XionBunny , my understanding right now is that if you already have the $15 Canada wide plan, you will continue to stay on that plan until you decide to remove it.  I have not heard that PM will automatically remove that plan from current customers who have it.

[LurganIeUk]

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@AE_Collector wrote:

I don’t believe that PM has done anything to notify customers yet have they? Adding it to their web site and eventually starting a topic about it here on the community is far from sending all customers a couple or three text messages advising them of upcoming changes while they can still use the dual plans to get to where they want to be before the change.

AE_Collector

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Good point. For anyone that has a plan, pays monthly and never checks the plan or community pages, would be completely oblivious to the changes. No email or text from PM. And has PM ever emailed anyone??

[AE_Collector]

I don’t believe that PM has done anything to notify customers yet have they? Adding it to their web site and eventually starting a topic about it here on the community is far from sending all customers a couple or three text messages advising them of upcoming changes while they can still use the dual plans to get to where they want to be before the change.

AE_Collector

[cavemantoronto]

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@BearFBI wrote:

Interesting.... From the rumor the sale was only supposed to last a week. Its far over a week. PM mustve decided to make it last longer. 

Ya never know. This could be a permanent sale.

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Then why upset everyone? If it's a permanent sale, they can't call it a sale.

[XionBunny]

I may be critical of the way things are going with the providers lately, but that doesn't mean I hate this flanker brand, I stay mainly for the community and discounts, I've only been angry I'm pretty much stuck where I am with this plan now since nowhere will ever have the base 15 Canada wide plan anymore soon enough, and I enjoy having more options, not less for more cost.

[computergeek541]

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@Nezgar wrote:

@BearFBI I was thinking more along the lines of 30 days since the announcement until the Canada-wide plans go up, in line with the "30 days notice" of plan changes in the terms of service...

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I've seen the mention how this limited time offer can be seen as 30 days noticed. Public Mobile does not need to give any notice to changes to the plan lineup. The 30 day notice requirement is for people changing to people who are already customers and already have the plan that a carrier wants to make changes to. Any carrier, including Public Mobile can raise prices at any time, even to existing customers by giving that notice.

[Nezgar]

@BearFBI I was thinking more along the lines of 30 days since the announcement until the Canada-wide plans go up, in line with the "30 days notice" of plan changes in the terms of service...

[BearFBI]

Interesting.... From the rumor the sale was only supposed to last a week. Its far over a week. PM mustve decided to make it last longer. 

Ya never know. This could be a permanent sale.

[BearFBI]

@Pawprints1986 Nope. No one was getting grandfathered. People were complaining on their Facebook community. 

[Pawprints1986]

@BearFBI 

"Existing chatr users were getting text messages saying that their plan will increase by 5$ starting March something. I assume their site will be updated with those plans until then."

Do you mean they're not grandfathering anyone? I'm sure it's not illegal not to, but is certainly bad form. They wouldn't be encouraging anyone to stay

[Anonymous]

 @LurganIeUk : To me, it's really more about the details. Can you add data, can you add long distance (Canada or elsewhere), how much for either, any overage charges for excess minutes or data, even texts, do the add-ons expire or stay until used, is there "unlimited" data and how slow, can a customer verbally speak to a human.

[LurganIeUk]

If any one wants to send me URLs of Canadian $15 plans, I can do a comparison chart in excel and post.  If you like. 

[Anonymous]

 @vbrindusr : Lucky drops back to provincial on the $15 plan but then made it unlimited incoming which yes is like here. Before it was 100 minutes Canada-wide total. Yes that differentiated things here. But you can't add data to that plan. All it is, is 250. Why move to that when we have what we have here? Chatr is still as was.

I was looking at the smart watches in Dec. and I came to realize that the eSIM in them was more of an account/phone accessory...not it's own account per se. I should think technically it should be able to work stand-alone but I don't think the providers want that. There are some smart watches that have SIM slots though. A Pixel with eSIM...dunno.

I don't know why a budget provider wouldn't offer eSIM though. Seems a cheaper method.

I don't know about their app. I was just saying that there are many voip apps. Forward your number to that number.

[computergeek541]

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@vbrindusr wrote:

@Anonymous:Free incoming calls were PM's differentiating feature for some time. Now LM and Chattr are getting closer to feature parity, which is good for us - more competition means possibly better PM features for us in the future.

Maybe I don't understand what you're referring to, but it seems obvious that an eSIM has to be attached to an account, the same way a physical SIM is. Don't we all have PM accounts? My understanding is that the eSIM just replaces the SIM on your existing account and in your phone.

You are probably right about their app. I was thinking it's something like WiFi Calling/VoWiFi: everybody still calls you on your cell number (while you have only WiFi) and everyone you call will see the call coming from your cell number instead of some other VoIP number. But then I read the reviews in the playstore and somebody mentioned they got a separate phone number for the app, which reduces its appeal. Still, free US calling may be valuable to some.

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Lucky Mobile is partly to blame for this confusion. Lucky Mobile doesn't have Wi-Fi calling. I know that they make reference to it on their website, but it's just a free VoIP app that they allow customers to use. Lucky's app also does not allow the customer to use the same phone number. The VoIP service uses a different phone number.