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

[darlicious]

@Imthewhiterabbi 

If you are a low data/minutes user you shouldn't need to upgrade your plan anyways. Adding the $15/1gb add on or the $5/500min add on will supplement your plan nicely with the add ons rolljng over each 30 days til completely consumed.

[AE_Collector]

@Imthewhiterabbi 

But if you were to decide that you needed the $25 plan for a few months and then back to the $15 plan, your “Grandfathering” would expire. You would have to pick from available plans any time you make a plan change.

AE_Collector

[BearFBI]

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@Imthewhiterabbi wrote:

So will the 15$ 100min Canada-wide be grandfathlered as such? (I have had that one since im with PM and if the « grandfathered » clause is good for all plans, it should remain for this one too right? I seldom make call outside the province, but Just wanna make sure that if this happens, I wont be dinged for it.

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Yes that plan will be grandfathered. You cant get dinged for anything here, Its a prepaid service.

[Imthewhiterabbi]

So will the 15$ 100min Canada-wide be grandfathlered as such? (I have had that one since im with PM and if the « grandfathered » clause is good for all plans, it should remain for this one too right? I seldom make call outside the province, but Just wanna make sure that if this happens, I wont be dinged for it.

[Spudster]

@KellyGirl 

Good question... they started mid-February, and the popular belief was the Limited Time Offer would last until end-February, then that became mid-March.

Now I'm starting to wonder if it'll be an on-going 'special' to suck people in who believe they're getting a deal, when the rest of us are just saying welcome to the plans we all have...

I'd say they'll be offering it as long as it takes their marketing team to determine the efficacy of the price plan differences and whether it's going to be worth making the change more permanent.  

[KellyGirl]

When are these price changes occurring? I am waiting for a SIM for my mother and want to make sure she gets in on the $25 Canada wide plan

[treefrog]

@AE_Collector 

Yes it seem like a very short-sighted move by public mobile and is evidenced by the fact it hasn't gone up yet.

[AE_Collector]

@treefrog 

I think it is only a matter of time. The competition will make a change and PM will follow. Someone will use Canada Wide calling to their marketing advantage and we will be back to Canada Wide calling for all.

AE_Collector

[treefrog]

Having to switch to the province-wide calling plan has made no difference in my bill each month so far. And because of public mobile's little mistake they gave me the $5/500 minute add on as compensation so until I talk over 8 hours to people outside of my province it will make absolutely no difference in what I pay. But it would be nice if they did offer the Canada wide $15 calling plan again.

[darlicious]

@KamWest 

Its fido. The crimes of highway robbery and hostage taking come to mind......welcome to the world of overages, billing errors, hidden price increases, add ons that continue to add on and on and on to your bill, extra fees to talk to a CSA, a community that can never find an answer to your question unless its "why is fido so f%#&@d?" then there are a thousand answers and a ToS that basically says you're screwed and we can do anything we want with 30 days notice. 

But sure that 1.5gb extra data for their $50/10gb plan over pm's $50/8.5gb ($48 w/autopay) sure sounds like a good deal!

[gpixel]

@KamWest promo plans don't hold the same rate. there will be $5 yearly increases. and the bonus data expires after 2 years. even still, it's still a good deal.

I was on the $60/10gb+2gb bonus in 2018 and every year after, the plan price increased by $5. 

[KamWest]

From my 6 lines I have two $40 4.5gb plans and right now I can get fido 10gb for $50 and I am thinking about moving because they stay at nationwide and same texting world texting.

With the increase in speed I am very tempted assuming they hold the rate for a couple of years.

[darlicious]

@Anonymous 

Yikes thats a little pricey for the "cabin" especially since @AE_Collector would be on the American side and has some choice with providers. The link I sent for the U2 devices is a little confusing but they come with 8gb of NA data and 1.1gb of global data for 30 days. You can bundle and get the device and 24gb for $109 US also with a 30 day expiry. 12gb with a 365 day expiry is $69 or $87 cdn so an affordable $8.25 per month.

And mint mobiles 30/90 day plans of $15/4gb/$45/12gb, $20/10gb/$60/30gb, $25/30gb/$75/90gb or unlimited/$30/$90 giving you good summer options if you can't stack a couple offers with public mobile.

[Anonymous]

This is the Telus SmartHub that works perfectly fine with Public Mobile. Voice and data.

[darlicious]

@AE_Collector 

All depends on how friendly you are with the neighbours! Reminds me of the good 'ol days of feeding the coaxil cable thru the heating vent to my renter of the basement suite. Then if the cable guy came by and cut you off ( remember when they used to come by and actually disconnect you in that little box on tbe side of your house?) We would then get the downstairs cable hooked up and reverse the process!

Getting a mobile hotspot device that you just leave plugged into a power source would just give you a more stable device that should fit your needs. The slightly older and much cheaper devices just have a shorter battery life for portability than the newer ones. But they should still have the ability to have about 4 devices connected to them at any one time. Often the included data will have no expiry but you can also use your own sim for data so mint mobiles 3 month plans would come in handy for summertime and the included data for the off season when you are not there much if at all can be used to monitor the alarm, cameras etc....

[Nezgar]

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@AE_Collector wrote:

What is a Mifi? I wondered about the devices the cell companies use to provide phone/wifi/ data for home use to some subscribers.

---

Literally a device that takes a SIM, and provides a WiFi hotspot... External power plug, and Optionally has a battery... Look around your local used markets, here's an example on Canadian fleaBay:

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Unlocked-Alcatel-One-Touch-Mobile-Portable-Pocket-Wifi-Hotspot-Y859NC/133684...

Just insert any providers SIM and it will use the data.. ie Public Mobile, Lucky Mobile, etc...

[AE_Collector]

What is a Mifi? I wondered about the devices the cell companies use to provide phone/wifi/ data for home use to some subscribers.

I did think of trying to work a deal with a neighbour who has internet as I have a big roll of Cat 5e direct buried grease filled cable that would be easy to place between houses. But I don’t really know if they are the type to want to get involved in something like that unfortunately.

Thanks for the suggestions.

AE_Collector

[darlicious]

@AE_Collector 

Maybe you should be looking into something like this....

https://m.glocalme.com/US/cloudsim/u2

[Nezgar]

@AE_CollectorI looked into such a device for a coworker for his cabin here in Sask, and he bought a used MiFi type device... and Was going to get a Lucky Mobile 750MB Canada-Wide Data Only Plan - $15/mo with autopay (and throttled almost useless data beyond 750MB) - He was going to use it for very similar purposes... wireless thermostat alerting, maybe a camera or two to email out... In the end he ended up getting a point-to-point broadband connection and sharing it with his neighbor with an underground ethernet cable to split the cost. 😉

Maybe stick one of those Christmas light timers on it so it power cycles for a short period of time every day too 🙂

[AE_Collector]

@darlicious 

We are about 800 feet south of the border from Tsawwassen. No problem staying locked onto Telus from there. If the actual border were where it should be (actually ON the 49th parallel now that GPS is available to determine where it really is) we would only be 100-150 feet south of the border.

I wonder if there is a device (must be) that I could put a PM SIM in and leave it there on a plan year round. it would need to create a wifi network and preferably have a built in hardwire router. I could connect a thermostat by wifi and my security system hardwired to the router. Then I could monitor it and keep track of the temperature and put the heat on if I start to sweat the below freezing temperatures we occasionally get. 

If it created a wifi network I would likely be good with 250 Mb on the $15 plan over winter and could bump it to the 5Gb or 8.5Gb plan in summer. Or maybe that would be where I should look at that Fido Data only plan though I don't know what the Rogers signal is like there.

AE_Collector

[darlicious]

@LurganIeUk 

There is no point in suspending if rewards cover or nearly cover your plan amount. My scenario would be best served with the two phones active with a back up phone or sim enabled device acting as the hotspot. The unlimited outgoing calling would be handy from the extra phone/device and if on the province wide only plan the two regular phones could use their canada wide 100 outgoing minutes for mostly out of province calls. @AE_Collector that is assuming you are connecting to a canadian cell tower.

[AE_Collector]

@LurganIeUk 

@darlicious 

Yes Darlicious ran through a proposal awhile back for vacation data for me. I think I netted out with a few cases of breakfast cereal her way as well! I could go that route if a good new customer deal but at this moment I am not certain if summer vacation will be happening this year or not. And if suspending service we wouldn’t be collecting rewards then which is significant. The Canada Wide calling is not a big deal at all for us so the loss of it really doesn’t matter.

AE_Collector

[darlicious]

@AE_Collector 

Unless of course public mobile has a second 30 days free  promo at the beginning of summer and you activate a plan with the CCS offer then you can use it as a hotspot for your two phones with 8.5gb of data to share for two months for $26.25. You will even have enough credit left over to buy a 1gb data add on!

[LurganIeUk]

@AE_Collector 

Have you ever considered say...keeping your $15 Canada Wide plan assuming it is loaded with freebies and rewards....then suspend it for the summer and pick up the more suitable plan for a few months and then cancel it?? And go back to the $15 plan by removing he suspend. Stock up on some $2 SIM cards at CCS. 

[AE_Collector]

@gancanny 

I too have no worries what so ever about my Canada Wide Calling plan becoming Provincial Only calling. That said, in my case IT IS only a matter of time until I land on a Provincial Plan as I change plans a couple times a year thus I soon will have a choice of going from my $15 Canada Wide to $40 Provincial or $45 Canada Wide and then back to $15 Provincial as there is no longer a $15 Canada Wide available.

AE_Collector

[Nezgar]

@gancanny I'm very curious if these plans actually divide traditional inter-provincial local calling areas as you hypothesize.... Not enough people on the new plans to know the all the nuances yet.

[Anonymous]

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@gancanny wrote:

Let's hope PM is genuine in stating old plans are to be grandfathered in.

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 @gancanny 

That's been the case historically and no one here expects that to change.

[gancanny]

As someone who lives in the Ottawa National Capital Region these province wide plans are a joke. Even Bell home phone considered the 819 area code (Quebec) as a local call. Rather than providing extra choice, this seems more of a money grab and more options generally means more confused customers.

Let's hope PM is genuine in stating old plans are to be grandfathered in.

[carlaspapa]

@Nezgar 

Lol... yeah maybe if I called her in the morning but I call her at 6 p.m. Pacific time. And by that time of the day I am lucky you she even knows it to me as she's getting up there in years she just turned 86. I don't need to further confuse her! Although I get to enjoy the same story every week about some dumb thing my brother's done again and again and again.