Your Public Mobile experience just got an upgrade.

[J_PM]

Hey Community, 

We have a big announcement to share with you! 

Starting July 13, Public Mobile is going 100% digital, with all new activations and devices taking place exclusively online. New customers can join Public Mobile on the go, from anywhere, without setting foot into a store.

To officially mark the start of a new & improved Public Mobile experience, we’re announcing two exciting new features launching today:

Browse up to 30x faster with new 4G-speed plans. 

Now, you can get up to 30x faster speeds with Public Mobile’s new 4G-speed plans, when compared to existing 3G-speed plans. These new plans provide new and existing customers with a wider range of included data and speeds to choose from, depending on their needs. 

Introducing the new My Account: A modernized, mobile-first self-serve experience.

Redesigned from the ground up, our refreshed self-serve portal provides you with easy account-management at your fingertips without the need for in-person support. Plus, it features an all new intuitive mobile-friendly design to make all account management a breeze. 

Along with these new features, as many of you know, we recently launched our new rewards program Public Points earlier this year, where you can earn and redeem rewards with ultimate flexibility. We also redesigned our Community Forum to give our customers the ability to find solutions faster, with 24/7 access to online support. 

Expect to see many more exciting enhancements as we continue on our journey of putting the power of mobility in the hands of Canadians. To celebrate these exciting launches, we will be giving new subscribers 3x the points-back for their first 12 months, for a limited time on eligible purchase, through our Public Points™ Rewards program.

Important Details:

• You will still be able to purchase SIM cards from TELUS & Koodo corporate stores. Find a store near you using our store locator.  
• Vouchers will still be available for purchase in the same locations as before. Visit our vouchers page to access our list of voucher purchase locations.  

For more information on these exciting new changes, please visit publicmobile.ca or our FAQs on these changes. 

        - Public Mobile Team

[mitchnet12]

@J_PM  I'm curious about how the auto pay rewards are working with the new plans. From what I can tell, it looks like the auto pay bonus data is now included with the plans, and no changes to point rewards for having auto pay. It's a real plus for $15 plan customers without auto pay, if that is the case.

[softech]

@J_PM   Another issue on My Account, the Usage log , incoming calls entries are showing our own number and not the originating number (the one who called us).  Please look into it.  Thanks

[J_PM]

@AE_Collector switching to a 4G plan does not force you into new rewards.

Thank you

[bluejaywpg]

---

@BearFBI wrote:

These plans are a ripoff. 

Where is VoLTE and E-sim ?

Ive moved all my accounts with data away from PM. I downgraded mine and now use data with another provider 

---

@BearFBI if you don't mind me asking, who provides your data? I've looked into this & found that it's not worthwhile for me. Or, because my phone is not a dual physical SIM phone (1 physical SIM, 1 eSIM), I cannot do this with some providers. So I'm still with PM only for all cell services.

[bluejaywpg]

Well, it's about time we see something that's a little exciting. The cell service industry in Canada is so stagnating & BORING (not to mention overpriced compared to other countries) that it's like watching TV in the 70s & 80s in the summer - repeats repeats repeats, same old same old same old (especially with the same old same old promos of 6 months of 2 extra GB, & ONLY NEW CUSTOMERS!!!!!). 😡 The industry had done next to NOTHING to persuade me to part with more of my hard-earned dollars for better service in 2022. Want 5G? Same $75 MINIMUM per month price. Want excitement? Hold your breath until Black Friday or Boxing Day - months away. And that's a big MAYBE. But a big announcement like this, & in July, not September for example when everyone is returning to school & work after summer vacation? I am surprised.

Redoing the account portal was way overdue. I was thinking about posting how in 2022 we have this really crappy portal that doesn't let a customer have a nice, clean view of daily / weekly / monthly data usage. We had only this sort of transactional view of our usage, which did nothing to let us see how much we used yesterday when we were watching videos galore, or the day before when we were barely looking at Facebook & playing Wordle. I don't know if the features I alluded to are actually there now, but my 1st impressions are so far so good until I go through it with a fine tooth comb.

So I've read all the replies & 1 of the common responses is that (surprise, surprise) the plans are overpriced. That was my 1st impression when I saw the list of plans, but I haven't compared this to anything else yet except for PC Mobile, which offers 4G service. I'm only looking at the bottom 4G plan because that's plenty of data for me if I switch. $41.25 (what an odd price for PM!) gets 4 GB, less rewards. The closest equivalent PC Mobile plan is $40 for 4 GB, but it's bumped up to 5 GB on autopay, & you can get 5% or 10% back in PC Optimum points (so $2 or $4) per month. The closest PM 3G-throttled plan is $40 for 5 GB, less rewards. But I'm currently on the $35 plan, so switching would be a $6.25 increase per 30 days.

And that's not including the 20,000 PC Optimum points in month 2 for switching to them, less the $10 cost of a SIM card. And if you really want to examine to the penny, one can compare credit card rewards, or consider that PC Mobile renews every month whereas PM renews every 30 days, which I won't bother with right now. And there's considering PM's loyalty reward that grows up to $5 per month (old rewards), the occasional buck or 2 I get for posting here, & the extremely remote possibility that I may rope in a friend or 2 in the future with my referral code.

Conclusion - if I want 4G data, PM is slightly better (by $1.75 for me). Unless there are better rates with 1 of the 2nd tier brands...? I will check later. But feel free to offer advice. My current plan literally just renewed Monday, so I have nearly a full month to go over the options.

[cellphoneuser1]

---

@drsiha wrote:

100% digital without eSIM???

---

That's for activations and getting help.All you can do is hope they make it available in the future.

[drsiha]

100% digital without eSIM???

[DennyCrane]

@softco thank you for confirming the rewards piece.

For VoLTE, yes I just meant I agree with everyone else that we need it ASAP. I use my PM phone in the US for calls and texts, and the fact that they are shutting down their 3g networks is concerning. 

[softech]

@DennyCrane 

All the rewards on the old rewards system will stay.  No change to that even you change to 4G plan

Just a reminder, there is not VoLTE still even you are on 4G plan.  VoLTE likely will come, except no one knows when will it come

[DennyCrane]

If I switch to a 4G plan will be loyalty, referral, and auto pay rewards (old reward system) move over?

As for esim I'm okay not having that because I already have an esim plan for US data, so it's nice and easy to switch between the physical PM sim and my Ubigi esim when I go to the US. If PM had esim I'd likely have to remove it and add my US esim everytime I travel, which isn't ideal. That's just me though. 

+1000 on VoLTE

[Pawprints1986]

@computergeek541 definitely agree re the pricing, just checked it out.

For a low tier they don't even *offer* a 1gb plan? Wow 

Yeah as of now I'm gonna wait till my grandfathered plan makes the switch by default. If they force an upgrade I may well switch carriers. I pay $28 before tax for 2 gigs right now... And I use data just because I have it half the time as it is

Yeah, definitely not the best rollout I've ever seen... Since it still be forced eventually due to the technology ending, it will be a really crummy thing to do to force people to spend more money on a higher gb plan

[darlicious]

@CanadianPerson0 

All voice calls with public mobile are on the 3G network. As telus and bell expand their 5G networks more of their 3G network is sacrificed resulting is less connectivity to the 3G network for pm customers with some already experiencing the inability to use their voice services. The primary function of a phone.

The sooner telus enables VoLTE for pm customers the better their voice services will work and in places like the US pm customers will be able to use their voice service with AT&T when roaming since the 3G network has been decommissioned in the US. Other areas like Newfoundland have had increased coverage but only the 4G LTE network and 5G.

[dust2dust]

@CanadianPerson0- It removes the issue of switching down to the 3G bands. Phones usually sit idle on LTE. So wouldn't it be nice if the phone didn't have to switch. Some phones might be LTE-only (rare). Roaming to the states with agreements to use volte allows the use of the phone and add-ons due to the fact that the primary providers in the states are and have turned off their 3G ability.

[CanadianPerson0]

Ok, so VoLTE is Voice over Long-Term Evolution (VoLTE) is an LTE high-speed. But what does that actually mean and why do people want it? Thanks.

[CanadianPerson0]

From everything I can see the UI/UX revamp is only a net positive. The introduction of 4G speeds is nice, but they seem ridiculously overpriced. here's hoping it has a really bad response and they adjust them accordingly, would rather a reduction across the board than them halving them constantly for sales but only for new customers. If the 4G is reasonably priced I can see myself upgrading from the 250MB+100mins+UnlimitedText @ $15

[JL9]

Yeah another unfortunate mistake I think..

[JL9]

How are ppl that have been on the new rewards for awhile (and even ppl on the old rewards) not more pissed about this 3x public points to new customers for a full year. A 40-50 plan would be 72-78ish a year and higher plans could be as high as over 150 for the year why us chumps on an already inferior rewards system get salt rubbed into the wound with this.. Kind of a slap in the face 

[darlicious]

@JL9 

Read the announcement. It's all there in brown and beige.

[JL9]

Definite a superior option for price and speed but apparently CCS wont be allowed to sell PM sims with this change over? Not sure if that is actually true 

[JL9]

Really good point, bad first impression 

[AE_Collector]

I just scheduled a plan change for my renewal which starts in about 2-3 hours. I think they likely have improved the wording to limit the number of errors related to change now versus at renewal. But as someone else said… why can’t you click on the new plan rather than use the little tiny arrows over on the far right to click down to the one you want.

someone else mentioned changing plans (maybe only to 4G plans?) forcing you onto the new rewards? I haven’t noticed an indication of that but have really only had time to quickly look at the new portal. But I noticed when changing plans a list of rewards and the categories all showed zero which caused some concern. Presumably just a part that isn’t yet working.

[greythistle]

Haha I do agree that there are some technophobes (as you put it) out there, but for a lot of people the difference isn't that, and I just kind of want to mention that to banish that assumption from any third parties reading!

There are lots of people who might need cashless or cash/digital or non-digital options for privacy related issues, such as those involved in journalism, those who do outreach work for children and spouses surviving domestic violence, drug or cult intervention related situations (depressingly more common than people realise), people who are extreme low-income, people who have dealt with severe issues with third party data breaches, and... well, I'm sure people will find a large sector who are invested heavily into technology and their technical knowledge or area of expertise might be exactly why they are against cashless options. There's a million different reasons. Though also yeah, I feel really bad for seniors who struggle with tech and 'technophobes' as well. The most options possible for different life scenarios are the best.

I do hope that there's clarification on it soon so I can know if I need to switch to a different option.

[darlicious]

@youbme 

In the meantime use the workaround. Download textnow or fongo and call forward your pm number to your new fongo or textnow number under busy/unreachable so you don't miss calls.

[youbme]

Depending on location, VoLTE can actually make a huge difference in reliability.

I'm in rural Ontario, and reception has been ok until a year ago when a new cell tower was installed nearby... Bell and Telus run LTE from that tower, no 3G. So, a huge improvement for data use, but when making calls my phone struggles to find a 3g signal, often dropping calls and often missing calls. Calls have actually degraded due to the new tower.

However, my wife switched to Koodo during one of those deals a few years ago. She never misses calls and sound clarity is much much better.

In an urban setting it may not be too noticeable, but for me I'm starting to consider switching if PM doesn't get its act together with basic VoLTE.

[darlicious]

@tbone9 

Rumour has it as the end of September....?

[tbone9]

As they start rolling out more 5g and reducing 3g signals the issue is getting worse.

[darlicious]

@logontoprathap 

Bear with us....when updates get sprung on us there is a learning curve on how new stuff works and it being the self serve account there is a lot to explore. Its easiest to just go buy a pm voucher and add it via 611. Your plan will automatically reactivate. Read this post.....

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Get-Support/Purchasing-or-Adding-a-Public-Mobile-Vouc...

[tbone9]

Major difference, I've been having issues for months with calls going straight to voicemail. VOLTE would eliminate this problem completely.

[jor123]

---

@musicollector wrote:

Yeah, but would VOLTE make that much of a difference in quality? Would it be perceptible even? Or just a nice-to-have feature?

---

There are areas where 3G/HSPA coverage is worse than LTE due to new cell sites being LTE only - in NL there are smaller towns where LTE sites were added in the last few days, no 3G and no 3G tower in range so data and SMS work, and if you try to initiate a call... no service. Going forward with more refarming to LTE and 5G, the 3G network will be more and more unusable before it's decommissioned altogether. Coverage in my basement is much more marginal on the HSPA network as well. 

[logontoprathap]

Bad Idea. I recently got a message that my Credit card expired. I am trying to update, but the new all-digital Public Mobile website won’t allow me. Now my account is suspended due to non-payment. And I am left without a cell phone tower or connectivity.

I am not sure whom to blame to who will pay for my loss. I guess you might have to re-think your decission.