2 year term contract

[ronist]

My cellular plan is paid for by my company. Can I opt to pay more on a plan, and/or sign a 2 year contract to receive a phone at a subsidied price? Is Public Mobile going to enter this market in the near future?

[srlawren · Accepted solution]

@ronist I'm going to mostly echo what everyone else has replied, and say that in your situation, you're better off to go with a 2-year plan from Telus, Bell, or Rogers.  Here's why: since your employer is footing the bill, they are expecting you to be reachable all the time.  If you experience an account glitch (and to be candid, there are far too many of those at Public Mobile these days), with one of the big 3 you pick up the phone and after a short wait, get a representative that can help you get up and running quickly. With PM, you have to private message the moderator team and wait for one of them to be available to help, and there may be some slow back-and-forth communication via private messaging.  This may not be acceptable to your employer, whom is paying for you to be reachable nearly all the time when they need it.  I think overall between phone financing over the contract period and the more immediate support, you're better off using your work line through one fo the big 3.  Especially since it's not even coming out of your own pocket.

[will13am]

@ronist, phone subsidies is a misnomer invented by the marketing department.  Carriers are in business to make profit for the shareholders.  They don't subsidize anything, the costs are buried in the bill somewhere.  If you company is paying your way, then why not walk into the Samsung or Apple store and get a shiny new phone and send the bill to your company. 

As for the typical Public Mobile customer, I can safely say that we are here because we don't want our monthly service charges to be sullied by a hardware payment.  Like we don't buy gas at the dealership, we want to see separate and transparent charges for hardware and service.

Sorry to say, let's hope Public Mobile never gets into the hardware sales business at least not in the way that other carrier brands do it. 

[SD08]

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@stonechucker wrote:

Beaten to the punch while composing my post!!!  Too many like minded folks here lol

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Lol.  great minds think alike.  

[wetcoaster]

As others have mentioned Public Mobile's business model is no frills prepaid and BYOD. That's why most of us are here.

PM actually used to sell phones but has stopped doing so quite a while ago. IMHO as soon as they would offer any type of device deal the logistics involved would mean a price increase overall. Also... any time you are buying a phone in installments you are paying considerably more overall. (Yes, I know, your company pays for it... I'd rather have that money on my paycheque,,,)

PM isn't for everyone - if you need different/more features there are other providers out there that likely are able to help - with the according price tag attached.

[stonechucker]

Beaten to the punch while composing my post!!!  Too many like minded folks here lol

[cricketfan]

Let the phone be separate from the carrier plans, Please. 

In Asia Europe, there's how it works an me it's a lot better for consumer. 

[stonechucker]

@ronist, you can do this yourself.  Use a credit card to purchase the phone outright from any place you like, and never use that card again.  Pay off the charges from your bank account by the regular payments, or better yet, double the regular, or triple it even, and you’ve got your own so-called tab.

just don’t miss a payment, and make sure you get a great low cost plan from the carrier of your choice.

outright ownership of your unlocked device is heaven!  Well, at least for those who believe in heaven.

[SD08]

@ronist

Well, since you're asking for a separate bill (or a separate section on the bill) for the phone from your plan, why not just buy the phone outright on a low interest credit card, or better yet a credit line?  You'll probably still come out ahead of the carrier subsidy as long as you don't take too long to pay off the credit card, and your flexible credit payments can be accelerated as much as you like.  That way, you'll have even more choice of phone and are more likely to get one on sale.

[ronist]

Just to clarify, I'm not asking PM to raise prices, rather I would like more options for customers.

T-Mobile in the US has long liberated cellular plans from bearing the cost of the phone. Their customers choose whatever plan they want, and pays the phone in 24 installments. It's a very transparent process if you go to t-mobile.com.

I don't see other big carriers willing to provide this. Why can't PM be the pinonner and offer it in Canada?

[aip0401]

As mentioned by others, Public Mobile operates on a prepaid model, whereas other providers operate on a postpaid model.

[SD08]

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@ShawnC13 wrote:

As for subsidized phones we don't want to get into that here and raise prices.  PM is a budget provider.  It is a BYOD provider.

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@ShawnC13

Yes, lower plan prices instead of subsidized phones any day.  There are other providers who will happily provide a phone subsidy with one hand and gouge the customer with the other.  No thanks.

[ShawnC13]

@ronist, this is something WE DO NOT WANT Public Mobile to do.  The maximum term right now is 90 days will that increase I don't know.  As for subsidized phones we don't want to get into that here and raise prices.  PM is a budget provider.  It is a BYOD provider.

[SD08]

With PM, the maximum term you can sign up for is 90 days, prepaid.  PM does not provide phones at all.  I can't see them doing this, as it does not fit with their no-frills model of service.