Has anyone else done a comparison between carriers?

[ckkong]

I noticed a lot of companies require a phone to be purchased with their plans. I figured out the cost for paying for the Koodo plan with a tab equates to the purchase of a new phone. People may not have realized that they are buying the phone over the contract period. Though Koodo is called a non-contract phone provider, when I changed to the promo $60 plan for 10 GB data and all things unlimited including caller ID and voice mail I had to pay the remaining balance of my phone. The phone was covered originally by the Tab, but has to be paid over for the period of at least 2 years if you are on the small tab. The more expensive the phone the more larger tab you pay a month over that 2-3 years. For most people, its cheaper than buying the phone full price, but if you don't really like the phone then its not a good deal. I had an Samsung A5 on that plan and then I found another phone that I liked better, which I had to pay a price for since it was not bought from Koodo at that time. They told me that I cannot get a free phone on the tab anymore because this $60 promo plan is already the best deal that they can offer. The truth is because I use wifi most of the time I don't use the full 10 GB data. At most, I used over half of it. Bell and Rogers was worse when I used them because I paid more and didn't have as many services. Koodo has been my longest provider until I learned about Public Mobile being more affordable and rewarding its customers is very important now. I am glad to change carriers to save money.

[XionBunny]

I’d honestly like to get back to the level of rewards where I can move to the higher data plan cause I’d easily live on 5 gigs vs 1.

[darlicious · Accepted solution]

@ckkong 

    I have two phones and two accounts. Originally the smartphone was my late partners. The phone was supplied by freedom on an unlimited Canada wide calling, texting and data plan for $40 per month post paid. $4 was deducted each month from the $40 to pay for the phone over two years. I don't remember the original cost of the LG phone but for a total cost of $96 It was a pretty good deal. There were no overages unless roaming which was kept off. The only problem I had was the lack of coverage and the the poor signal at home but all in all I was happy with the price. I had a prepaid flip phone on a post paid plan with telus. Telus gave me a credit on my bill (for loyalty) to purchase the phone (twice...once when the phone just died and once when it took a bath in a sinkful of soaking dishes.) Both times a came out ahead because the phone was $40 cheaper than the credit. The telus plan was $35 with 300 anytime minutes, free 7pm-7am, five free friend numbers to call but all local, free texting, data block, call waiting, forwarding, conference and voice mail. When the LG phone screen went all psychedelic and unusable and freedom no longer offered a a phone i wanted and added $15 a month to your bill i went around the corner to foreign electronics and bought my dual sim unlocked samsung galaxy A3 for about $400.

    Comparing plans there wasn't much to save with anyone except when I happened upon public mobile. Tired of spending every weekend at the lake with no service with the smartphone and trying to text on a flip phone I switched from freedom to public mobile. Saving $2 for basically the same plan with Auto pay but gaining an entire country of coverage. Due for a new flip phone at 5 years of age I phoned telus loyalty for my same deal...no go. They wanted to charge me $4 extra a month on a contract (something I have refused to do for 20 years) for two years! That would $96 for a $70 phone. This is the loyalty I get after 20 years? Soon after I switched that phone to public mobile.

      I went from $75+tax for two accounts to $36 (w/a promo and autopay). Add in my referrals and community reward I have an out of pocket cost of $8 per month. When my promo is over and I switch to either the $25 plan it will cost $3 per month for the two accounts or if I switch to the $15 I will be building a credit of $7 per month. There is no question when comparing providers that public mobile is the cheapest choice.

[Nezgar]

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@popping wrote:

PM is a god sent provider for parents everywhere.  You can tell you kid that your plan has this and this... If you used all your plan data after 3 weeks, you will be on wifi data diet for the rest of this month.  

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Totally agree with you on this one!! I was never comfortable with the thought of my kids having a cel for this specific reason... 

Coworker switched his younger highschool aged daughter to PM on my recommendation. She already blew through the 250MB on the $15 plan, and half way through the holuday 1GB, and has almost used the rest of it now. We were watching her useage and kind of disappointed she didn't get her data cut off yet because of the bonus hehe.

[danijel]

My advice to you all is to buy outright a Motorola G series phone which is a midrange priced device or a Nokia 7.2 or lower, from Amazon.I have the Motorola G7 Plus from Amazon and i love it. That way your phone is paid for and you can get the cheapest possible service from a provider. In comparing Lucky Mobile, Chatr, and now Fizz, basically all offer the same exact plans,  i find Public Mobile is the best out of all of those due to the rewards you can get with Public Mobile, which saves you money monthly. 

[farmbot]

Telus Prepaid vs Koodo vs Publicmobile

All owned by Telus

Telus prepaid  whether or not u have plan any data over preset limit is charged per mb with no limit  >10Mb/sec connection VERY EXPENSIVE

Koodo prepaid must have data plan and stops at purchased amount

>10Mb/sec speed if u need but >$ per GB

Publicmobile prepaid must have data plan and stops at purchased amount

slower speed  3Mb/sec but <$ per GB

Best value for mobile access under the sky to world wide web

Checks all my boxes for data cell provider

I have only dealt with Telus

[ashleyskye]

Just to make sure OP (and everyone else) is aware of all their options and how they are connected. This, of course, excludes provincial carriers

[JackieHovan]

I changed to PM about a year ago and did a lot of searching back then for prices. PM was the best for me as I already had a phone and wasn't looking to buy a new one. 

[popping]

@ckkong 

It is cheaper to separate your plan from buying phone.  You will get a postpaid plan if you want a phone.  Postpaid plan is bad because you promised to pay any overage.

PM is a prepaid provider without pay-per-use charges.  If you don't pay ahead, you will not get the service.  Not all prepaid provider works the same.  e.g. Chatr is a prepaid provider. But Chatr has pay-per-use.  Chatr will take money from your account if you make a long distance call to a US number. 

PM is a god sent provider for parents everywhere.  You can tell you kid that your plan has this and this... If you used all your plan data after 3 weeks, you will be on wifi data diet for the rest of this month.  

[AE_Collector]

Lots of people don't seem to get this. Then they are on forums whining about the high cost of cellular service in Canada and that the government should do something about it!

Telephone sets were "unbundled" from landline service in the early 90's, IE over 25 years ago. I have no idea why people think that cell plans shouldn't work that way as well. Much easier to control your costs if you don't have to constantly be paying for a new phone in your monthly cost even if you don't want a new phone! But, I know....I'm preaching to the choir here...

It just irks me that people think the government should be wading into this instead of people looking around a bit for good deals and better ways to purchase cell service themselves. People want everything handed to them.

AE_Collector

[gblackma]

@ckkong , @Staliger . totally agree. You are, in most cases paying for a plan and phone capabilities  that you will never fully need or use.

[Staliger]

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@ckkong wrote:

I noticed a lot of companies require a phone to be purchased with their plans. I figured out the cost for paying for the Koodo plan with a tab equates to the purchase of a new phone. People may not have realized that they are buying the phone over the contract period. Though Koodo is called a non-contract phone provider, when I changed to the promo $60 plan for 10 GB data and all things unlimited including caller ID and voice mail I had to pay the remaining balance of my phone. The phone was covered originally by the Tab, but has to be paid over for the period of at least 2 years if you are on the small tab. The more expensive the phone the more larger tab you pay a month over that 2-3 years. For most people, its cheaper than buying the phone full price, but if you don't really like the phone then its not a good deal. I had an Samsung A5 on that plan and then I found another phone that I liked better, which I had to pay a price for since it was not bought from Koodo at that time. They told me that I cannot get a free phone on the tab anymore because this $60 promo plan is already the best deal that they can offer. The truth is because I use wifi most of the time I don't use the full 10 GB data. At most, I used over half of it. Bell and Rogers was worse when I used them because I paid more and didn't have as many services. Koodo has been my longest provider until I learned about Public Mobile being more affordable and rewarding its customers is very important now. I am glad to change carriers to save money.

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Yes, I've done it before switching. PM has the most affordable plans among all providers. Plus consider the opportunity not to pay for your plan at all due to rewards.