New Plans Explained

[kav2001c]

Lots of hate on new plans, not entirely sure why, but here are the comparisons to Chatr

AUTOPAY PLANS

Chatr $40, 2GB with autopay, Canada Wide Talk

Public $45 with autopay, 6GB, Canada Wide Talk

$5 extra for triple the data, better voice mail, no zones

Chatr $45, 4GB with autopay, Canada Wide Talk

Public $45 with autopay, 6GB Canada Wide Talk

Same price but more data, better voice mail, no zones

Chatr $50, 6GB with autopay, US Talk

Public $50 with autopay, 6GB, US Talk

Same price & data, better voice mail, no zones

NON AUTOPAY PLANS

Chatr $40, 1GB, Canada Wide Talk

Public $47, 6GB, Canada Wide Talk

 $7 extra for 6X the data, better voice mail, no zones. No closer comparison since Public does not offer lower data buckets

Chatr $45, 2GB, Canada Wide Talk

Public $47, 6GB, Canada Wide Talk
$2 extra for triple the data, better voice mail, no zones. No closer comparison since Public does not offer lower data buckets

Chatr $50, 4GB, US Talk

Public $52, 6GB, US Talk

$2 extra for 2 more GB, better voice mail, no zones. No closer comparison since Public does not offer lower data buckets

At EVERY SINGLE PRICE POINT Public Mobile has better value than Chatr, with or without autopay enrolement

The autopay difference on Chatr gives more full speed (3G) data, without it they have very limited use. Autopay on Public of course gives cheaper rates.

The only even remotely compelling reason to sign up with Chatr is if you are happy with 2G data service (as Chatr offers unlimited in zone data once 3G has been consumed)

*EDIT - Chatr does have 6 month account expiry vs Public 3 month account expiry, It was pointed out to me that people who infrequently need a prepay phone could take advantage of that or while travelling

*EDIT2 - Added non-autopay accounts for people who wanted to compare

So what exactly do you all hate on so badly?

*edit, adding in Koodo/Fido/Virgin comparisons for LTE

Koodo/Virgin $55, 1GB, Canada Wide Talk (limited to 500 mins)

Public $53, 1GB, Canada Wide Talk

Note the 2GB/4GB plans are cheaper on Koodo/Virgin/Fido as all are running bonus data promo right now

[Rockdaddy22]

I'm a little happier

[Luddite]

No; I hate promos and want great prices all the time! 

[kav2001c]

Well now the LTE plans also have bonus data so they are a better value than Koodo/Fido/Virgin

Is everyone happier now? 

[computergeek541]

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@WearySky wrote:
@computergeek541 - that's only prepaid customers. Postpaid Solo customers are remaining with Solo, so the brand zombies on a while longer yet.

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I do see that now near the top of that Bell page.  It's a little strange that those customers are being migrated to Bell instead of Virgin just based on pricing comparison.  I'm not sure why Solo would have any (or at least very little) prepaid customers left.  Similar to what Kav2001c was saying, long ago, Virgin Mobile improved some of the prepaid plans so that most Solo prepaid customers would have already switched to Virgin for better prepaid plan pricing. 

[kav2001c]

@computergeek541 Bell really abandoned Solo once they started making investments into Virgin but Solo still exists

Really the current plans are rotten though, unless you have a really old plan I can not see why anyone would stay with them

[WearySky]

@computergeek541 - that's only prepaid customers. Postpaid Solo customers are remaining with Solo, so the brand zombies on a while longer yet.

[computergeek541]

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@kav2001c wrote:

@mimmo Solo still exists, you just can not add new lines under them

Bell has abandoned Solo before so who knows

They are currently a lame duck brand really

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@mimmo wrote:

I thought i heard solo is being folded into bell or virgin

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The Solo brand will only exist for a few more days.  @mimmo  The announcement was previously made but it has not been done as of yet.  https://www.bell.ca/Mobility/Mobility-promotions/Solo-Migration

[Rockdaddy22]

I just want to see a fair comparison for people who can't qualify for autopay. Doesn't matter to me who looks better, just want to see how it plays out with autopay.

[kav2001c]

@Rockdaddy22 

Ok done

In most cases (to me) crippling the Chatr data actually makes plans look worse compared to Public's cash incentives but hey why not

[Rockdaddy22]

Then we need to compare both without easy pay credits/discounts. Not everyone, especially low income people have access to credit cards for autopay.

[kav2001c]

@Rockdaddy22 but remember, if we remove the autopay credits from Public plans you also would need to remove the data credits from Chatr plans (which skews results even further into Public's favour)

Most of the Chatr plans have double data with autopay enabled

The only one this makes no difference to is talk & text

[kav2001c]

@mimmo Solo still exists, you just can not add new lines under them

Bell has abandoned Solo before so who knows

They are currently a lame duck brand really

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@mimmo wrote:

I thought i heard solo is being folded into bell or virgin

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[kav2001c]

Added to initial post as it was pointed out correctly that Chatr plans have 6 month expiry dates vs Public plans 3 month expiry dates

[kav2001c]

@srlawren knowing the bug and fixing the bug are two very different things

As an example, I have accounts that require manual intervention every single month

Public knows what the issues are, they need to pay employees to fix same problem over and over again, and it still probably costs them less than fixing the code would

Telus/Koodo never had any throttle in place (ever) so this is not a simple task to code

Denying them access to LTE is probably alot easier than limiting speed on 3G network (and ensuring limit is in effect always; clients in east Canada like ON use Bell too)

Another funny bug (feature) that never got fixed was call forwarding

They knew about this since BETA days and it still works right

[srlawren]

@kav2001c if indeed it's a bug, I'm thinking this one might make it right to the top of the priority pile.  

The oracles have posed the question to Jeremy, we're waiting to hear back.  

[kav2001c]

@WearySky considering the multi-year bug list do not hold your breath 

It would be a fitting close to the joke if 3G plans stayed at the 21-42 range after the community screamed so loud though

[Rockdaddy22]

Exactly

[WearySky]

It is for now, but I'd still be wary of referring anybody unless it was confirmed to be permanent.

[Raven_Jet]

Alright, but if it was that 3G speed, we would still see tons of people jumping to PM.

[Rockdaddy22]

But it could be temporary, it's definitely not advertised

[Raven_Jet]

Thanks for confirming and explaining.

If it is that 3G, then it isn't bad at all!

[Rockdaddy22]

That's right, I'm confirming again 🙂

[WearySky]

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@Raven_Jet wrote:
I wonder if the 3G speed is equal to when I set my phone without LTE. I've never done a speed test but maybe I should with 3G. Anyone else have experience with this?

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In the link I pointed out above, it's been confirmed that those on the "3G data" plans can (for now) indeed get full HSPA+ speeds (ie, the speeds when you turn off LTE on your phone) if they turn off LTE.  But the caveat here is that it is working *now*, but might not work in future (it's unclear if PM plans to fix this workaround, or not).

[Raven_Jet]

I wonder if the 3G speed is equal to when I set my phone without LTE. I've never done a speed test but maybe I should with 3G. Anyone else have experience with this?

[WearySky]

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will13am wrote: 

3G is fine, but when they cripple speed to 2.5 mbit, that's terrible.  Full 3G can easily reach 15 mbit.  That's my experience with Rogers/Tbaytel data on my tablet.  

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Just an FYI - oracles have confirmed in another thread that if you actually connect to the 3G network on one of the 3G plans (as opposed to keeping your LTE connection up), it's not currently speed capped.  No idea if that's going to be a permanent thing or not, though.

[Rockdaddy22]

Yes of course

[Raven_Jet]

So LTE is way faster than this.

[WearySky]

@Raven_Jet it absolutely can (and faster!).  The theoretical max speed for HSPA+ is 168 Mbps, but most carriers have networks rated at a max of 21 or 42 Mbps (I believe Telus' network is a 42Mbps HSPA+ network).  Lots of folks sharing HSPA+ speed tests in this HoFo thread, though I think most of them are in the US:

http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1863631-Share-your-HSPA-Speed-Tests

[Raven_Jet]

Are you sure 3G can reach that speed? That must be theoretical.

[will13am]

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@kav2001c wrote:

@will13am 3G is not the end of the world seriously I know people who use 50MB or less just check a random webpage or email

Heck look at the nearly 1 million Freedom subs who made due with network issues for years

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3G is fine, but when they cripple speed to 2.5 mbit, that's terrible.  Full 3G can easily reach 15 mbit.  That's my experience with Rogers/Tbaytel data on my tablet.  

The problem with Wind was generally congestion that resulted latency having to be measured using a calendar.  Where congestion was not an issue, speeds were generally a lot better than 2.5 mbits when the data was flowing.