Switching from 90-day plan to one of the new plans?

[thisislinh]

I've been on the old 90-day plan (6GB at 4G LTE Speed) and looking for a cheaper plan. Just checked the new plan page and I'm totally confused. Correct me if I'm wrong but PM has now completely stopped offering LTE plan? Other than the $30 one with only data and neither text nor talk. If I want to have a plan with LTE speed, what option do I have now? In worst case where it doesn't exist anymore, how is everyone's experience with 3GB speed by PM? I'm located in downtown Toronto.

Thanks for any help!

[Korth]

Basic Talk and Text prices do seem to be gradually inflating. If you're interested in downscaling to the $15 Limited plan (plus add-on minutes) or to the $25 Unlimited plan then it would be prudent to do it before they suddenly vanish.

If you're still on a grandfathered legacy plan and/or a juicy promo plan then it's only worth upgrading to a current plan if it's a clear upgrade path in every detail. If there's muddy tradeoffs then maybe wait it out, better offers will eventually appear.

I use "unlimited" broadband data (or even "free" WiFi data) for downloading/transferring content to my mobile device, far far faster (and cheaper, and even more secure) than cellular data could ever hope to be. So I can enjoy hours of reading or HD audio or HD video (or "2.5K" video, best my mobile display will do) without buying premium cellular plans. Public Mobile's 3000kbps "3G" data (with 4G response/latency) is easily adequate or overkill for all my mobile (voice-over-data, text-over-data, websurfing, and GPS navigation) needs.

I suppose fast 4G/LTE (or 5G) is unavoidably necessary for some. But I suspect the majority of people who demand it are buying what marketing sells and are unwilling/unable to change their data habits.

[darlicious]

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@will13am wrote:

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@darlicious wrote:

@thisislinh  I'm with @will13am  on this one. If your not running out of data and you enjoy your data speed.....and switching to the $40 plan only nets you extra data that you may not really need and no cost savings. Stay with your plan and wait and see if pm finally shakes up the data plan abyss between $25 and $40 plans. (The $35 is a rip off!) Pm is long overdue for 2gb -3.5gb plans priced between $30 and $35. Consider a change then when you may gain a little data and save a little money.

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The huge gap in plan offering is by consensus.  Recall that we don't have competition in this country.  Look at the 'competing brands', same plan lineup.  In a healthy competititve marketplace, this would represent an opportunity.  In a monopoly situation it is by 'consensus'.  

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@will13am  Its public mobiles loss....i can't justify staying on the $40 plan once my promo is over. I don't need the data. Last month I used less than 10% of my allotment. But I'm quite comfortable paying $30-rewards. If I could get 2gb for that I would be quite happy staying there. But instead i was going to switch to the $25 but with my addons im going to test out the $15 instead...now public mobiles out $15. Worse yet for them that puts me well into credit.

     Guaranteed there's plenty of customers out there that would be comfortable at that price point with that amount of data. ( I would still only use 1gb at most)  whether they use it or not it's nice to have a cushion. But if you offer nothing you get nothing. I bet a good percentage will say screw it .....ill just save my money then and get by on the minimum. And spend my money elsewhere on something I want. That's just shy of a full month of camping fees at the lake ($180 savings over a year)  thats an easy choice for me.

[will13am]

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@darlicious wrote:

@thisislinh  I'm with @will13am  on this one. If your not running out of data and you enjoy your data speed.....and switching to the $40 plan only nets you extra data that you may not really need and no cost savings. Stay with your plan and wait and see if pm finally shakes up the data plan abyss between $25 and $40 plans. (The $35 is a rip off!) Pm is long overdue for 2gb -3.5gb plans priced between $30 and $35. Consider a change then when you may gain a little data and save a little money.

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The huge gap in plan offering is by consensus.  Recall that we don't have competition in this country.  Look at the 'competing brands', same plan lineup.  In a healthy competititve marketplace, this would represent an opportunity.  In a monopoly situation it is by 'consensus'.  

[thisislinh]

I'm much more convinced now that I'm better off with the current plan. The saving is only more or less $5 but at the trade-off of the LTE - not really worth it I guess. @darlicious totally right, let's just hope it won't be long until PM introduces more plans for 2-3GB 🙂

Thank you all for your inputs!

[darlicious · Accepted solution]

@thisislinh  I'm with @will13am  on this one. If your not running out of data and you enjoy your data speed.....and switching to the $40 plan only nets you extra data that you may not really need and no cost savings. Stay with your plan and wait and see if pm finally shakes up the data plan abyss between $25 and $40 plans. (The $35 is a rip off!) Pm is long overdue for 2gb -3.5gb plans priced between $30 and $35. Consider a change then when you may gain a little data and save a little money.

[CannonFodder]

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@thisislinh wrote:

I never really checked my exact usage. With my current plan usually I got the "You have used 75% of the data" about 2 weeks before the end of the 3rd month, but that varies too. Last cycle I used up 75% just after 2 months.

Kind of a tough call, but as previously mentioned, you'll just to weight the options of use case scenario vs. cost savings.

The $40/5GB seems like the only option if I decide to switch. I do not have the habit of watching youtube or online videos in general when I'm on the go/outside without wifi. If there is any, might be those I come across on Facebook, l mostly need a decent speed for emails, Slack, Google Maps & TTC app lol so like some of you mentioned, probably speed is not a big issue then?

Well, I can't speak about the FB vids, although I expect most of 'em aren't too high quality. As for speed requirements for Slack, Google Maps & TTC, I'd think that accessing Google maps ought to be fine, but the other two I have zero idea. Email..... you don't need much speed for that.

I initially considered jumping over to Freedom but I heard their reception is not so reliable so...

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Other than @darlicious 's post on the topic, yesterday, I've heard very little firsthand info about that, BUT a quick look at their coverage map can be somewhat revealing. Yes, some of their plans are attractive, but the potential for even crappier cell reception is not attractive at all. Personally, I'd consider them once their network can cover more ground.

[will13am]

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@thisislinh wrote:

Thanks so much guys for sharing your thoughts!

I never really checked my exact usage. With my current plan usually I got the "You have used 75% of the data" about 2 weeks before the end of the 3rd month, but that varies too. Last cycle I used up 75% just after 2 months.

The $40/5GB seems like the only option if I decide to switch. I do not have the habit of watching youtube or online videos in general when I'm on the go/outside without wifi. If there is any, might be those I come across on Facebook, l mostly need a decent speed for emails, Slack, Google Maps & TTC app lol so like some of you mentioned, probably speed is not a big issue then?

I initially considered jumping over to Freedom but I heard their reception is not so reliable so...

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Freedom coverage remains very iffy.  There are lots of coveage holes still.  Depending if you are lucky to be near towers, you might find youself not having signal particularly indoors.  Stick with what works.  It also sounds like your current plan still meets the needs.  If you are not getting the 90% usage notifications regularly, the existing plan is satisfying the needs.  I kept my LTE plan for the speed as well.  I do pure downloads from time to time.  LTE lite won't cut it.  

[thisislinh]

Thanks so much guys for sharing your thoughts!

I never really checked my exact usage. With my current plan usually I got the "You have used 75% of the data" about 2 weeks before the end of the 3rd month, but that varies too. Last cycle I used up 75% just after 2 months.

The $40/5GB seems like the only option if I decide to switch. I do not have the habit of watching youtube or online videos in general when I'm on the go/outside without wifi. If there is any, might be those I come across on Facebook, l mostly need a decent speed for emails, Slack, Google Maps & TTC app lol so like some of you mentioned, probably speed is not a big issue then?

I initially considered jumping over to Freedom but I heard their reception is not so reliable so...

[will13am]

@thisislinh , does the 6GB data still meet the needs?  Is province wide calling sufficient?  If the answer is yes to both, then maybe make no changes and stay on the current plan.  The new plan at $40/5GB will drop you to LTE capped at 3 Mbits/s.  The extra data is enticing but if not needed, then it is not worth anything.  From a price perspective, you are not saving anything.  Decision is pretty much a needs analysis.  BTW, I am sticking to my legacy full speed LTE plan also.  

[ShawnC13]

@thisislinh , the key thing to remember is you still have an LTE connection it is just capped at 3G speeds.  Think of it as LTE lite.  For everyday use, you won't notice a difference or have any issues.  If you are streaming 4K videos or gaming then you would probably not want the capped speed.

[Triguy]

There are no more plans with 4G except the $30 1GB add-on.  Most people will not notice any difference using 3G.  If you stream 4 K video or high quality music then you might notice a difference.

[AE_Collector]

You are correct, no more LTE plans available at PM. Your only LTE option is to stay put. However, most barely notice (if at all) a difference switching to throttled LTE that sort of resembles 3G. I switched from TELUS LTE to PM 3G and couldn't tell the difference at all in what I do online.

AE_Collector