Telus is Canada's Fastest Mobile Network. Freedom: The One to Watch

[Michael77]

Interesting article by PCMag. Telus is mentioned as the fastest mobile network, Freedom Mobile is the one to watch for and Canada's networks can handle unlimited plans just like the US.

https://www.pcmag.com/article/348825/fastest-mobile-networks-canada-2017

[jayjay]

It's about profit not service,get unlimited data in south east Asia,

$14/month.same hardware same cost to the company.

same plan here? Probably upwards $200,rogers have some 100gig/unlimited plans in that park.

better to go across the line and get big data plan and run with a US number that has a canuck user partner

[taylor7787]

I still can’t believe they said their customers didn’t want unlimited. And further to why everyone here is saying any unlimited plans I have seen do have a ‘fair useage’ policy where after 10-15 GB per month you then are throttled. They are not true unrestricted. I also am not sure if people hogging the network and slowing it down is an excuse. I live in the country and recently got the telus LTE hub for internet. It has a SIM card and 500 GB of data for 75 per month. Riddle me that. 

[jeffster1970]

That whole response that Canadians don't want unlimited data is ridiculous. 

Perhaps they ask "Would you pay $500/month for unlimited data?" No..Canadians wouldn't. 

Would we pay $40-$80/line for unlimited...hell yeah

[mtfolks]

I'm okay with not having unlimited data plans at this point. There may come a time in the future when there's a benefit for me but at this point I don't see one. It's all good and well to say it should be unlimited like voice calling but the reality is that telcoms DO struggle with congestion issues. I've worked on the cable side of things and I'm guessing cellular probably struggles with the same issues.

Data caps aren't a bad thing in so much as they do affect behaviour and discourage people from wasteful use that only contributes to congestion. The real issue is whether or not those data caps are reasonable and priced fairly. I think the argument that the Big 3 gouge is a fair one. 

If it's a choice between solid connection and fast speeds or unlimited data and congestion related speed issues (I'm not saying it is but for argument sake), I'd take the former over the latter.

[CalvinW]

It really depends on your location, my speeds are not too great TBH

[will13am]

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@kav2001c wrote:

@will13am is $80 USD for T-Mobile really enticing? Over $100 CAD and you are limited to low quality streaming, no hardware subsidy, and not being able to tether (oh wait unless you count 3G speeds)

Even SIMs cost way more...

Don't forget to add in terrible customer service, terrible port management, and poor voice quality.

Fot that price I would be far happier (and cheaper) getting a 15GB Telus LTE plan

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@will13am wrote:

I think what Telus is saying is that customers do not want unlimited data because of the cost of such a plan amounts to making a ransom payment every month. 

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@kav2001c, did I say that T-Mobile offers a competitively priced unlimited plan?  I was merely speaking to the fact that Canadian carriers price bandwidth like precious metal.  When that happens, the appetite for large bandwidth plans disappears.  It is out of context for Telus to go and say well the uptake for high bandwidth plans is really low and so it follows customers don't want it. 

[kav2001c]

@will13am is $80 USD for T-Mobile really enticing? Over $100 CAD and you are limited to low quality streaming, no hardware subsidy, and not being able to tether (oh wait unless you count 3G speeds)

Even SIMs cost way more...

Don't forget to add in terrible customer service, terrible port management, and poor voice quality.

Fot that price I would be far happier (and cheaper) getting a 15GB Telus LTE plan

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@will13am wrote:

I think what Telus is saying is that customers do not want unlimited data because of the cost of such a plan amounts to making a ransom payment every month. 

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[kav2001c]

Most people do not want unlimited (or think they want unlimited without understanding consequences)

Unlimited is very seriously abused by a small percentage of the carriers subscribers (probably in the 1% range) and cripples speeds of people stuck in same area as them

A far better compromise is a MUCH LARGER data cap (10 to 15GB is plenty for today), or (as Public offers) no overages. Turn the lights out once you hit your cap.

The reason most people scream for "unlimited data" is that many people get raked over the coals ($7 per 100MB) that one month when they actually do go over

The US is a mess if you have ever used any of their services (I notice even the article mentions this) but AT&T is the *only* reliable carrier close to my border. T-Mobile & Sprint are god awful and Verizon is far behind.

Don't even get into how garbage most of the MVNOs are (I am sure many Americans would have similar arguments against Public, think how much hassle it would be if you visit Canada for a week, bought a Public SIM, and had an issue)

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@closng wrote:

I am surprised to hear that Telus' survey indicated that people do not want unlimited data, I mean...who doesn't?!?!?

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[Michael77]

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@Taekgun wrote:

@Michael77

I have posted about this in the past, but this is as good a thread as any to give this information.

I have a family member who for years worked in the telecommunications sector and he always told me that the excuse that our networks in Canada could not support Unlimited Plans, that being the reason they're not offered, was a load of crap.

Canada has a world-class network (a fact that the Big 3 and the CRTC like to throw out there from time to time) and it has for years been able to handle this level of usage by customers - the capacity is very much there.

@Taekgun, that's what I thought.

[Taekgun]

@Michael77

I have posted about this in the past, but this is as good a thread as any to give this information.

I have a family member who for years worked in the telecommunications sector and he always told me that the excuse that our networks in Canada could not support Unlimited Plans, that being the reason they're not offered, was a load of crap.

Canada has a world-class network (a fact that the Big 3 and the CRTC like to throw out there from time to time) and it has for years been able to handle this level of usage by customers - the capacity is very much there.

[taylor7787]

150 dollars is not far off for telus as pricing currently is. Right now for the new iPhone the plan minimums are 95 dollars, through telus the cost is 121 dollars per month what I get through PM for 60ish

[Michael77]

@Taekgun, I agree.

If Freedom Mobile can have unlimited plans with throttling, then so can the rest of the carriers.

[Taekgun · Accepted solution]

@taylor7787

That's an interesting statement from Telus on Unlimited Data Plans.  I would bet that the "answers" they got very much depended on how they asked the question - something to the effect of "would you be interested in unlimited data at $150 per line per month?"  Of course most if not all of us would say NO to that pricing.  If the pricing was reasonable, even if there was throttling after a set amount of GBs, it is very much something that I think all Canadians would be interested in. 

If Freedom would become the "T-Mobile of the North" with unlimited data plans, it would create a HUGE amount of pressure on the Big 3 to start rethinking how price plans a structure with data allotments and cost - hopefully bringing sky-high prices down to earth in the country.

EDIT: Many people don't go over their data plans because they sorce data elsewhere (Wi-Fi at via internet at home or the office, public Wi-Fi, etc...), I know I do.  But if data were unlimited I would dump my home Internet.

[taylor7787]

The issue I had with that all started from a trip to florida recently

I picked up a sim from a t-mobile reseller that offered unlimited voice and data in continental north america for 40ish USD if i remember correctly. Could have been 50. But when i got back to canada i noticed that it ran on the telus network. There were no restrictions stating that you had to be in USA 50% of the time like t-mobile has or anything like that so i could be on unlimited in canada on telus network from a foreign company but that is not something telus will offer their own customers? I asked the telus rep how it could be that they give FOREIGN CUSTOMERS BETTER DEALS THAN THEIR OWN CUSTOMERS - They unfortunately could not provide an answer to that and became very standoffish. 

Perhaps someone here will know how that is possible?

[Michael77]

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@will13am wrote:

I think what Telus is saying is that customers do not want unlimited data because of the cost of such a plan amounts to making a ransom payment every month. 

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@will13am, makes sense.  But if you ask me, there shouldn't be a link between the cost of a plan and the amount of data you get. Data should just be unlimited just like phone calls.

[xCameron94x]

that honestly really depends. Remember, we can say (just hypothesizing) most people do not know what an unlocked phone is, or the benefits of one. They dont want to pay it up all on one go, or know how to shop around for an unlocked phone, that the reatilers (Rogers, Bell), so they are stuck paying more in phone bills.

Not everyone truly needs an unlimited plan. I barely use 12GB over my 90 day plan. I maybe use 50%-70% of my data allowance. Im sure more people would want to pay less, knowing they dont go over x amount ever, than pay more. Then you have to weigh in network congestion and how that will affect some users. Plus think how much they will charge for that, given what our prices currently are. 

[will13am]

I think what Telus is saying is that customers do not want unlimited data because of the cost of such a plan amounts to making a ransom payment every month. 

[closng]

I am surprised to hear that Telus' survey indicated that people do not want unlimited data, I mean...who doesn't?!?!?

[taylor7787]

I recently moved both my wife and myself from telus to public mobile, when telus asked what they can do to keep us as customers i told them i would like unlimited data or a lot more than the currently 4 gb that my wife and i shared. They said unlimited data is not something they offer nor is it something they are working on. They actually told me they surveyed current customers and unlimited data is something customers DO NOT WANT. 

I told them as a telus customer that unlimited data is most certainly something everyone wants. Hopefully we see unlimited data plans in the near future that creates some more competition in canada