Text From PM About Changes To Manitoba Prepaid Network

[bluejaywpg]

I just received the following text now:

"Public Mobile here. As of March 16, 2021, our Prepaid network in Manitoba will be changing and select areas of Winnipeg and Brandon may experience reduced voice coverage. Data speeds will remain unaffected. In order to maintain the best voice coverage after March 16, 2021, changes will need to be made to your account. For more information, please call us at 1-866-975-3058. Free Public Mobile Msg"

Before I call this number, has anyone here heard anything related to this or what exactly this is about? What changes are we talking about???

[_Daniel_]

Thank You @Catherine_T for a more official statement... which in hindsight I imagine PM realizes should have been discussed openly in these forums first and created a foundation for a better and more customer service based text (to catch the outliers) that directed folks to the forums for full details and further discussion.

Given all the information, I am not interested in paying for reduced service/call quality when there is no eta on voLTE, nor am i interested in workarounds (fongo/forwarding) to hobble my way through the changes while paying for agreed to full services, nor am I interested in paying double/triple for services from koodo/telus for data i will never use (surrounded by wifi)... I use 3rd tier carriers for a reason.

I am fortunate in that i think my next billing cycle will end around March 15th... a perfectly aligned exit when service/calls are impacted by the decommissioned tower.

I've already mentioned earlier in this thread about considering PC Mobile (under Bell), and I'm pretty sure that's going to be what carries me forward; after calling and speaking to one of their support reps. According to some online searching today, Bell already decommissioned their 3G back in 2019... so they're far beyond the Telus growing pains thrust upon their MB customers this week and into the future.

While I will miss an active PM community, an awesome referral program, and other PM rewards/gifts... i will gain 4G HSPA+, an android app, a customer service number that I can call to speak to a support rep... and pay exactly the same base rate ($25) for the same unlimited canada calling, text, and 1G data plan... but upgraded to 4G already.

Perhaps Telus dropped this in PM's lap, and they are left to scramble/react like us MB customers are... and i hope that whatever the background situation is informs a future filled with good customer service/communication and lessons on how to treat your customer honestly and fairly while delivering on your promises/agreements... because this text stunt was definitely none of those things.

[Nezgar]

@BearFBI why would you need a dot mobile sim for data when public mobile LTE data will continue to work fine? I like luddites suggestion of setting conditional call forwarding so any incoming calls that are missed due to intermittent lack of 3G are diverted to an alternate service like Fongo or TextNow, which will then ring through to you over data...

Remember 3G isnt completely going away from what we've been told - just one of the 2 bands, which "may" cause more spotty coverage. Of course we won't really know the true impact until after the cutover, maybe the coverage will be just fine in reality / practical use.

[pdunk]

Thanks Luddite,

The stopgap solution, while effective, may for some prove to be too cumbersome and simply not worth the trouble when other prepaid options exist. 

Sadly the messaging reads like we're simply not important enough customers to TELUS for them to provide a robust, timely and painless solution to their service change. 

[BearFBI]

I'm going to add to what @totalUser said. If you have a second SIM slot I would consider creating a dotmobile account asap. Founding members get a 0$ talk and text plan when service launches. That can be used with your Public Mobile plan for data. 

Now in the meantime since dot isint out yet Voip apps are the only way to go. 

[Luddite]

Here's a stop gap solution until PM gets VoLTE up. Get the Fongo, or TExtNow, app and forward unanswered calls to that number. Those apps provide free calling on wifi AND cellular data, so set phone to Auto/LTE. 

No change in price and a hope for VoLTE on PM.

Further detail thanks to another member, but I've forgotten.

"I set my missed unavailable and ignored calls to go to fongo and I set fongo to ring only once. I also set fongo to email me copy of all messages.

When they leave the message I can dial 1 in fongo app to hear it, or i can just click on it in voicemail inbox, or listen to it from my email.

Now I also use it to convert all my calls info free incoming calls.

I call my cell using fongo and I answer, then in fongo I hit transfer and select/key in the number i wish to call. At that point fongo disconnects and pushes my cellphone conversation to the destination number so that it seems like my cell is calling the destination number."

[totalUser]

This is not nice at all

For those of you who don't want to give up your account i would suggest forwarding to free Fongo or TextNow number.

Sms and data will not be affected.

Let's hope it doesn't take too long before they figure it all out.

Those who have two sim could get away with a temporary side service on the second sim

[Luddite]

@Great_Big_Abyss  The service change is more likely to be spotty service as, perhaps, only 1 of the 3G frequencies in Manitoba is being repurposed now. There are already a few locations elsewhere popping up that have only LTE service.

[Nezgar]

Catherine indicated "Only certain Hz bands will be changing, which will impact the quality of voice calling and service."

I think this suggests one of either the 850Mhz or 1900Mhz 3G bands are being shutdown. So there still might be 3G service, but depending on signal range it may be more spotty. 850mHz is better at building penetration, so maybe that's the band thats going.

[BearFBI]

I mean this isint Publuc Mobile's fault. Its a Telus decision. The only solution is VoLTE and as Catherine mentioned it isn't easy to Implement. 

I'm glad Public Mobile has communicated with us about the possibility of VoLTE in the future and about this whole situation. 

Now this is a crappy situation but Telus is the one to blame here. Totally not cool Telus. 

Now the only thing that needs clarification is this "after March 16, 2021, changes will need to be made to your account" Exactly what changes will need to be made ?

@Catherine_T can you clarify ?

[pdunk]

Great_Big_Abyss,

With only a vague, nebulous description of the change, it can be inferred that TELUS:

a) doesn't know all the details yet (which if true is very, very shoddy) or,

b) does know the details (including affected bands/towers/affected geographies within Winnipeg and Brandon) but would rather keep messaging statements vague and purposely destabilising, in order to fear and motivate customers into migrating and paying more/higher ARPU. 

Either way, it's a clear signal as to what TELUS thinks of us as customers. 

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Ahh, this is BS.  NO, it's not great that it's on the roadmap for PM, especially when they're not specifying what the timeline is.  In the meantime move over to Postpaid with Koodo and Telus?  Ya right.  I don't want to go on any sort of contract, and the whole reason I moved to PM is because I was looking for a cheap, no-frills plan.  PM filled the need for me, and filled it very well.  I was extremely pleased with my PM service (for both my wife and I). 

But THIS?  THIS is maddening.  Obviously if we don't have voice service, it defeats the point of paying for a phone plan.  And saying 'only affects customers in Brandon and Winnipeg'?  Seriously?  Those are the two biggest cities.  The population of Winnipeg and Brandon combined is basically 3/4 of the entire province's population.  It's not like you're cutting service in some small backwater. 

If this is seriously the direction they're going, I'm definitely not supporting Telus any further, you can count on that.  I'll move my wife and I over to some other low budget cell phone plan.  It sucks that we'll lose the free data that we've accumulated over the last couple of years, and yea, not having the rewards from the people I helped sign up will also suck.  But I'm also not going to go to Telus and get ***** in the **** while paying $60-$70/month for a cell phone plan that I don't need.

So pissed off right now.

EDIT:  Reread the moderator's post.  Just wondering what this means:

Only customers in Winnipeg and Brandon will be impacted. Only certain Hz bands will be changing, which will impact the quality of voice calling and service. Data speeds will remain unchanged. 

Does this mean that we'll still have voice service, but it will be at reduced quality?  I'd be willing to put up with reduced quality.

[CFPartDeux]

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@bluejaywpg wrote:

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@CFPartDeux wrote:

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@Great_Big_Abyss wrote:

I also received the text, and live in the Winnipeg area.

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And hang out on the HWC forums, perhaps!? 😉 😁

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What is HWC?

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Hardware Canucks: https://hardwarecanucks.com/ 

[derrickhugh]

So if the suggestion from Telus is "In the meantime, we strongly suggest impacted customers move to Koodo or TELUS postpaid and make sure they have a VoLTE compatible device.".. then why is the Public Mobile site still offing plans in Manitoba? 

If an unsuspecting customer signed up today would they get the surprise in a month when their service may or may not work?

[Nezgar]

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@bluejaywpg wrote:

What is HWC?

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Hot Wheels Collectors of course... 🤣

[Nezgar]

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@Catherine_T wrote:

At this time, Public Mobile does not support VoLTE. We are looking into enabling it

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Well if anything, this is great to hear it's on the roadmap for Public Mobile! Thanks very much for reaching out and updating the community.

[bluejaywpg]

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@CFPartDeux wrote:

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@Great_Big_Abyss wrote:

I also received the text, and live in the Winnipeg area.

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And hang out on the HWC forums, perhaps!? 😉 😁

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What is HWC?

[Catherine_T · Accepted solution]

Hey Community, 

Hoping to help clarify some questions around the HSPA changes happening in Winnipeg and Brandon, Manitoba on March 16, 2021. 

What is the impact?

Only customers in Winnipeg and Brandon will be impacted. Only certain Hz bands will be changing, which will impact the quality of voice calling and service. Data speeds will remain unchanged. 

What should impacted customers do?

This is a TELUS wide change. At this time, Public Mobile does not support VoLTE. We are looking into enabling it; however, this is not an easy solution to turn on and launch timing is unclear. In the meantime, we strongly suggest impacted customers move to Koodo or TELUS postpaid and make sure they have a VoLTE compatible device.

Impacted customers in Manitoba can contact 1-866-975-3058 for support on plan changes.

Why is TELUS migrating from HSPA to VoLTE?

With VoLTE customers will get:

• Superior network experience
• Simultaneous use of voice and LTE data
• High definition sound quality when calling another VoLTE-enabled device
• Faster call setup time

For more information on what VoLTE is, you can visit the following article from our friends at TELUS.

Edited Feb 8, 2021. 

[Nezgar]

Here's a post from Brandon about a similar text received on Dec 24, 2020, so this campaign actually started over a month ago!

https://ebrandon.ca/messagethread.aspx?message_id=1065581&cat_id=232

Can't find it now, maybe it was on a RedFlagDeals thread, that it's because in Most of Manitoba Telus uses Bell towers, but Telus has their own towers in Brandon and Winnipeg. I it might just be the repurposing of one of the two 3G bands (850 & 1900Mhz) to LTE, so the other one will stay, or the phone will have to use a Bell/MTS tower for that afterwards...

[CFPartDeux]

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@PCW wrote:

I don't want to derail this thread but chatr is only on the 3G network. There is no LTE I believe. I know a few people on chatr, and their phones never show 4G. 

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As per what @BearFBI  said, the phone in my hand right now, which is on Chatr, under "SIM status", says, "Mobile voice network type - LTE", and "Mobile data network type - LTE".

[CFPartDeux]

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@Great_Big_Abyss wrote:

Haha, yes, good eye.

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Well, it's not like that username is exactly..... common! 😁

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Haha, yes, good eye.

[CFPartDeux]

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@Great_Big_Abyss wrote:

I also received the text, and live in the Winnipeg area.

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And hang out on the HWC forums, perhaps!? 😉 😁

[gpixel]

I'm curious to see what happens with people with bad credit... I think pms only option will be to add volte 

[pdunk]

Hello,

A Moderator has been requested more than once to provide information about this yet with no response as of yet?

@Catherine_T or any other Moderator can you please assist?

[kav2001c]

I feel like this is a marketing scam to get migrations to Koodo or even Telus

Even (assuming for a second) Public shuts down in the province, you would simply roam on another network

So long as they show you have coverage they have to offer coverage

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/coverage

Roaming would cost them more I am sure though and removing that makes Public map look less than competitors (eg Chatr / Lucky) and would cost them biz in long term

[Dtack]

I will wait until after March 16 to see how it actually affects us, and then make a more informed decision....nevertheless...not great news!

[BearFBI]

@bluejaywpg I 100% agree with you. The only way to get affordable cell service in Canada is if you sacrifice speed and features. We have no ESIM, Worse spam call detection, 3G voice network, No WiFi calling, no selfserve app, we don't even have a mobile friendly selfserve site, no unlimited data, no smartwatch or tablet plans. The list goes on. Heck half of these tradeoffs are only with Public Mobile. Lucky mobile has unlimited data. 

Also believe it or not we actually have a talk limit calls will drop after 2 hours. This has been talked about many times in the fourm. Its absolutely BS. What if your on hold with the credit card company and by the time you finnaly make it the call drops. Koodo and Telus's call cutoff is like 5 hours. 

For the price vs features I think the base prices are a little much. 

[bluejaywpg]

@computergeek541 if this is a company's way of trying to get more money out of their customers (by forcing them to either buy a new device or sign up with their more expensive plans), then that is absolute garbage. Especially when one considers that Canadians pay for possibly the most expensive cell service in the world & in return we get crappy service or have to sacrifice something (such as 3G speeds) when other countries' residents & travelers get full cell service for the same or better prices.

I will forever lament that in Australia, 2 years ago, with about the same population density as Canada, I was able to get a month of 4G service for $30-35 with unlimited calling & texting nationwide, along with 5 GB of data, & it included a 30 GB data bonus! On the other hand, here in Canada, $35 will get you unlimited calling / texting nationwide a mere 2 GB of 3G data. The only bonus I've seen in my almost 1 year with PM is our 2 GB Christmas gift.

Peanuts by comparison. They should be giving back to us, not extracting more from us for the same crappy service!!!

[computergeek541]

@BearFBI 

At the moment, I do not believe that Public Mobile has the luxury of being able to raise plan prices. The current price plans have seriously fallen behind the competition, even when compared internally to some offers within the Telus family.

[BearFBI]

@PCW Chatr switched to LTE a while ago. The 5$ price increase is rather interesting.VoLTE might be in the works for them and who knows mabey even a increased throttle rate. But a 5$ increase for that is ridiculous. Cell service shouldn't be a luxury but a necessity. 

As for Public Mobile. I dont think they would increase the price of our plans. If they did I sure hope it dosent affect the grandfatherd plans.

This 3rd teir part of the cell industry is a mess all of a sudden.