If I do this is it cheating?
https://publicmobile.ca/en/sk/why-public
However, to add to the comment regarding "Tiered providers":
The cost of phone/web support staff aside Tier 1 (let's say Telus) will offer to sell you (at their fancy Mall location) the latest and greatest phone (subsidised on a contract for an additional monthly fee) with an unlimited data usage plan (High-speed bucket, then you get throttled) on 5G towers in addition to extensive roaming packs (They are Pay-per-use so don't effect monthly but PM offers US only and some american carriers may refuse 3G/HSPA connections which we mostly use until recently as 4G plans are now offered) THAT premium coverage/service and cutting edge tech makes for a LOT of red on the bottom line. When 4G was launched a certain carrier that shall not be named spent over CDN$1B just laying down the foundations in the inital launch cities over a 6 month period. Their customers paid for that and for us right now, Telus is just leaving up the old gear for us to use if we want to 🙂
Really the huge change in price from T3 to T2 to T1 is the phone. They do NOT get those things for free and in the case of Apple, they don't even get a discount for buying in bulk. They are just playing banker and making loans on phones.
Bring your own phone or buy Certified Pre-owned = Affordable Service.
