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text: my service will degrade in 2 days, please join Koodo

Sam-I-Am
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

Hi, I'm mystified by a text I just received from Public Mobile. Due to "upgrades" my connectivity will be degraded after Feb 20 (in two days??). They're offering to give me a used iphone and a switch to Koodo.

How do I interpret this? Are they saying my service on my particular device will be permanently degraded due to upgrades? (It doesn't say the issue will be temporary.) Why are they trying to get me to go to another company?

Why two days notice? I've got hospital stuff coming up. 

I was having real problems accessing cellular data yesterday.

 

edited by computergeek541: profanity removed - customers are not to use creative spelling, abbreviations, etc. to get around the swear word filter

98 REPLIES 98

GPs4evr
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

That's just an ignorant thing to say. You have no idea how much I pay or what I pay for. This is not about willingness or unwillingness to pay. I pay for a service and I expect to get that service. Public mobile has always advertised itself as a "Bring your own phone" company that doesn't offer phone support, which is fine for me. My phone was always capable of being on this network. I paid a lot of money for my phone.  In fact for a few dollars more I could go to Bell, Telus,or Rogers and get an even better plan but the issue with VoLTE will still exist because it has to do with the phone manufacturer and the networks adding the phones to the compatibility list.


@GPs4evr wrote:

That's irrelevant. A network should not be restricting your phone from being able to make phone calls and texts if you pay for that service and your phone is fully compatible with their network.  After all that's the most basic of services is to be able to make phone call with your phone or a text with your phone.


hi @GPs4evr 

Relevant or not, I was providing fact.  Technology can do it does not mean you can get it free.  There are different level of carriers and they have different level of service.  So, if you want a network with no restrictions, open the wallet and you will get the latest and greatest of what available on the market

GPs4evr
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Exactly. I've got the same type of answer.  It took a month to get a straight answer.

"We definitely understand how important it is to guarantee your service will always work, and keep connected.

To set up the right expectations, making a device VoLTE compatible is not something we can control, as much as we would love. 

We understand and agree you are being completely reasonable about your request. We would have done that the first time you requested it, however we cannot remove or add a device to a whitelist to support VoLTE.

Right now, the device used is not compatible with our VoLTE feature, and regardless of how much we want to guarantee this will be changed, updated, added right now, in two months or 1 year, we are sorry to inform this is not possible. 

Here are some things to consider, if you are not currently experiencing issues with your service, we recommend continue using it as usual.

If you encounter any issue while traveling, let us know to troubleshoot and diagnose. 

If the device will not support VoLTE, but it is needed, you can consider getting a new device. We are offering the following: ...."

He went on to suggest a bunch of different phones I could purchase at "Mobile Klinik" which were all iPhones and Samsung. 

I have no intention of buying a new phone considering I have a very good phone that is fully compatible with their network and was only purchased in 2022. I spent good money on my phone and I'm not about to trash it and go buy a new phone.  This is completely ridiculous and unacceptable. I am going to file a complaint with the CCTS and pursue this matter by any other means necessary. 

The Canadian public needs to know what these mobile companies are doing. I encourage all of you to pursue complaints as well. Speak to your local politicians, contact the media etc. If anybody has any ideas about any laws they're breaking, I would love to hear. (i.e. consumer rights).

Thank you.

GPs4evr
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

That's irrelevant. A network should not be restricting your phone from being able to make phone calls and texts if you pay for that service and your phone is fully compatible with their network.  After all that's the most basic of services is to be able to make phone call with your phone or a text with your phone.

hi @A_O you have to understand this is Tier 3 carrier with Telus brand.  You are paying less and hence it is normal to get less service back.  Like you don't expect getting the same from Loblaws vs No Frills.  Each mobile brand have the same Tier 2 and Tier 3 and they offer according to the tier

A_O
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

@Sam-I-Am wrote:

Latest. Basically get lost  and go to Koodo folks:

"There is no way for us to enable it for certain devices since It is already set. Not even technical support can do it. We can just inform you about the time, dates and how to enable it in case It is possible. We would recommend you to get in contact with Koodo Postpaid to check the offers they have. "


Both Koodo and PM are Telus brands.
That answer boils down to "there is no technical reason for the limitation, we just want you to pay us more"

A_O
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

@golfball wrote:

Public Mobile does not fully support devices that no longer receive software updates. As a result, Samsung Galaxy S21 FE or newer is required for VoLTE. You will (at some point) need to get a new phone or change carriers due to 3G decommissioning.


With all due respect, this is bull!

PM is a subsidiary of Telus, as is Koodo, and they both use the Telus network.  A phone is either capable of VoLTE on the network or it is not, there's nothing more to it.  Artificially restricting access to the latest phones on a provider that ostensibly appeals to price-conscious users is a scatological move.

 

GPs4evr
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

I contacted PM and was told that their compatibility tool (aka phones on the "whitelist") is not up to date. The CSR said if the phone is capable of VoLTE, it should work but that they "do not have a way to know if the phone will be full compatible even though appears on the list,  until it is tested on the network."

 

I did make it clear to them that even if a phone is compatible with their network bandwidths and capable of VoLTE, the phones have to be enabled on their network for VoLTE to work. So we will see what happens.,

 

I wouldn't rush off to change anything at this time if you know your phone is capable of VoLTE. If you have issues after their test period, then reach out to PM again and tell them you want your VoLTE capable phone added to their network.

golfball
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

@computergeek541 wrote:

@golfball wrote:

Public Mobile does not fully support devices that no longer receive software updates. As a result, Samsung Galaxy S21 FE or newer is required for VoLTE. You will (at some point) need to get a new phone or change carriers due to 3G decommissioning.


The model SM-G781W (Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G) has worked on VoLTE since Public Mobile implemented VoLTE.


Interesting, I had heard someone say they couldn't get it to work on their S20 FE. Maybe it's only some models or there was a change.


@golfball wrote:

Public Mobile does not fully support devices that no longer receive software updates. As a result, Samsung Galaxy S21 FE or newer is required for VoLTE. You will (at some point) need to get a new phone or change carriers due to 3G decommissioning.


The model SM-G781W (Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G) has worked on VoLTE since Public Mobile implemented VoLTE.

sheytoon
Mayor / Maire

It'll be just like Winnipeg, where everyone was initially freaking out but 99% of people didn't even notice.

A small number of people who have poor 3G coverage will notice. Most people should still be able to use 3G 1900 MHz.

hi @sheytoon 

if the area has only 1900 for 3G now and my phone has 1900 (but not VoLTE whitelisted), do you think voice calls will still be stable?  or pretty much same even the 850 has been removed?

sheytoon
Mayor / Maire

3G will remain on 1900 MHz for many more years to come. This change will just reduce the 3G footprint due to 850 MHz going away.

golfball
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

Public Mobile does not fully support devices that no longer receive software updates. As a result, Samsung Galaxy S21 FE or newer is required for VoLTE. You will (at some point) need to get a new phone or change carriers due to 3G decommissioning.

Gregory281
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Hi Sandra, please confirm that my Samsung Galaxy SM-A715W will still work when you drop 3g 850?

sheytoon
Mayor / Maire

So Bell has not moved 3G 850 MHz to LTE yet, but they may do so now that Telus has. I haven't heard of a date, but it might happen in Toronto. It's definitely not in February.

@Sam-I-Am 

from @sheytoon comment, because Telus is only using Bell's tower in GTA and Bell has no plan on this yet, so GTA won't be affected

@sheytoon  can you confirm?

Sam-I-Am
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

I'm looking into Freedom Mobile. According to their site my phone is compatible. You could see if they cover your area.

Sam-I-Am
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

Sounds like they are shutting down 3G in Toronto.

@Sam-I-Am   Is there some way of finding what carriers support what phone for what

The link to check Rogers for compatibility is here (I assume it would include their lower tier brands, Fido and Chatr (and presumably any other carrier that uses Rogers' network?):

https://www.rogers.com/support/mobility/rogers-3g-hspa-networks-are-being-retired 

You would have to look on their sites for other carriers.  The only other one I know of that gives a VoLTE compatible list is Fizz, list  here

https://fizz.ca/en/faq/compatible-devices 

 

sheytoon
Mayor / Maire

@Sam-I-Am if you're in the GTA, I wouldn't worry about it. Your phone will have no service impact.

@softech Telus is refarming all of their 850 to 10 MHz LTE B5 in their markets, mainly BC, AB, Windsor, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City. 

Bell has not done this, so it won't affect Toronto.

GPs4evr
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

So PM has a whitelist of phones that they will accept as compatible with VoLTE....it is a very limited list! This is ridiculous. 

I have checked with other providers as well and again, compatibility is limited to a select group of phones. You can go to each provider and check. 

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/get-help/articles/volte

https://www.koodomobile.com/help/phone-compatibility

https://www.telus.com/en/support/article/how-to-use-volte

https://www.rogers.com/support/mobility/rogers-3g-hspa-networks-are-being-retired

https://www.bell.ca/Mobility/VoLTE

Lucky mobile is still using 3G and I don't see anything on their website about migrating but they will in the future too.

https://www.luckymobile.ca/shop/phones/IMEI-Lookup

Sam-I-Am
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

Yes, the guy more or less admitted that it's just PM, and needn't be. They just keep saying "buy a new phone, buy a new phone, go to Koodo blah blah blah." Not acceptable. And they fail to respond to the two day window issue although I've raised it three times. This is seriously disruptive in a potentially harmful way if I do lose phone service in the next few days. 

My takeaway is that they just don't care. They think we'll go to Koodo pronto in a panic and they'll make more money. The problem with monopolies is no one has to care. 

p.s. I hear on the phone issue. I'm not someone who can afford to update my phone yearly. I spent a lot of money on this one, and I'm not bricking in the next two days on PM's advice. 

GPs4evr
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

I'm so angry right now because it looks like my phone isn't compatible anymore when it used to be. When I bought my phone in 2022 I ensure that it was compatible on the bandwidth for 3G 4G and 5G as I was trying to future-proof my phone. There's even a post from me about it and anywhere you check online it says it should be compatible but when you go to the websites of the phone companies they're saying my IEM number is not compatible. I checked with public mobile, kudo, even Rogers but I'm getting the same "not compatible reply". 

There's something really fishy going on here where they're limiting phones. 

 

I found this thread -https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Get-Support/New-user-OnePlus-phone-no-5g-or-VoLTE/td-p/1272178

I think you can wait.  Wait and test the service for a week or more and see if you really have degraded voice service

Sam-I-Am
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

That's good and I appreciate the help but it seems to me they're trying to push people onto more expensive plans when they maybe don't need to technologically. I don't really want to be dealing with this at the present moment.

What is this Koodo "postpaid" thing they keep going on about? I checked out Koodo plans just by going to their website, and they are not comparable to the ones here. Low data at 3g speed for like 30 bucks, and huge data (that I will not use) for more $$. They're not exactly sweetening this experience. 

@Sam-I-Am 

for Koodo, your phone will have VoLTE works and there is no need to enable it yourself, the system will push it to enable.  There is no way to manual turn it on as the system hides the option

 

Sam-I-Am
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

Latest. Basically get lost  and go to Koodo folks:

"There is no way for us to enable it for certain devices since It is already set. Not even technical support can do it. We can just inform you about the time, dates and how to enable it in case It is possible. We would recommend you to get in contact with Koodo Postpaid to check the offers they have. "


@Sam-I-Am wrote:

Just got this from PM: "I just checked, and It is VolTE compatible for Telus and Koodo, but not for Public Mobile. That is why the option is not displayed. "

No, this is not true.  Telus system hide the VoLTE toggle, whether it is used on the network or not. So, even your phone works on Telus and Kodoo, the option is hidden


I've asked if this is a technological issue or a business decision and why we only have 2 days to work with. They keep ignoring that part. Isn't that some sort of CRTC violation?


likely not, the service "could be "degraded" but not disappear completely.  It looks like they are slowly turning off 850 in some area but not all.  So, if it is done that way, it won't violate the 30 days things

and remember, for many cases, even a date is set, they don't really shut down anything on that day. The day is more a preparation for them.  

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