Although the plans and promos have been great, I would really like to see a plan that has at a minimum Canada wide calling (or even US calling as well) for the next promotion
I would like to see the 90 for 90 plan return. That was a great deal for a low data user.
No, really I don't. I think the about to end plan is still a great plan, but it didn't have the wow. I still recommended the plan, but too many of those I tried to refer just couldn't accept the better value compared to their current Ontario plans. I just don't get it.
A lower cost, for the same, or better package from Public Mobile, is still a better value, whether it's $30 cheaper, or $50 cheaper.
Switch now, save some, and cross your fingers for something better to come.
@kav2001c, yes really. More data. Look at the 2016 fall promotion, wildly popular. Data is king. That said, if they introduced a 2017 promotion with 4 gigs of data and Canada wide calling, that would hit the spot. Of course the price has to be right, $40 or less.
@will13am I think that's asking a bit much - you want them to offer it at the same price (or less?!) and offer even more than they were offering last year? You're dreaming, my friend. I think a *best case* scenario for a screaming hot deal would be *maybe* to see the 4GB provincial calling plan for $45-50 a month. I can't see them offering close to the $40 price point for that data again, to be honest.
And going back to the OP - personally, I don't see them offering any seriously hot deals on Canada-wide promos. Once they're offering Canada-wide calling in a hot promo, they're cannibalizing Koodo sales. I mean, we obviously don't have any insight into the internal politics between PM and Koodo, but I think it's a relatively safe bet to assume that Canada-wide simply isn't in the cards for any *really* hot promos.
@WearySky, I have no clue of the inner workings of the 3 levels at Telus. Perhaps one day I can learn a little if I am lucky enough to be an oracle and I get invite to one of those internal meetings. My suggestion of more data for same or less money is based on the postulate that bandwidth is cheap. With time as the capacity of the networks grow, it can only get cheaper. Take a look at home internet and how usage has grown over the years. What a typical customer pays monthly relative to their typical usage reflects in the fact that bandwidth cost little. The 5G network is just around the corner. If we continue to hold onto the notion that mobile bandwidth should be priced at $30 per gig will result in greater price gouging by the carriers than the operators of highway 407 when the driver-less car becomes reality.
@will13am the oracles don't know much that you don't, to be honest. Things you see in Announcements we may hear about a few days ahead if we're lucky. PM plays its cards pretty close to its proverbial chest. We are given very little insight into the "why" of decisions and directions.
That said, I think carriers are worried about a slippery slope in terms or pricing. You can see some of this in the USA where better competition has really driven down prices. I think this is why we see the big 3 very reluctant to start pricing wars here. They may take the odd pot-shot at each other from time to time, but I'm sure it's all very well calculated to maintain revenue. I don't know how relevant it is to compare home internet pricing and data buckets to mobile--I'm imagine the economics are fairly different.
Would I like to see some plans with more data and/or significantly cheaper data add-ons?--Absolutely! Do I think anyone (in the mobile industry) is in any sort of rush to get there? Unfortunately absolutely not.
I do think that a promo flavour with Canada-wide calling would be very popular and have definitely passed that along in the oracle channel. Whether anything will come of it is anybody's guess at this point.
What do I think would be fair? Well, currently in the plan tool, you if you pick a 90 day plan and toggle between province-wide or canada-wide calling, regardless of other options, the price difference is $15/90 or about $5/month. So, prior to the current version of the promo plan that ends tomorrow (90 day/prov-wide/global text/12GB data for $165), I would have said the old 2016 Fall Promo pricing of $120 + the $15 differential for prov-wide calling. But now given that they were charging an extra $45 for the same as the fall promo, I guess maybe $180? That seems high though, at about $60/month.
@srlawren, from what I can tell North America is way behind in the wireless space. In particular, Canada is even more of a laggard than the US. The US has pretty much done away with long distance calling within the country years ago. We are hanging onto a relic of the 20th century by charging long distance. Most of the Canadian brands have followed the US lead. Public Mobile being at the bottom of the totem pole will get there eventually, how long from now, only time will tell. It will not surprise me that if the next fall promotion will be a Canada wide plan with pricing that does not include a material cost for the calling component ($40 for Canada wide calling, 4 gigs). After so much punishment from the carriers, we are victims of the Stockholm Syndrome to think that we must pay incrementally for long distance calling. Bullocks to that! Have you ever seen long distance charges applied to the internet?
I do agree that wireless and home internet are not totally the same beast. However, they are not separate and distinct either. Once the wireless data reaches the tower, it disappears into the same fiber optic network as a packet of data from your cable modem. A lot of the major infrastructure in this country is paid for. So, there is plenty of room for much, much lower pricing on data. The fact that BCE stock has a dividend yield over 5% is testimate to my assertion.
