The High Cost of Canadian Wireless

There are options

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 23:13:45 +0100

There are companies out there that can help you reduce your wireless costs by as much as 50% without changing carriers or existing plans. They are starting to pop up and help consumers and businesses obtain better plans and enhance service. Cell4Less.ca. - Cell 4 Less

CHINA

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 04:43:25 +0100

CHINA IS A BEAUFUL COUNTRY - fisher.2011

MTS (Manitoba Tephone System) High Cell Phone Costs

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 21:39:37 +0100

The last plan we were on was a very good plan, they told us when we went to renew our 3 years plan that we were lucky to have a plan like that. The cost was 120 - 130 for the month, for 4 cell phones. Then we got the contract renewed and they gave us the new blackberry, well they told us the cost would be a max of 50 per phone, well that wasn't true, when we got our first month bill, each phone was like 79 dollars and up for each, so much for our unlimited this and that plan. The first phone bill was close to 400, this is ridiculous, and it was mostly texting for the 3 phones, not sure were they get all the other charges with a unlimited plan. I phoned MTS and asked about the high costs, they would not tell me, they kept giving me other numbers to call, i guess we are stuck with this plan for the next 2 1/2 years, i asked why did you take over the whole network for this area, they denied it. Different relatives were out for the holidays with the rogers and there phones did not work here. Please help to get a new service provider in our area, and not let mts take over the whole network. PS: If they want to take over the whole network they should atleast provide high speed to all areas instead of the dialup that they provide to most northern manitoba areas and they should lower there prices instead of trying to get the Aboriginal people to pay $750,000 for the cell phone towers. They make up to 999 million dollars in one year profit on the MTS system, the government should start taking some of that money and provide so youth programs or more housing for familes, or any other programs needed that there is not enough money to fund through the government and start that instead of raising their big salaries each year at MTS. - Tina McCorrister

Canada 3.0 session on digital innovation

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:19:41 +0100

At Canada 3.0 in Stratford I attended a session on digital innovation which featured a presentation by a Rogers rep of some kind. During the Q&A that followed I asked him if in fact the high cost of data plans wasn't holding back innovation in that the rates resulted in slower uptake of data plans and such. In response he muttered something about Rogers having several price points, blah, blah and blah. Having the mic in my hand, I stuck to the question, noting that while the issue wasn't adoption of cell usage but in fact smartphones of all kinds. The moderator stepped in at this point and asked for another question. The next questioner said that she wanted to stick with the point I had brought up and pressed him again on the issue. A third questioner also wouldn't let it go. After the event was concluded, someone approached me, thanking me for the question noting that it was the elephant in the room during the session. And it still is... - Bob K

Attention ALL Canadians on Facebook - Join the Cell Phone REVOLUTION - Bell, Rogers and Telus

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:31:05 +0100

Hey everyone, there is a movement starting on Facebook - The Cell Phone REVOLUTION We know how you feel about your Wireless Service Provider. We need a change in the Canadian Wireless industry. This change starts with you. JOIN this group and share some of your "horror" stories about the Big Three (Bell, Rogers and Telus). Please ask all of your friends to join as well. This is a mission to Change the Wireless Industry in Canada for good. YOU can help to make this a reality by voicing YOUR opinion. We ARE listening. CHANGE IS COMING... JOIN THE REVOLUTION! http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=77295499477&ref=nf - Paul Peic

Cel phone Outgoing calls for 11$ Local!

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:23:17 +0100

I see that alot of people are complaining about outgoing calls, my cel phone bill used to be $200-400 per month. I met this company and it changed the way I was spending my money. I am now saving give and take 350$ per month! Are you exceding your minutes on your outgoing calls on your cel phone? Are you paying excessive charges on your long distance calls? This plan that is perfect for those who do, You must have an unlimited incoming calls package OR Favorite #\'s with your cellular phone provider. It is Compatibile with ANY PROVIDER. If you want to subscribe as customer, you can go to www.talk-out.com and choose Subscribe (top right). If you want to contact me, you are more than welcome to. Unlimitedoutgoingcalls@gmail.com Thanks adn look forward in lowering your cel phone bills! - Nancy

Rogers Petition

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 03:36:51 +0100

Hello, everyone please read and sign this petition to rogers for a better data plan. [ link ] - Alex

Robert F.

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 13:03:44 +0100

As for the guy talking about distance and costs...I don\'t think so...the infrastructure was already built by Bell and others wayyyy back when. Do you really think your cell phone magically dances through the air to the other person? It\'s routed to a land line across the country, and pops back up, or via microwave or sat. Infrastructure certainly needs upkeep, but trust me you\'re getting screwed. Solution? ditch the stupid phone unless your company gives you one. If you\'re in you 20\'s this is impossible, you likely crave love from friends, so must have communications. But maybe when you get older you\'ll realize that you\'re paying to gab...and usually it\'s nothing..of ZERO importance and CAN wait until you get home. I have a phone on my desk, and one at home. And home is 15 minutes away (i know i\'m lucky!) Anyone wants me...leave a message otherwise take off! ;) -

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Sun, 02 Sep 2007 00:18:50 +0100

\"higher costs of said services\"@Mr.Rogers And why does Canadian owned crude shipped to the USA refined and then re-imported back into Canada as gas - will cost 30% more in Canada than in the USA! A week or two strike by car drivers in Canada might fix the issue. - cannuck

Software Engineer

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 14:41:04 +0100

Quote: \\\"Does anyone ever stop to think that providing cellular services to a smaller Canadian population (about 1/10th of U.S. pop.) that\\\\\\\'s spread across thousands of miles might have something to do with higher costs of said services?\\\" Um... look at the follow Commonwealth Realm of Australia. Similar demographics and population densities.. and the costs are closer to the US han to Canada. - Justin Haygood

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Thu, 26 Jul 2007 17:17:55 +0100

Telus is horrible. The customer service staff is rude and hostile. I asked for a copy of my contract in December and 4 different people told me it would be mailed to within 6-8 weeks. 16 weeks later, I\'m still waiting and no-one bothered to call me back. Everytime I call, I get yet another hostile customer service rep. DO NOT SIGN UP WITH TELUS. - Marina

higher cost of service

Sun, 22 Jul 2007 13:59:59 +0100

Does anyone ever stop to think that providing cellular services to a smaller Canadian population (about 1/10th of U.S. pop.) that\\\'s spread across thousands of miles might have something to do with higher costs of said services? - gb

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Wed, 18 Jul 2007 12:35:20 +0100

@keller. Thanks! A very well informed response. I am in the process of leaving Telus as soon as i get my iPhone, and i want to leave them with a piece of my mind when i do. And I like how the lawmakers south of the border are pushing for \"openess\" in mobile use: But the iPhone, Markey said, \"highlights both the promise and the problems of the wireless industry today.\" The phone sells for full price, yet owners get essentially no rights over how to use it; the phone forces you to sign a two-year contract with poorly ranked AT&T service, at pain of a $175 early-termination fee. \"Many consumers feel trapped having bought an expensive device or having been locked into a long-term contract with significant penalties for switching,\" Markey said. And it\'s not just iPhone owners. Nobody likes their cell provider; people are sick of the fees, they\'re sick of the stringent contracts, they\'re sick of the bad cell signal. But what are you going to do? There are four large cell carriers in the U.S. -- AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint -- and none has customers who are particularly happy.---- and in Canada we have even less choice. but if the US opens up the wirless airways and the iPhone can be unlocked and uses SIM cards...well then that is what will help us shop around. @james: the biggest seller of unix is Apple. OS X ( used in the in the iPhone) coupled with Java/Ajax. gee is there any other way to fly! iPod +iTunes + iPhone + OS X everywhere. The majority of users want ease and not be muckin garound with confiqurations. _gots no time for that_ - gio

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Sun, 15 Jul 2007 19:43:47 +0100

Ok, Keller, you keep on waiting. Your attitude shows that like many Apple zealots, your mind is already closed to the idea that anything not made by Apple is even worth considering. Thats your opinion, but I frankly don\'t see why Apple would even consider opening up their phone when so many people will buy their products for the exclusiveness of the logo alone? Your assertion that anything open source is automatically inferior directly contradicts the fact that Apple\'s own products have been built on top of open source software, with little or nothing given back in return. BTW, for many people, the KDE gui matched OS X years ago, and with the upcoming release of V4 will leapfrog it in most respects. But you keep waiting for that dreamland SDK and that pie-in-the-sky unlocked iPhone. The rest of us will support companies that walk the walk, and right now that means OpenMoko. - james

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Sun, 15 Jul 2007 17:56:29 +0100

@gio Telus is just engaging in standard telecom trickery. Their current EVDO version of CDMA2000 is faster then WCDMA/UMTS but UMTS is easily upgradable to the faster HSDPA and HSUPA standards�and in fact most worldwide UMTS operators are in the process of doing so. As for standards Europe and the world exist predominately�though not solely�on the GSM standard (Rogers or AT&T in North America) with 3G data delivered through the UMTS standard. One major upside to GSM (which is otherwise technically inferior to CDMA. For example UMTS and CDMA2000 are both CDMA based technology, though not compatible) is that the standard requires a SIM card which, if you have an unlocked phone like most European ones, means you can pop in any GSM operators card and use their network without paying exorbitant roaming fees. Therefore a European visiting Canada can pop in a prepaid Rogers SIM card and use that. Or if you get your Rogers phone unlocked you can do the same in Europe. CDMA phones lack SIM cards you can pop in and out and further there\'s not a lot of CDMA networks in Europe. @James Mostly because Apple makes the best consumer user interfaces on the planet. Is the iPhone (currently) limited versus the still not in commercial production OpenMoko? Yep. Is it a heck of a lot easier to use? Yep. Will it stay a whole lot easier to use? Based on open source Linux UI versus closed source Apple Mac OS X UI�for sure. So I\'m willing to wait for a SDK from Apple so the iPhone becomes what I want�the Newton II�over using the superficially similar but much worse UI on any other phone, touchscreen or otherwise. - Wednesday Keller

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Sat, 14 Jul 2007 08:27:30 +0100

I\\\'ve been dying to get a mobile data connection for years. In Japan you can get unlimited (fairly slow but still unlimited) data for $20/mo. I\\\'ll drop $700 on an iPhone in an instant if I could get an unlimited data plan with it (without paying $300/mo) Heck, I *work* for TELUS, and I still can\\\'t get a break on a data plan. =( - Kahm

james@mail.com

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 16:08:36 +0100

I love how people complain about Canadian lack of choice and competition, but ignore Apple\'s massive role in monopolizing the very market they are complaining about. With the iPhone, you cannot write you own non-web applications, and you cannot use any other provider than the one Apple makes an exclusive deal with. Personally, I\'ll be picking up an OpenMoko Linux based phone this fall ([ link ]). - James

hot

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 03:25:55 +0100

\\\"Users pushing wireless valley: The iPhone will probably reshape the mobile phone industry, most experts agree\\\"..... Rogers and Telus are going to get a wake up call real soon. Once customers get onto the fact that they are being royally gouged... as in the example in Damian\\\'s post... watch out! Customer revolt on it;s way. - gio

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Thu, 12 Jul 2007 14:06:14 +0100

Here is an interesting fact. Rogers Currently bills you at 30 cents per Kb of data. However an AT&T customer using the Data service in Canada pays 13 cents for a KB. Since AT&T is GSM they would be roaming on Rogers, and yet pay less for Data. - Damian

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Thu, 12 Jul 2007 10:40:47 +0100

@keller - Thx for the tip about 999.999.999! My point about wi-fi is that _currently_ it works for me and my laptop. anywhere in the city i have easy free access to internet: email, skype, and web services. I agree that 3G is longer term is the mobile answer. My pont is that an iPhone _without_ the telcos is stil la great little mobile gadget... without having to fork out big bucks for the mobile data part. Save your Money! PS Keller; any ideas why Telus keeps telling me that 3G UMTS is old technology and their CDMA is more \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"advanced\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". ... even though i can use my telus phone in europe but all my european friends can use their phoen here in NA? - gio