Cellular Service in Canada

[westmanguy]

So today we can FINALLY port our cell phone numbers to other cellular carries or landline.

Meaning I can take my Rogers Wireless cell # and move it to Telus Mobility.

OR, I could take my Rogers Wirelss cell # and move it to Shaw Digital Phone.

But still, you compare our cellular service to American cellular service:

we are getting scr***d big time.

We pay 25% more on average for our plans then Americans.

And we have to sign those bliddy contracts that I can't get out of for 2-3 years, and then they ding me $250 for cancelling the contract.

I hate cellular service in Canada.

On Rogers BTW.. and stuck with it till 2009!!

 

[snfu73]

I just plain hate cell phones. I will NEVER own one. I think they are horrible. They are annoying, they are money suckers, and they just aren't me. I don't even like to answer my home phone...so, I'm not about to carry a phone around with me.

You know what get's me? I'll be in the stall in the washroom and some guy will be in the next stall, on the toilet, talking on his cell phone...or at the urinal chatting away. Oh man, I hate that. That, and standing in line behind someone who is on their cellphone and keeps talking on said cellphone even when being served? Talk about RUDE. I just hate those things.

Well...THAT sure turned into an unexpected rant.

 

[snowles]

It's $20 a month up to a maximum of $200 to get out of your Rogers cell phone contract, not $250.

 

[karrie]

And we have to sign those bliddy contracts that I can't get out of for 2-3 years, and then they ding me $250 for cancelling the contract.

You don't HAVE to sign any cellular contract, ever. If you buy your phone, then you don't need a contract. The contract is only used if you are too cheap to pay for your phone... that's your choice. As a consumer, you need to be educated about your choices, especially if they involve signing a contract.

 

[snowles]

Like I said in another thread, you chose to sign the contract for that long. You have always had the choice with Rogers to sign a 3-year, 2-year, 1-year, a monthly or a pay-as-you-go contract. You chose the method with the cheapest plans and the $450 phone at a 90% discount; the $200 buy-out is merely to compensate for some of the funds lost in the cost of the phone that you got for next to nothing.

Find something else to whine about. You're the kind of customer I smile and shake my head unbelievingly at.

 

[Dexter Sinister]

As a consumer, you need to be educated about your choices, especially if they involve signing a contract.

Yep, that's the key for sure. Never had a problem with SaskTel, my impression of them is that they want me to be happy with their service and they'll do what it takes. For coverage and reliability within Saskatchewan, where I spend most of my time, can't beat 'em. And I've used a SaskTel-provided cell phone service from Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, and various places in Montana and North Dakota without a problem. Competitive prices, and the service works all the time, in my experience.

 

[snowles]

Dexter: from all my dealings with various cell providers and their representatives, I have heard nothing but praise for Sasktel; while they certainly had an advantage in the simplicity of their infastructure as compared to the other provinces, they've backed it up with excellent customer service and very competitive rates. Plus that cop from Corner Gas does the commercials, so it's icing on the cake

 

[karrie]

Yep, that's the key for sure. Never had a problem with SaskTel, my impression of them is that they want me to be happy with their service and they'll do what it takes. For coverage and reliability within Saskatchewan, where I spend most of my time, can't beat 'em. And I've used a SaskTel-provided cell phone service from Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, and various places in Montana and North Dakota without a problem. Competitive prices, and the service works all the time, in my experience.

Yeah, we got a rude awakening about Telus when we went to Fort Qu'Appelle. Our Mike service stopped at the border... we hadn't even thought about the fact that it might. Had it been under any different circumstances, given that my hubby's a manager with his company, we'd have had to turn around. But, due to a funeral, we were on a 'no-call' vacation, not the usual vacation where the cell was ringing every five minutes, so we were able to keep traveling, and just check in twice a day. Yet, we didn't start a thread to bitch about something we hadn't thought through. lol.

I tend to point out to people who complain about cost too, that Canadian cell service is probably more reasonable than American service if you look at it in terms of cost per person per tower. With a much less dense population, and cell service needing to still cover as large an area, we don't pad the pockets of the phone companies nearly as much as the americans do.

 

[snowles]

Exactly right karrie, between lack of competition, the lack of existing infastructure and the enormous cost/benefit ratio of providing towers in Canada, it can make for a sticky situation.

For instance, Rogers still has zero coverage between Kenora and Thunder Bay, because the amount of money needed to build those towers far exceeds what they could ever reap from selling service to a total population that is less than 40,000 people (in an area that is encompasses more than 70% of the province's geography). On top of that, the area there is so dense with bush, lakes and the Canadian Shield that it would take far, far more towers in order for cell service to be available there, and even then the service would be sporadic. The only reason they have any cell service at all is because they purchased the older, used analog towers that southern Ontario was getting rid of on their way to upgrading to the newer digital ones - to say the service there is shat would be an understatement; communities such as Atikokan would welcome a digital carrier like Rogers with open arms.

In America, if one company provides infastructure for an area, the service can be used be all companies utiliziing the same technology; because of their huge population and the competition that it creates, that can be easily (and cheaply) done. But here, because companies like Bell, Virgin and Telus refuse to use the easier, more reliable GSM technology, we have to erect twice as much infastructure just to give people any choice at all.

 

[petros]

We don't even have full satellite coverage. Bandwidth is worth more than beer or cigarettes in the Arctic.

 

[JLM]

I just plain hate cell phones. I will NEVER own one. I think they are horrible. They are annoying, they are money suckers, and they just aren't me. I don't even like to answer my home phone...so, I'm not about to carry a phone around with me.

You know what get's me? I'll be in the stall in the washroom and some guy will be in the next stall, on the toilet, talking on his cell phone...or at the urinal chatting away. Oh man, I hate that. That, and standing in line behind someone who is on their cellphone and keeps talking on said cellphone even when being served? Talk about RUDE. I just hate those things.

Well...THAT sure turned into an unexpected rant.

I see your points entirely. I own one, I use when I NEED to make a phone call and am not near another phone. My sole purposes are safety concerns and brief messages while travelling, NOT to b.s. with people about trivia. However when we move in the near future I'm am considering giving up the land line and solely using the cell phone, the reason being, I can turn it on for 2-3 hours a day to check on voice messages and return them, but being as unavailable as possible for telemarketers and nuisance callers. 95% of cell phone use (texting bullsh*it) is a sickness.

 

[JLM]

One question - I'm on a pay & talk plan, (pay upfront monthly) and am charged 29 cents a minute for local calls. My usuage right now is so little it doesn't matter, but the rate seems like a ripoff, especially as it's for both calling and receiving. Is this realistic? Are their better plans? I don't want to change to monthly billing- just pay up front.

 

[Spade]

I use my cell only on rare occasions, so I have a $10/month plan with Telus with 25 free local minutes/month. Most months my charge is $10.50 (including GST). I carry it for emergency use and the occasional call. Calls are $0.25/minute over the 25 minute maximum.

 

[Lester]

One question - I'm on a pay & talk plan, (pay upfront monthly) and am charged 29 cents a minute for local calls. My usuage right now is so little it doesn't matter, but the rate seems like a ripoff, especially as it's for both calling and receiving. Is this realistic? Are their better plans? I don't want to change to monthly billing- just pay up front.

Don't go with Virgin- If you were a Virgin before you started with them, you won't be after.:lol:

 

[VanIsle]

I use my cell only on rare occasions, so I have a $10/month plan with Telus with 25 free local minutes/month. Most months my charge is $10.50 (including GST). I carry it for emergency use and the occasional call. Calls are $0.25/minute over the 25 minute maximum.

You and I are lucky enough to have this plan. I tried to get it for my husband and they tell me that the lucky people we are (you and me), are actually costing them money and what they really want is to get rid of us. They say they won't cancel our plan but they won't give it to anyone else who doesn't already have it. I bought a 2 yr contract for my husband that is up in 5 days. Now I assume we'll buy minutes as he simply does not need the phone and I hardly use mine. I can't use mine at work. He doesn't need one at work as they supply one. Useless purchases!:roll:

 

[kcowan]

You and I are lucky enough to have this plan. I tried to get it for my husband and they tell me that the lucky people we are (you and me), are actually costing them money and what they really want is to get rid of us. They say they won't cancel our plan but they won't give it to anyone else who doesn't already have it. I bought a 2 yr contract for my husband that is up in 5 days. Now I assume we'll buy minutes as he simply does not need the phone and I hardly use mine. I can't use mine at work. He doesn't need one at work as they supply one. Useless purchases!:roll:

My wife had this Telus plan and when we we moved her to Rogers Paygo, we made a change of address and gave the phone to our housekeeper. Rogers provides 40 minutes talk time for $10.

 

[#juan]

We bought our current cell phones almost seven years ago. At that time we decided that the cell phone was for Emergencies or important calls that couldn't wait. I don't think our costs have ever been over ten or fifteen dollars a month for each phone.

 

[JLM]

We bought our current cell phones almost seven years ago. At that time we decided that the cell phone was for Emergencies or important calls that couldn't wait. I don't think our costs have ever been over ten or fifteen dollars a month for each phone.

That's my only use for it. I pay $11.20 a month up front and my balance continues to grow. It's like a savings account with the ability to make the odd phone call.