• Bell: They are dominant in the Atlantic region (after they bought out local carrier Aliant) and tend to have service even in the rural parts. They currently have the largest LTE network. Has really terrible prepaid options, unless you are just requiring an emergency phone for your grandma who lives in the middle of nowhere and can’t get reception with anyone else.
  
  
• Telus: Similar to Bell, they offer similar plans and used to have pretty similar phones although nowadays Telus has a rather mediocre lineup of phones. Network isn't quite as strong in Eastern Canada but is pretty much the best in Western Canada.
  
  
• Rogers: Has probably the weakest network of the Big 3, seriously lacking in the Atlantic region and any place that isn't heavily populated. They use the GSM network along with Fido and are the only operators in Canada that ever had a 2G GSM network, so if you have an old, unlocked phone that won't work on Bell or Telus, try them.
  

• Koodo: Owned by Telus, they were the first to bring the "tab" system to Canada, and later caused big waves when they eliminated long distance charges in all their plans. They do not offer pay as you go service. Since they operate on a basic tab system they typically only offer cheaper, lower end phones.
  
  
• Fido: Discount brand of Rogers. No stores in Atlantic Canada. Uses the GSM network.
  
  
• Virgin: Recently purchased by Bell. They offer pay as you go, contract, and tab plans, and offer pretty much the same lineup as Bell. Some of their plans are a little cheaper and some of them do not charge long distance.
  
  
• Solo: Does anyone use Solo anymore? It's Bell's neglected child that they pretty much crop out of the family photos now that they own Virgin. I'm not terribly familiar with them but I think they're basically your average discount brand. They do not exist in any form in Atlantic Canada. You cannot get a new phone number there, you must cancel your contract at your expense.
  
  
• WIND Mobile: The darling of jaded Canadian cellular customers, WIND proves what most Big 3 management refuse to believe: That people will put up with lovely service if it's cheap. They offer very cheap, mostly unlimited plans including unlimited data. They don't do contracts but offer a tab system. They do not have a foothold in all of Canada yet and just have pockets of reception in core areas, where even at the best of times reception can be a little shaky. They're trying to expand but have faced resistance from the Big 3 since they arrived in Canada. If you use your phone outside of one of their "home" zones, you are roaming on the Rogers network and are subject to massive roaming fees. If you can get service with them, great, but use with caution.
  
  
• Mobilicity: Still pretty much the same as WIND.
  
  
• Eastlink: A telecommunications company that recently launched a cellular service to go with their TV/internet/residential phone services, and currently only operates in Atlantic Canada. They are a typical discount brand, they operate on a tab system and offer discounts if you bundle your cell phone into their residential services. They do not currently have iPhones, not sure if they even support them, and share Rogers towers when not in the Atlantic region.
  

• No more 3 year contracts. It's 2 years or no contract at all. This is probably the most controversial aspect because carriers compensated for this by simply raising their plans. A lot. Especially the tab providers. If you chose to resign a contract to upgrade your phone, you will often be forced to switch to one of these plans, so buying phones outright is becoming a better idea.
  
  
• Your cancellation fee is now the same as the discount they gave you off the phone. It also goes down at an equal rate every month. You can upgrade early by paying off what's left owing of your termination fee.
  
  
• You no longer need to give 30 days notice to cancel your service. Happy now?
  
  
• Unlocking policy is now relatively sane. Further details below.
  
  
• Data overages are capped at $50. Roaming charges capped at $100. If you reach this amount, service is simply cut off and you are given the option to continue to pay if you want to keep using it.
  
  
• If your phone needs to be repaired under the one year warranty, a loaner phone must be provided for free. If one is not available, the carrier must suspend your charges until one is available.
  
  
• Return policy is 15 days with less than 30 minutes of call time. You can also identify yourself as having a disability, which doubles the time period
  

• A: In a contract, you sign a contract to your provider promising them to pay them money for 2 years. In return, the carrier takes a loss by giving you a phone for a fraction of what the carrier paid to acquire it.
  
  
• A tab is when you get a phone discounted by a set amount, and a percentage of your phone bill (usually 10% or so, excluding taxes and late fees) goes towards paying off that tab. The amount of your tab is basically your early termination fee, so there’s no real risk in taking a tab since you never end up paying more than what the phone would have cost to buy outright.
  
  With the new CRTC laws regarding phone contracts, tab plans have taken a real kick in the balls. Tabs used to be cheap because you could get a cheap plan and take all the time you need to pay off your phone. Now, carriers are required to allow full upgrade/free cancellation within two years, so carriers raised the prices on them to ensure they made their money back before that happens. Most tabs plans have arbitrary "phone charges", which are extra charges on your bill that serve no purpose other than to help reimburse the company for taking large losses on some high subsidy phones (like iPhones).
  
  
• Prepaid is when you purchase prepaid cards in a particular monetary amount and your phone plan/usage is deducted from the balance of money you maintain by buying prepaid cards. If you run out, your phone stops working. You are never billed, never require a credit check and cannot get into debt. I’m not familiar with any prepaid plans other than Bell, but I can assure you they’re terrible. Tracking your funds is very difficult, and you must buy enough funds to make sure your plan stays in effect, which usually results in you paying almost as much as a monthly bill. It’s fine for emergency usage or maybe unlimited texting, but anything else should be avoided unless your credit is really, really bad.
  

OilSlick fucked around with this message at 02:56 on Dec 23, 2013

OilSlick fucked around with this message at 04:17 on Jul 1, 2012