Mobilicity blocked from being bought out by Telus while CRTC comes down hard on phone fees
19 replies, posted
[quote]
The federal government won't allow Mobilicity to transfer its wireless spectrum to larger rival Telus, Industry Minister Christian Paradis says, which means the companies' $380-million takeover is nixed as currently constructed.
"Our government has been clear that spectrum set aside for new entrants was not intended to be transferred to incumbents," Paradis said Tuesday at a news conference in Ottawa.
His announcement comes a day after the [URL="http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2013/06/03/f-vp-nowak-crtc-wireless-code.html"]CRTC unveiled a new code of conduct[/URL] that will usher in several consumer-friendly rights in Canada, including caps on roaming and data charges, as well as an effective ban on three-year contracts.[/quote]
The down side is that Mobilicity will go bankrupt and Rogers, Bell and Telus will strip whatever they can out of it.
In related news:
[quote]he Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has been working on the code for a number of months after a lengthy consultation process with consumers and the industry.
The new code will allow consumers to:
Terminate their wireless contracts after two years without cancellation fees, even if they have signed on for a longer term.
Cap extra data charges at $50 a month and international data roaming charges at $100 a month to prevent bill shock.
Have their cellphones unlocked after 90 days, or immediately if they paid for the device in full.
Return their cellphones, within 15 days and specific usage limits, if they are unhappy with their service.
Accept or decline changes to the key terms of a fixed-term contract (i.e., two-year), and receive a contract that is easy to read and understand.
"Hopefully, these rules will convince the companies to treat people with a little more respect," said Steve Anderson of consumer watchdog group Open Media.[/quote]
[URL="http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2013/06/04/business-telecom-wireless.html"]*source I*[/URL]
[URL="http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2013/06/03/business-crtc-wireless.html"]*source II*[/URL]
Heh, never heard anyone using mobilicity out of the people I know.
100$ for 2 gb on my phone per month. Fuck you telus.
[QUOTE=Johnny Guitar;40900208]100$ for 2 gb on my phone per month. Fuck you telus.[/QUOTE]
Before I forced my mom to upgrade to a gnex, she was paying $300+ a month for two non-data mid 2000s phones on telus.
Yeah well they'll find other ways to gouge the hell out of us.
[QUOTE=Johnny Guitar;40900208]100$ for 2 gb on my phone per month. Fuck you telus.[/QUOTE]
I'm only paying $65. Granted my talk plan is like $20-$25.
I'm on Rogers and I'm paying $65/month for 3gb of data, unlimited messaging and Canada-wide minutes, call display, and voicemail
How are all of you guys finding the absolute worst plans
this is good news. the CRTC is getting smart on the companies trying to monopolize the telecommunications industry. this, in addition to the new changes to contract caps and whatnot will help by allowing more companies like mobilicity and wind, to compete in the market.
but the changes aren't all beneficial. now that they're limiting the max obligation to contracts at 2 years, you can expect the prices of phones to be significantly more. imo, this would have been more beneficial 5+ years ago when phones were relatively cheap, because nowadays we're pretty much [I]financing[/I] our phones.
[QUOTE=PassTheBong;40902498]but the changes aren't all beneficial. now that they're limiting the max obligation to contracts at 2 years, you can expect the prices of phones to be significantly more. imo, this would have been more beneficial 5+ years ago when phones were relatively cheap, because nowadays we're pretty much [I]financing[/I] our phones.[/QUOTE]
Hopefully this pushes more people to just buy their phones outright, which gets more Android users onto Nexus devices or devices like the upcoming stock S4 / One when they realize these options are available.
Plus more unlocked devices might result in more people buying a prepaid SIM card while on vacation instead of paying roaming rates, bringing down roaming rates for everyone else
[QUOTE=Zeke129;40902560]Hopefully this pushes more people to just buy their phones outright, which gets more Android users onto Nexus devices or devices like the upcoming stock S4 / One when they realize these options are available.[/QUOTE]
These days, the average consumer doesn't have the money to buy their phones outright. The prices of "smartphones" these days is ridiculous. My Note II was like $800 when it first came out. But this is why the CRTC is allowing you to unlock your device after 2 months, as opposed to having to wait until your term has ended and your phone is paid for in full.
[QUOTE=The golden;40900157]Sad that Mobilicity will probably die but it is really stupid having 20 different companies all owned by 3 bigger ones.
I did, however, read that Wind Mobile was up for sale a while back but I haven't heard anything regarding that since. They have adverts everywhere in Vancouver and they're probably who I will be switching to after my Telus contract is up.[/QUOTE]
have them here, they're stuck with the high frequency GSM band, fairly shit building penetration becuase of it, but thats the only problem I've had with them, amazing price for the features, even if the coverage is a bit crap
Well holy christ paint my nutsack purple, the Canadian CRTC actually did something about Cell phones...
Oh wait, it's not bell.
[QUOTE=Zeke129;40902456]I'm on Rogers and I'm paying $65/month for 3gb of data, unlimited messaging and Canada-wide minutes, call display, and voicemail
How are all of you guys finding the absolute worst plans[/QUOTE]
ive got that plan aswell. with the additions my bill is ~$100/mo
and i used to work for Rogers
$20 a month prepaid, unlimited text/picture and 25 calling minutes or 200mb of data stacking.
Only way not to get fucked in the ass by a phone company here.
Edit:
We should get a Facepunch telcom company down here in Canada. We'd need to work on the name though, Virgin mobile is already taken.
[QUOTE=A_Pigeon;40905455]$20 a month prepaid, unlimited text/picture and 25 calling minutes or 200mb of data stacking.
Only way not to get fucked in the ass by a phone company here.
Edit:
We should get a Facepunch telcom company down here in Canada. We'd need to work on the name though, Virgin mobile is already taken.[/QUOTE]
Face
Punch
Telegraph
Company
"[i]Ring Ring. It's Hezzy's mom.[/i]"
We could out free gasmasks with every phone.
[QUOTE=A_Pigeon;40905455]
We should get a Facepunch telcom company down here in Canada. We'd need to work on the name though, Virgin mobile is already taken.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=MIPS;40905612]
"[i]Ring Ring. It's Hezzy's mom.[/i]"[/QUOTE]
Postal picture messages everyone :v:
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