Canada has one of the fastest and most reliable networks around, but their subscribers pay for it because there is just not the competition we are accustom to in the US – brought on by the smaller T-Mobile a couple of years ago. Canada is a vast country with a relatively small population, scattered with many rough places across the wilderness, which is one of the reasons most Canadians live in several populated cities and are mostly near the southern areas near the US border. Another Canadian ‘thing’ is that a few places, such as Quebec, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, regional carriers help keep prices down from even the Big Three – a sort of safe haven as it were and a price buffer that many of the residences enjoy. However, it looks like they are getting a dose of reality check according to documents received from our source.
According to the documents, Bell and its ‘flanker’ brand, Virgin Mobile, is applying its recent price hikes to Quebec, which is accustom to lower pricing. While their base pricing is already lower than Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, Bell is extending their $5 price increase on all share plans. They will also be increasing BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) by $10 per month – identical to raises in other provinces. One additional frustration for Quebec is the percentage of gain in their monthly bill – they are used to very low data rates, so this $5 increase will affect their bills a lot more than other parts of the country. Bell is also eliminating its popular 2GB non-share monthly plan for $50. Virgin Mobile has increased its current Silver, Gold and Platinum plans by $5 and are introducing two new 50MB plans for those that really use a small amount of data.
So it seems that no matter where you live, or what network you subscribe to, you will not be able to escape those nasty price increases. The smaller, regional areas where there is more competition you will still receive the best pricing – after all, you could jump to one the few competitors. The price increases will be a larger percentage of what you are already paying, but when it comes down to the flat monthly fee, you will still be paying less than outside your region.