Its Official, All Canadian Cellular Providers Will Suck As of July 7
May 11th, 2009As you may or may not know both Telus and Bell currently charge users without text messaging packages for any incoming texts received. That’s right, incoming texts. Rogers, having waited many months to follow suit, will finally do so as of July 7, 2009.
If you don’t agree with this ridiculous practice you don’t have too many options. Unfortunately, it appears that the “big 3″ (Telus, Bell, and Rogers) have banded together in this regard and are forcing this charge down their customers throats. You know that $7.95 “system access fee” charge? It was once mandatory for providers to pay the Canadian government. Now, they are no longer required to pay the government, yet they still collect the fee. Makes sense, doesn’t it?
More information on your options can be found in this thread: http://forums.beyond.ca/st/263324/rogers-to-charge-for-incoming-text-messages-july-7/.
Send a Message to the Cellular Providers!
Unfortunately, if you’re stuck with the big 3 for some reason (need data access for BlackBerry or don’t want to pay the $400 to get out of your contract, for example) your options are severaly limited. However, if you’re a little more free ridin’ you do have options.
Smaller providers, such as Virgin Mobile, Boost Mobile, and PC Mobile, all offer pre-paid cellular services with text messaging, picture messaging, and basic data offerings. If you’re an iPhone user you’re pretty much boned (Fido is owned by Rogers), but if you aren’t you can switch over and ditch the rediculous fees.
The longer that Canadians let this extortion happen the more it will cost us in the end. After all, if they can charge us for incoming text messages (which users have absolutely no control over), what’s to stop them from charging a per-minute rate simply for accessing their network (ie- having your phone turned on)?
About the Author
Cameron Martel is interested in anything automotive, technology, and of course, video games. Cameron has been a member of beyond.ca for nearly four years. He is an affiliate marketer by trade and a gamer by definition. When hes not working or playing games, you can find him at his favourite Calgary restaurant.
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I have always wondered what the hell a “system access fee” was for. Those bastards are taking $8 from me every month for no reason! I also hate how they charge for “Enhanced 911″. This is just another money grab attempt. Worst part being that there isn’t much the consumer can do.
Well this sucks, god damn companys sucking more money out of my car funds…
E911 charges are actually to cover the costs of third party providers that route 911 calls to their proper call centers.
These servies are not run by any of the major phone providers, and it’s either $0.50-$1.00 per customer charged for this meaning 0% profit in this fee for providers.
Anyways, back to the important part… Canadian cellular companies suck
just goes to show how far these companies will go to ensure that the ppl at the top dont miss their big yearly bonus… while we have 1000’s of canadians losing jobs week after week
OMG Canadian cell phone companies suck? no wayyyyy, shut up, impossible!
Seriously Canadian Cellphone companies need some competetion from the US ones. Show them how to run deals & listen to customers.
will they apply this charge to contracts that were started before july 7
You guys are seriously retarded. The system access fee is not a “mandatory government charge” it never was. NEVER. It has always been a charge to help with the maintenance and upgrade of the cell network.
Complaining about higher charges? Think about this simple economics problem. We have X number of dollars invested in a network. We have Z number of users on this network from which we can recoup and cover this cost. Look at the States, over a much smaller area they have many many times more users than in Canada. Therefore, logically, it is easier for those companies to cover thier costs which, consequently, means lower prices. In Canada you get the most extensive coverage compared to other large countries (yes we have better coverage than in the United States). The costs are higher because there is better coverage for fewer people. Quit complaining. Grow up. Get educated.
Also, there are only the “big three” there is not a single independent provider in Canada (Telus owns Koodo, Rogers owns Fido, and Bell owns Solo and Virgin).
Sorry, and adendum:
Boost doesn’t exist in Canada (at least Western Canada) and PC mobile is also a subsidiary of Bell.
isnt calgary westnet suppose to create competition with wireless services?
those are 3 big companies but there’s still other choices. virgin which doesn’t charge for a system access fee or that other one. and they’re not charging for incoming text right now either, switch over to virgin. it’s cheaper :)
I’m with Virgin Mobile on a cheap pay as you go deal and I am happy. They support Blackberry, which is nice (I haven’t used it though, although I’m tempted, but $600+ or whatever extra per year for a data plan seems kinda crazy).
I heard they are now wholly owned by bell as of recently.
If Virgin starts charging for incoming texts I am going to switch carriers (and not to Bell) just to spite them, even though the one I switch to will probably charge as well.
I’ve switched over to prepaid and went from paying $100+ a month to $100 for about 4 months. My plan costs me 31cents a minute and a whopping 1 cent a minute evenings and weekends 8pm-8am, add on $10 for 30 days of unlimited texting and I’m good to go. Sure I don’t get internet (well yes but it’s like 5 cents a minute) but I figure that’s the price for saving 75% a month on my mobile phone. I could get one of Fido’s inexpensive monthly plans without system access fees but I like being on my own terms and not being obligated to pay a bill.
This will apply to only plans which do not have text messaging packages which are ACTIVATED after July 7. Most of the flipshows are unwarranted as existing plans will be grandfathered.
I do admit the extra access fees are sad, but texting is getting ridiculous. Most text instead of talk anymore. The “big 3″ have to make money somehow….Its not like everyone doesn’t have a text package anyway….
Virgin Mobile in Canada is now actually operated entirely by Rogers. I would suggest not giving them your business either if you can help it. The company Virgin just recently (as of last month or so) sold lock stock and barrel the rights to Virgin Mobile in Canada in Rogers. Rogers even bought the right to keep using the name Virgin as well, for what I assume is the right to try and trick us into thinking it’s an alternate provider…
Reminder: Fido IS NOT affected by this, even though it’s Rogers.
Shaw and Globalive need to bust into the mobile scene and shake things up. As well as anyone else that bought some new waves of air (spectrum.) MORE COMPETITION PLEASE.
It’s highly likely that existing plans will be grandfathered but if for some reason they aren’t then those people with contracts can break them early without penalty due to a change in the contract. for that reason alone, old plans always get grandfathered otherwise there would be tons of people breaking contracts all the time and they’d lose the who “locked” in advantage that they so enjoy.
You spelt ‘ridiculous’ wrong
The problem has nothing to do with the cell phone companies but everything to do with the Canadian attitude that a cell phone is mandatory. These companies charge you outrageous fees because you let them. People look at me like I am crazy when I tell them I do not own a cell phone and never plan to. If you don’t like being ripped off, GET RID OF YOUR CELL PHONE HABIT. If enough Canadians started cancelling their cell phone plans, the companies will listen and reduce prices. As it stands right now, they simply have no reason to lower their prices.
> The longer that Canadians let this extortion happen the more it will cost us in the end.
You mean the longer we elect corrupted assholes who can’t see the elephant in the room, the oligarchy.
Dave, Virgin is owned entirely by Bell, not Rogers. Not that it makes much of a difference. Solo is also owned by Bell, and Koodo is owned by Telus. The number of national wireless providers not owned by Rogers, Bell, or Telus is exactly zero, though GlobaLive is supposed to be changing that. We’ll see.
Theres still fido :p
Fido is 100% owned by Rogers - one of the big 3.
Bell actually bought Virgin Canada and is paying royalties to Virgin to continue using the name in Canada. So there is no real competition.
Telus owns Koodo
Rogers owns Fido
Bell owns Virgin and Solo
There’s actually even less competition than discussed here. In each geographic area, there’s actually only two providers of cell service. Telus operates towers in the West, while Bell operates towers in the East, and they both have an agreement to share towers. So really, it’s Rogers and Bell or Rogers and Telus in your area. Naturally, to keep the agreement going, Bell will never do anything to Telus to anger them (like drop prices) and vice versa.
This is also why when you go to the Telus website, you have to choose your province, Telus isn’t going to offer any really good deals in Ontario, while it’s okay for them to do so in BC.
It’s incredible! Canadian should really do something about the mobile and fix phone… I am from Belgium and I can tell you this kind of practice would be ILLEGAL there (no kidding). You pay for incoming text, for incoming calls, if you have a prepaid you HAVE to recharge it all the time or you will lose your number… That’s crazy… it’s a national rip off! they take Canadian in hostage… really when you compare to Belgium or most of european countries it’s so uncredible…
Out there incoming text and calls are free… Calls are not as expensive and you receive free minutes all the time.
I really think Canadian SHOULD do something. For ex everybody should swich off their cell one day per month (this would mean millions of $ lost for Rogers, Bell, …)
Is there a way to do something? are you gonna wake up people?
I am a proud Canadian, my boss is an American. They burn up 2x to 3x more cell time and data transfer than I do. However, I have to pay 2x to 3x more for my usage on my cell than they do in the US. Well, guess what, soon I will getting a US phone using US carrier roaming plan in Canada.
“OH Dear” won’t someone think of thee children!!
Nothing new man, if its electronic they will find ways to screw you over in some way or another.
i have family in the states
and im gonna get them to get me an american #
with canadian roaming
my cuz came up
and he was using his iphone more than me
his bill turned out to be only $150 and
thats with using data and voice roaming up here in canada
i pay $150 for 1 gig of data and 700mins
and no roaming
lol
time to jump ship to the states.. lol
You guys are complaining without research. Only one person mentioned the fact that CANADA is a LARGE country with A LOT of RURAL area, yet we complain about high fees and no coverage in the boonies…Common are population density makes us more spread out then the US of A and Europe, it cost a lot of money to maintain those networks…and did you know that the CRTC charge 500$/line to the provider to have that number active in Canadian air space? Yes cell phones are expensive, but if you can’t afford a price plan, prepaid for the small or young users is not bad and if you need a cell absolutely to be cool, suck it up buttercup because the price will never get to the level of US or European providers
I got my first cellphone with Clearnet, within the first week of its launch. At the time, Clearnet was revolutionary: no contracts. Since then, of course, it was bought out by Telus, which introduced contracts, though they aren’t mandatory.
A couple of years ago, I did a little research, and discovered I could save about 66% on the Pay & Talk per-minute rate if I switched from Telus to Virgin. In fact, since I do no texting whatsoever, and I keep my phone off unless I’m actually expecting a call (which isn’t often, since I limit those to whom I give my cell number), my monthly bill is now a whopping $10, instead of the $20 that was Telus’ lowest monthly rate, and I still don’t use up all my minutes.
Don’t get me wrong; I love looking at all the shiny new cellphones, with their bright colours and keyboards & built-in toys, but whenever I calculate what it would cost me to use all those toys, it just isn’t worth it. Though it is worth going into a phone store and looking at the toys, just to see the look on a hotshot salesman’s face when he strides up, determined to make the sale, and finds out just how little I’m paying for my cellphone. First, they don’t believe me when I tell them. Then, they realize it’s no joke, and that there’s no way they can beat $10 a month. So they leave me alone.
People are total slaves to their cellphones now, and the cellphone companies take full advantage of this. I work in a theatre, and it’s amazing how many people can’t turn off their friggin’ phones for the 90 minutes or 2 hours that they’re watching a show. And that includes the kids who come in with their school groups on Wednesday matinees. What could possibly be so damned critical in their little lives that they need to be in constant contact with someone? The kids are told that if their phone goes off, or they’re caught talking or texting, they’ll be kicked out. And yet, some will still take the risk, and be kicked out.
As long as people are such slaves to their phones, the cellphone companies will continue to fleece them like the sheep they are.
There are some misconceptions on this site:
a) since the early 1990s long distance ‘land line’ phone calls have been too cheap to warrant monitoring for billing purposes. That’s because those calls normally use satellite communication rather than landlines. The voice call is multiplexed so that the call is electronically spread across unused ’spaces’ as they occur in other communications. The upstart long distance providers buy bulk time from the big guys making money for both.
b) a large country such as China had little in the way of land line communications and so it really benefited from not having to buy and string copper wire, nor maintaining it. Canada on the other hand already had widespread land line coverage and so the cell phone industry was able to just piggyback on existing facilities. It is much faster going the cell route when starting from scratch.
c) I have had a Telus Pay & Talk phone for six years now and have averaged somewhere around $11/month during that period. Obviously it isn’t glued to my ear like some other folks but it is there for when I need it. Have I had problem with Telus wireless? You bet, just as I had with my Telus landline phone. I was so upset with my treatment I cancelled my phone and sold my Telus stock. Did I show them or what? Naturally their stock went up significantly after I sold it.
Hey Everyone!!! Can anyone please tell me Is there any cellular company in Canada who DOES NOT charge for the Incoming call and TEXT message??
Thanks
i Want to know from where i can get this phone package?