Back to School Student Cell Phone Plan Comparisons

Alright, time again for the new semester of 2010 to begin. To take a load off of your to do list here are the bargain plans rates for students offered through Rogers, Bell, Telus, and Koodo.

Rogers Student Cell Phone Plans

Rogers is offering a $40/month plan which includes:

• free evening and weekends starting from 9pm till 7am
• 150 long distance minutes within Canada
• 125 outgoing text messages
• call waiting, 3 way calling, call forwarding
• and 250 anytime minutes

The so called added bonus they claim to be giving you is the free Rogers to Rogers promotion. This entails 1000 text messages and unlimited local calling to other Rogers customers.

This offer expires October 31^st.

Rogers still offers the My5 plan for 25$ which includes:

• 150 weekday minutes
• unlimited evenings and weekends starting at 9pm
• unlimited to any 5 local numbers which you can adjust up to all 5 numbers once a month

For an extra 5$ you can upgrade to the “mega my5 30$ value” plan which is only an increase of 50 weekday minutes. For every increase of 5$ you can add 50 minutes to your plan.

The 40$ my5 Canada wide is the same as the 25$ my5 plan but allows your My5 list calls to be all over Canada.

The regular 25$ talk plan includes the same as the My5 concerning minutes but instead of having unlimited texting and calling to your my5, you get 1000 text messages to whom ever.

Keep in mind that these are 36 month (3 year) contracts and none of these plans include common contract charges such as the government fee, emergency access fee etc.

For a limited time, like Telus, Rogers is offering a 6gb data upgrade on any data plan for $30. This offer expires October. Telus is offering this for free if you are a new customer and have a $60/month voice and data bill.

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Bell Mobile Student Phone Plans

Bell and Rogers are Canada’s largest mobile phone conglomerates so it is expected that their plans will not differ too much.

For 25$ a month you can get the Uber Fab 5 plan which is frankly the exact same as Rogers entry level my5 plan. This includes:

• 150 weekday or anytime minutes
• local evenings and weekends free starting from 9pm
• unlimited text and local calling to your fab 5

For an extra 5$/month you can get the Uber 30 Fab 5 plan which is an extra 50 weekday minutes.

Once you enter the Fab 5- 35$+ plans, nationwide Fab 5 kicks in. So unlike Rogers where you get the extra 50 minutes of weekday calling, Bell offers not only the extra 50 minutes of weekday minutes, they also allow your fab 5 to be nationwide. With Rogers the same plan is 40$.

So if you’re looking for the nationwide My 5 or Fab 5 plan, between Rogers and Bell, Bell is the cheaper option.

Regarding haggling for plan deals both companies have compromised on certain ends to the point where it feels quite similar dealing with either or. I myself have a Rogers plan similar to my brother's. My mother and sister both have Bell plans. I am the designated family negotiator when it comes to mobile phones so I have a fair bit of experience with both companies. So if you’re worried about dealing with any of the two companies over the phone, understand that Rogers has loosened up their leniency with current members, and Bell has become more stingent.

Telus Cell Phone Student Plan - $35/month

Telus offers the infamous 35$ student plan which includes

• 200 local anytime minutes
• 5 long distance numbers
• unlimited texting
• unlimited facebook, myspace, blackberry messenger, and windows messenger
• Unlimited evenings and weekends starting at 6pm with the promotional student offer
• PERK ALERT: free unlimited local calling on your birthday

For an extra 12$ a month you get call display and voicemail.

This 35$ deal is available on 2 year and 3 year contracts. It also does not include the government fee, taxes, or 75¢ emergency service.

Until October 5th, Telus is offering a 5gb of data upgrade with new customers signing up for a minimum $60 voice and data plan.

Rogers, Bell & Telus Sub-Providers: Fido, Virgin/Solo and Koodo Respectively

For those who prefer to stay away from extensive contracts, the next 2 mobile affiliates will better suite you.

The problem with many of these companies is that they may not have some of the data plans or higher-end phones, because they want you to pay more for such a privilege, even though the higher-end phones don't necessarily tax the network anymore, and data only runs over idle capacity.

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Fido

Fido offers a 20$ per month plan which can be tied to a monthly contract, or as high as a 3 year contract. This plan includes

• 50 base minutes and 35¢ per every extra minute
• unlimited evenings and weekends starting at 7pm
• free mobile to mobile
• no free incoming calls
• 50 free text messages
• text messages received are free
• PER SECOND BILLING
• long distance within Canada 35¢ per minute
• long distance to US 35¢ per minute
• long distance within US 75¢ per minute
• call waiting included
• voicemail 6-8$ a month
• caller id 6$ per month
• conference calling included
• 15¢ per text message outgoing to Canada or US, 25¢ international
• email is 5$ per month

For 5$ less, the 15$ Fido plan does not include evenings and weekends.

With the 25$ Fido plan you get the unlimited evenings and weekends, unlimited texting, and 100 minutes.

With the 35$ Fido plan you get 350 minutes, unlimited evenings and weekends, and unlimited texting.

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Koodo (A Division of Telus)

Koodo does not work quite the same as the others so this section will outline what you need to know when deciphering between Koodo and others.

Koodo, the Telus subsidiary with the loud annoying vibrant adds which go against what people ironically hate about Telus itself, like system access fees. Koodo functions like a pay as you go mobile phone service provider with no contracts.

Things you should know about Koodo:

Koodo charges no System Access Fee, no 911 fee, with per-second billing, call forwarding, call waiting, and conference calling included.

Unfortunately unlike other pay as you go providers, if you do not use all your allotted monthly minutes, they are not carried over. If you go over your airtime, it is an extra 35¢ per minutes compared to 20¢ or 25¢ per minute with other pay as you go providers.

Every long distance call made to Canada or the US is an extra 35¢ per minute, yikes!

Koodo’s service obviously runs on Telus’ network so that means you cannot use your phone overseas with foreign simcards.

Koodo’s option of the “Koodo tab” is the idea of dreaded contract, that they avidly advertise distaste against, manipulated so that you’re giving them money upfront. So instead of signing up for a 3 year contract of service, you start a “Koodo tab” of so much money to get a better discount on a phone. So the same idea of locking yourself down with a contract is present within Koodo except instead of obliging yourself to stick with a company by signing a paper, you’re giving them money which will be put towards your future usage (it's their way of locking you down for a bit).

Koodo plans

The 15$ plan gives you 50 minutes and 50 text messages. You cannot get free evening and weekend calling added onto the 15$ plan.

The 20$ plan includes the 50 minutes and 50 texts plus the free evenings and weekends starting at 7pm, which isn't bad, sometimes other plans start at 8PM or even 9PM.

*Every plan from 25$ up to the 65$ plan stays consistent with 50 text messages included and free evenings and weekends starting at 7pm. The only difference is the amount of minutes.

The 25$ plan includes 150 minutes and of course 50 texts and free evenings and weekends.

The 30$ plan includes 300 minutes…

The 45$ plan includes 750 minutes. So for an extra 15$ ontop of the 30$ plan you get 450 extra minutes. (So at this point you receive 150 minutes for every extra 5$ you add to the plan, as opposed to the extra 100 minutes from the 20$ plan to the 25$ plan. So there is a discount with the more you spend.)

The 65$ plan (which isn’t much of a student plan) includes 2000 minutes…

On top of these plans you can choose “sides” or addons. They include:

• evenings and weekends starting at 5pm for an extra 5$ (cannot be added to the 15$ plan)
• nationwide calling for 20$ a month
• call display 6$
• voicemail 6$
• unlimited text and picture 5$
• Five Essentials (Unlimited Nationwide Talk & Messaging to 5 Numbers) 10$

Wind Mobile Plans

$15 Plan

• Unlimited Incoming Text
• Call Control (Caller ID, Missed Call Allerts, Call Forward, Call Conferencing, Call Waiting, Call Hold)
• Unlimited WIND to WIND Calling When In Any WIND Home Zone
• Unlimited Incoming Calls When In Any WIND Home Zone
• 100 Province Wide Minutes When In Any WIND Home Zone
• 50 Canada/U.S. Outgoing Texts

First Month is on WIND

$35 Plan

• Unlimited Incoming Text
• Call Control (Caller ID, Missed Call Allerts, Call Forward, Call Conferencing, Call Waiting, Call Hold)
• Unlimited WIND to WIND Calling When In Any WIND Home Zone
• Unlimited Incoming Calls
• Unlimited Province Wide Calling When In Any WIND Home Zone
• 50 Canada/U.S. Outgoing Texts

First Month is on WIND

$45 Plan

• Unlimited Incoming Text
• Call Control (Caller ID, Missed Call Allerts, Call Forward, Call Conferencing, Call Waiting, Call Hold)
• Unlimited WIND to WIND Calling When In Any WIND Home Zone
• Unlimited Incoming Calls
• Unlimited Canada Wide Calling When In Any WIND Home Zone
• Unlimited Outgoing Texts to Canada/U.S. When In WIND Home Zone
• Voicemail

First Month is on WIND

Data users (BlackBerry's) also have the option of a $10 a month "social" plan with unlimited text messaging, Facebook and MySpace. They also have the option of an Internet plan for $35 a month with unlimited data.

So concerning data plans, it's all or nothing. The add on ability to get 25kB for 10cents isn't the way to go considering most, if not all, data users will end up going over the top $35 plan anyways so might as well get that.

While These Prices Are Not As Competitive As Expected, Switching To WIND Has Its Perks

So what's so good about WIND? Well there are no contracts! You can purchase their phones at cost with no contract considering there are no contracts! They also do not have any other fees such as system access fee or activation fees every month.

Rates

Data

10 cents for 25kB (25kB is typically equal to 2 webpages)

Away Minutes In Canada

25cents a minute - When Outside A WIND Home Zone Receive Or Make A Call to Anywhere in Canada No Extra Charges

Away Texts

15cents per text - Send a Text Anywhere Inside Canada or U.S. While You're Outside A WIND Home Zone

Canada/ U.S. Long Distance Minute

15cents a minute

International Roaming

Starting In January WIND Will Provide 1 Simple Rate For Each Of The 200 Countries They Will Have Under Their Global Coverage

*Since Wind has joined the cellular network provider market my preference would be them considering the fact that they are affordable and not based on contracts. I would really like to see the other providers like Rogers and Bell begin to drop contracts and user fee's as well as their pricing. When serious competition enters we see their true identities and just like any business, Rogers, Bell, and the likings are all about profit and not about customer satisfaction.

Those looking for cheap voice and data plans from Rogers, Bell, Telus, and WIND should know that the cost accross the board is around $55 to $60 (without any promotional offers they may happen to have at the time). This includes:

• 150 to 200 weekday minutes
• unlimited evenings and weekends starting at 7pm (though as a student they bump this down to 6pm)
• 500mb of data
• my5, fab5, my 5 favourites ( one of these depending on the provider. For example: Rogers = My5.)
• unlimited myspace, facebook, twatter (aka twitter), and email.

As you can tell these plans do not entail much. They add on the cost of data ( which these days is $25/month for the base 500mb) to the base talk plan which ranges from $25-$30.

For an extra $8 you can get call display. For $12 you get call display AND voicemail. Most providers provide you with 3 saved messages for 3 days ( Which is god awful. Phone companies need to quit sheisting us for voicemail). The voicemail pack includes the phones voicemail as well (aka the hardwares internal voicemail. For example iPhone's have a more significant room for voicemail compared to what the service providers offer you).

For those looking for a bit more then the base talk and data plans, DO NOT work up from the base plan! This is another way customer service agent can unintentionally/intentionally screw you. For those looking for more minutes or more data, there are base plans which start at $40, $60, etc. Although they are more expensive than the lowest base plans at $25 and $30, they include more data or talk minutes or both. By going this route, the plan ends up being cheaper in the end. Remember these higher end base plans are for those looking for more minutes or data, etc. So, when looking for a plan with a bit more then the typical base plan, consider the higher end base plans so that you are getting the " buy bulk" discount.

Keep in mind all of the above mentioned providers have limited time offers throughout the year, for example Telus is offering a free 5gb of data upgrade on any voice and data plan above $60 until October 5th. All of the options listed above are base plan offers which is the minimum you can get when signing up. So to reiterate, depending on certain promotions during certain months, some offers may exceed the value of what is listed here.