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Koodo 5GB MB/SK Plan vs Public Mobile 12GB Fall Promo

11K views 38 replies 11 participants last post by  ian 
#1 ·
The illusive Koodo 5GB (sometime 6GB) MB/SK has been known as the best plan in Canada thanks its Manitoba Telecom competition (recently bought out by Bell) This plan has been in the news as people list it in the classifieds.. however anyone in Canada can get it with a little know how

Koodo 5GB MB/SK Plan
Price: $49.50/month ($55 less $5.50 BYOD) Post paid
Network: Telus
Data: 5GB/month (sometimes 6GB with promo) and $10/GB automatic overage
Text: Unlimited Canada wide and US $5 for 100 text sent
Voice: Unlimited Canada wide and US $1.50/min
US 10 day roaming: $40 for 250MB, unlimited voice and text
Customer service: Has call centres but emphasis on self-serve websites and app, kiosks in most malls

The Public Mobile fall promo available until Nov 20 is the cheapest data plan yet on a major LTE network without Chatr throttling or Wind coverage issues. It is $11.50/month less than the Koodo plan and uses the same network..

Public Mobile 12GB Fall Promo
Price: $114/90 days prepaid ($120 less $2/month auto renewal) and potentially less with $1/month referral discounts
Network: Telus
Data: 12GB/90 days and $15/500MB prepaid add ons
Text: Unlimited Global
Voice: Unlimited Province wide, $8 for 200min international and unused minutes roll over to next cycle
US 10 day roaming: $20 for 250MB, unlimited voice and text
Customer service: No call centres or kiosks, entirely self serve and community driven (public forums)

I and many others are now considering the switch from the infamous Koodo plan to this Public Mobile promo. My reasons are that the data is over a 90 day period (some months I use a lot of data and other months I don't use any) and the price is $11.50 lower per month to boot

Long distance is not an issue to me as there are many many apps which can do global voice over data.. One potential issue is receiving long distance calls as this is a prepaid plan.. you could either pay the $8 for 200 mins or setup a VoIP number/app/voicemail
 
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#10 · (Edited)
It always surprises me how much people pay for cell phone service. Do you really need to pay that much? especially for those who say they can live on $40k/yr?

I am quite a bit older than many here, but I do have a smartphone! We spend 3 months in USA and 9 here.

I have a knowroaming Global SIM. It allows me to use various carriers on both sides of border with free LD. Here I am sometimes on Rogers, sometimes on Bell. In USA mostly AT&T. It is a pay as you go plan.

I very seldom make cell calls. When I do make calls, it seems I am mostly at some place that has wifi (home, Homedepot, Timmies, Starbucks, Lowes etc) I call using Hangouts (aka Google Voice - free calls anywhere in NA.) If no wifi, can also use Hangouts on Knowroaming data (10c/MB in USA, 15c/MB in Canada).

If I need data access from phone when away from wifi, I switch it on, otherwise data is turned off. Knowroaming also works in hundreds of other countries. The service includes free Whatsapp use. K-R gives you a US and a UK number. A Canadian number costs $3/month. I don't have one yet. In past 3 months, my total cell service cost has been about $10.00. Actually, not true. It is zero because K-R give you $10 for buying the $10 sim plus some other credits.

I realize that this doesn't suit heavy users, but for retirees and others who want something that works in most countries, it's worth looking at. (BTW, all costs are in US$ but K-R is based in Toronto)
 
#12 ·
I'm in SK and I went Virgin. BYOD, no contract, 5GB data, unlimited everything else, $52.50/mo tax paid.

It was the best deal I could find but they fall a little short for out of country travel. I've been curious about options in Mexico.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Il. I've been curious about options in Mexico.
My ATT plan is great but Telcel has similar plan here in Mexico...my friends got one pay as you go 3 countries 1gb data about $20 USD. When you get here just bring an unlocked phone ...the TelCel joint will fix you up...they are pretty good at English if Spanish is not too bien.

https://fi.google.com/about/plan/ is what I intend to use next season in Polynesia...looks like it would be awesome for any traveller...you do need to buy a google phone and fake a USA address though.
 
#16 ·
Not in Saskatchewan. Telus doesn't have access to the entire SaskTel mobile network. In Regina or Saskatoon, they are fine. Problems appear if you go out of town a lot, as I do. I work for a company that requires me to go to all sort of rural places so Virgin is better, as they have access to the entire SaskTel network. It's a dollar more but well worth it to me.
 
#14 ·
Public Mobile 90-day suits me best because sometimes I work or vacation where there is very limited WiFi and I become a heavy data user.

Since mid Feb I've only used about 2GB but that would have cost $300 @ knowroaming rates. I still have 10GB left until mid May and then I'll get another 12GB until mid Aug. If I had no WiFi for the month of May I'd still have up to 22GB mobile data (up to 6 months data in 1 month)

knowroaming does look interesting as I do travel a lot. It would be ideal if I had a dual SIM phone with a roaming plan available at all times. Typically when I travel it's for 1-6 weeks and if it's long enough then I get a Walmart Strait Talk SIM card or a local SIM in other countries.

I did spend under $40k last year and there were much bigger unnecessary expenses that I could cut before my $40 mobile plan..
 
#18 ·
You don't NEED a dual sim phone to use K-R with your existing carrier. They have a stick-on Global sim that attaches to your existing sim. I have the stand alone sim, because I have no home carrier, but the stick on sim has better features than the stand alone one. They say the sticker sim costs $29.95, but actually there are several rebates that drop it to 1/2 of that.

For data, K-R offers unlimited daily data for US$7.99/day. Still not cheap, but could be depending on schedule of data use. I have used it once on a day when I knew I needed more data.
 
#26 ·
I hadn't heard of KnowRoaming until I read your post this morning. Interesting. Thank you for sharing it.

I hadn't thought of using Google Hangouts in MX until you mentioned it. It might be sufficient for my needs.
 
#28 ·
Thanks, Eder! I appreciate it. :)

Any chance you could help me understand Mexico a little more?

I'm thinking about PV area, since it is the only MX location with direct flights from my city. I can go from -40 to _80F in 4 hours. The idea is somewhat appealing. lol!

The beaches look far better on the Caribbean side. I've never been but we've seen some amazing beaches in Sayaluta and Lo De Marco. I love to mountain bike so the west coast is very appealing to me.

How did you decide where you wanted to be in Mexico? How do you connect with other expats? Is it as simple as flying down and looking around? Do you have a forum that expats frequent?
 
#29 ·
In Mexico, I've been using AT&T Mexico all fall/winter, and my wife has a very similar Telcel pay-as-you-go plan. We need both because we travel throughout Mexico and need constant coverage for my work, and in some rural areas, Telcel has service but AT& T doesn't. Both 150 pesos per month, unlimited calls and text messages to, from and in Mexico, the USA and Canada, and unlimited social apps (Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram) plus 400 or 600 MB of data, which is more than enough for our limited needs. I'm back in Canada but our service still works, without any roaming charges. I can recharge the plan each month I from the website. Obviously we have Mexican numbers which means people who want to call us from Canada would have to pay long distance, so I give my family and friends my MX number and tell them to let it ring once so I can see their number on my display, and I can call them back.
 
#39 ·
My cell phone useage is low. And I never use data.

I switched to a pay per use about a year ago. Got tired of paying $37. month, switched to $13.50/mo plus $25 for 500 minutes. The savings over the past year paid for my Moto4e phone.

Koodo just sent me an offer. Switch to a monthyly plan- unlimited calling/text in Canada for $20. month. I switched to the plan but before doing so my spouse went into her Koodo account and made a referral for me. So, I now have an unlimited plan, spouse got a $25 referral from Koodo and I got a $25. credit for actioning it.

Good deal all around. We have been on Koodo for four years. Extremely pleased with the service. I switched on Tuesday. Yesterday I got a call from Koodo customer service asking if everything was working to my satisfaction.
 
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