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Canadians Pay Extra For Their Wireless Hardware
Todd Alivoy writes "Looks like
Canadian wireless subscribers have been getting hosed when looking to get new hardware. This isn't the first time Canadian carriers have managed to charge far more than thier US conterparts for the same services. Anyone up there know why? It sure isn't the exchange rates." The linked article shows the price disparity for 14 phones available in both markets.
Exactly. Also, just because a US consumer pays $99.00 for a phone doesn't mean that the phone costs $99.00. Usually the cell phone company pays a substaintial amount of the handset and tries to make their money back during the life of a contract.
Heavy competition in the US following Number Portability has set the stage for a messy little price war between carriers trying to win business from each other...great for consumers, bad for the carriers
IIRC you can't use phones purchased in OZ in North America unless you buy a ghastly expensive tri-band phone. I had to sell my mobile when I left the UK for that reason. And it is the service that is the major problem, as they are selling the phones.
:-)
Ah, how I miss my Virgin Mobile service...buying top-up cards when I needed them rather than paying a monthly fee for minutes I may or not use, and not getting charged for the calls that you receive?! I re-emphasise "service"; what a concept
I don't know what the author is rambling on about.. I just bought a Fido phone (Siemens A56) with 3 months of service for $75 CDN.
The monthly plan is $25/month = 100 weekday minutes plus 1000 weekend/evening minutes AND all Fido-to-Fido calls and SMS are free. That's $19 USD per month.. AND a free phone.
And to top it all off, Fido subsidizes all their handsets AND you're never locked into any contract - it's all on a monthly basis. No complaints here when it comes to cell phone prices or cell phone plans in Canada..
- One Happy Fido Customer.