[omniusovermind]

One thing that Canadians need to remember is that Canada is bigger (Geographically) than the USA but we only have a population of about 30 million compared to their population of about 300 million. The costs of building, maintaining & upgrading these cell networks is immense. In fact it's so immense that Bell & Telus built their network together and share it. Rogers built a huge GSM network and then upgraded it to LTE. The cost of these networks Starts in the Hundreds of Millions of dollars and then there are maintenance costs on top of that. With such a small population spread out over such a vast area the only way to recoup the costs is through the Price/Term. The USA has the benefit of population. Smaller countries (like Japan) have the benefit of requiring a much smaller network. Canada has neither.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9700 using Tapatalk

That's a really good point. Thanks for pointing out the other side of the equation.

No it's not. The big three are exceedingly rich. They can more than afford to pass on some of those profits in the form of savings to the consumer. And before someone replies with some ultra neo conservative rhetoric like "it's called capitalism" just... stop. There's a difference between healthy capitalism and jamming it to the consumer with no lube.

[GTiLeo]

That's a really good point. Thanks for pointing out the other side of the equation.

no one ever sees the other side of it, they simply onyl see what effects them rather then thinking there are other reasons for a slight increase in device costs or fees

[GTiLeo]

No it's not. The big three are exceedingly rich. They can more than afford to pass on some of those profits in the form of savings to the consumer. And before someone replies with some ultra neo conservative rhetoric like "it's called capitalism" just... stop. There's a difference between healthy capitalism and jamming it to the consumer with no lube.

this is my point exactly

[kill_9]

I wish the wireless carriers in Canada would eliminate activation fees and so-called Government Regulatory Recovery Fees which, Rogers for example, admits on their website is not a government mandated fee but a levy imposed by Rogers Communications. I see television advertisements for Telus saying they have eliminated the activate fees; why can't Rogers and Bell do the same? And in Canada the monthly subscriber fee is the same cost whether on-contract or off-contract therefore signing a three-year contract saves money for the consumer unless they intend to upgrade before the end of the third year. Ideally, the smartphones would be free and the subscribers could upgrade smartphones any time after the first year with no contracts required after the first year with that particular smartphone. In other words, only one-year contracts and those contracts in essence cover the real cost to the carrier of the smartphone and wireless services. For CAD35.00 we should receive a new smartphone, 200 any-time minutes, voice mail and call display; anything beyond these basics the carrier can charge as they currently do for sms, mms, data plans, long-distance calls, but roaming charges should be replaced by split-revenue by the interconnected carriers (Carrier A charges 25 cents per minute regular voice call, Carrier B charges 100 cents per minute regular voice call, Subscriber A switches carrier network while driving along the highway and initiates a voice call on Carrier A's network - the subscriber's home network, Subscriber A should be billed Carrier A rates until point of had-off at which time Subscriber A is subject to Carrier B's rates; at month end the invoice shows x minutes (Carrier A), y minutes (Carrier B) with cost to Subscriber A being 0.25*x + 1.00*y and the carriers pocket only their portion. For international revenue splitting the subscriber would need to sign-up in advance for a flat-fee international plan of say 10 dollars per week with the actual voice calls pro-rated as previously stated.

[jakie55]

I have an unlocked phone, and could not get the plan I wanted, without signing up on a 1 year plan....I would have gone monthly if it had the same things I wanted as the 1, 2, or 3 year plans. (Bell) That sucks

[Bold_until_Hybrid_Comes]

I wish the wireless carriers in Canada would eliminate activation fees and so-called Government Regulatory Recovery Fees which, Rogers for example, admits on their website is not a government mandated fee but a levy imposed by Rogers Communications. I see television advertisements for Telus saying they have eliminated the activate fees; why can't Rogers and Bell do the same? And in Canada the monthly subscriber fee is the same cost whether on-contract or off-contract therefore signing a three-year contract saves money for the consumer unless they intend to upgrade before the end of the third year. Ideally, the smartphones would be free and the subscribers could upgrade smartphones any time after the first year with no contracts required after the first year with that particular smartphone. In other words, only one-year contracts and those contracts in essence cover the real cost to the carrier of the smartphone and wireless services. For CAD35.00 we should receive a new smartphone, 200 any-time minutes, voice mail and call display; anything beyond these basics the carrier can charge as they currently do for sms, mms, data plans, long-distance calls, but roaming charges should be replaced by split-revenue by the interconnected carriers (Carrier A charges 25 cents per minute regular voice call, Carrier B charges 100 cents per minute regular voice call, Subscriber A switches carrier network while driving along the highway and initiates a voice call on Carrier A's network - the subscriber's home network, Subscriber A should be billed Carrier A rates until point of had-off at which time Subscriber A is subject to Carrier B's rates; at month end the invoice shows x minutes (Carrier A), y minutes (Carrier B) with cost to Subscriber A being 0.25*x + 1.00*y and the carriers pocket only their portion. For international revenue splitting the subscriber would need to sign-up in advance for a flat-fee international plan of say 10 dollars per week with the actual voice calls pro-rated as previously stated.

I didnt know that rogers finally admitted the fee was their own doing.

[narci]

When other carriers in the US can offer a phone for the same price with a 2 year contract instead of 3, someone is making good money. (All info taken from websites)

Let's do alittle comparison:

iPhone 5

AT&T
$199 for a 2 year contract (No option for 3 year)

Verizon
$199 for a 2 year contract ((No option for 3 year)

Sprint
$199 for a 2 year contract ((No option for 3 year)

Rogers
$179 for a 3 year contract (No option for 2 year)

Telus
$179 for a 3 year contract (No option for 2 year)

Bell
$179 for a 3 year contract (No option for 2 year)

Blackberry 9900/9930

AT&T
$199 for a 2 year contract & $449 for a 1 Year contract (No option for 3 year)

Verizon
$199 for a 2 year contract (No option for 1 & 3 year)

Sprint
$199 for a 2 year contract (No option for 1 & 3 year)

Rogers
$49 for a 3 year contract (No option for 2 year)

Telus
$49 for a 3 year contract (No option for 2 year)

Bell
$49 for a 3 year contract, $549.99 for a 2 year contract, $574.95 for a 1 year contract

[moralcode]

Wind mobile is great about not having a contract, and I would totally switch over from Bell, but I live about 3 hours from Vancouver area, and I don't believe my area would get covered or even have LTE service. But my contract is running up soon, and blackberry 10 is coming, so i'll definitely consider switching carriers, and for sure get a blackberry 10!