[W Hoa]

Telcos are finding many users are not buying expensive data plans and the loss of expected revenue is not balancing the cost of smartphone subsidies.

"Consumers can expect to pay more for their smartphones in the future, as Canada�s largest telecommunications companies try to wean customers off the expensive subsidies they�ve grown accustomed to receiving in exchange for a locked-in contract."

"He pointed to a Moody�s study that found large U.S. carriers have been unable to generate increased cash flow in their most recent quarter despite record iPhone sales because of the heavy subsidies they were forced to provide.

�Needless to say, we have become more cautious at getting the iconic device unless a more balanced business model prevails,� he said."

Telcos looking to cut smartphone subsidies - The Globe and Mail

[BaconMunch]

I think the criminal offense is that Canadian telcos can still justify 3 year contracts. The subsidy on one or two year contracts is already minimal (typically $50 per year off MSRP).

[alnamvet68]

I know of several folks who have forgone getting the latest and greatest phoneware precisley because of the additional nickle and diming that is obligatory with many smart phones. I'm paying an additional $20.00 per month for the privilege of owning a subsidized iPhone, and I'm not real happy about it.

Personally, if more people vote with their pocketbooks and hang on to their still functional, but less fashionable phones so as to not have to change their plans which in all cases means higher monthly costs, then perhaps the telco's will drop their nickle and dime us to death tactics when they find themselves stuck with a boatload of smartphones.

Personally, I would like to see all telco's offer unlocked phones that we either buy outright, or are subsidized over a 2 year period with a reasonable data plan without all the mandatory add ons. If you buy a phone outright and unlocked, then you should be able to go to any telco and pay as you go for only that data plan you believe you will need.

[sam_b77]

I know of several folks who have forgone getting the latest and greatest phoneware precisley because of the additional nickle and diming that is obligatory with many smart phones. I'm paying an additional $20.00 per month for the privilege of owning a subsidized iPhone, and I'm not real happy about it.

Personally, if more people vote with their pocketbooks and hang on to their still functional, but less fashionable phones so as to not have to change their plans which in all cases means higher monthly costs, then perhaps the telco's will drop their nickle and dime us to death tactics when they find themselves stuck with a boatload of smartphones.

Personally, I would like to see all telco's offer unlocked phones that we either buy outright, or are subsidized over a 2 year period with a reasonable data plan without all the mandatory add ons. If you buy a phone outright and unlocked, then you should be able to go to any telco and pay as you go for only that data plan you believe you will need.

Indian model. Telcos tried the subsidized model here but it never took off. Mainly cos most people here don't like something they bought to be locked and secondly they quickly calculated that the plans they get on subsidised phones are very expensive and they end up paying more in the long run

[raino]

I'm sorry--how is this an opening for blackberry, if people don't want to pay for data plans and that's what RIM relies on as a major revenue stream? Add in the fact you NEED a data plan for push email, for BBM, for Whatsapp...how is this news good for blackberry?

[TheScionicMan]

Personally, I would like to see all telco's offer unlocked phones that we either buy outright, or are subsidized over a 2 year period with a reasonable data plan without all the mandatory add ons. If you buy a phone outright and unlocked, then you should be able to go to any telco and pay as you go for only that data plan you believe you will need.

The problem with that plan is that the 4 major wireless carriers in the US are mostly incompatible with each other, so the phones can't easily be switched to your network of choice.

[undone]

The problem with that plan is that the 4 major wireless carriers in the US are mostly incompatible with each other, so the phones can't easily be switched to your network of choice.

Actually its better to say the current handsets are not compatible with all the 4 networks. Now if you had a chip set that allows you to make one phone for all 4 networks, you just broke that model.

Something like here: Paratek :: Products

[papped]

Phones are gonna end up getting "locked" thanks to LTE fragmentation regardless...

It's only going to get worse.

[adrenaline_x]

I'm sorry--how is this an opening for blackberry, if people don't want to pay for data plans and that's what RIM relies on as a major revenue stream? Add in the fact you NEED a data plan for push email, for BBM, for Whatsapp...how is this news good for blackberry?

With Rim you can pick and choose what features you want. IE BBM only, BBM, Email only. BBM, Email, Web etc.

Without rim, data is either on or off.. With rim's NOC you have a choice and also benefit from the compression of data which relieves data congestion on the carriers network while also lowering the cost of data plans (if the savings are passed on from the carrier)

[sam_b77]

Phones are gonna end up getting "locked" thanks to LTE fragmentation regardless...

It's only going to get worse.

Unless people vote with their pockets and not buy the latest hype.

Thankfully in India people voted with their pockets a long time back. Now the Telcos shake in their boots the minute someone mentions subsidised plans. They work to make their network as widely compatible as possible. People should hate being locked up and not buy something that takes away choice. Thankfully in India we have a regulatory authority that is specifically made to check Telcos and any monopolistic anti customer act they may make.

[papped]

Unless people vote with their pockets and not buy the latest hype.

That's asking a lot when in order to do that you essentially would have to not buy a LTE device... Even moreso considering they are offing older bands in order to open up LTE... So eventually you just won't be buying a smartphone...

[alnamvet68]

The problem with that plan is that the 4 major wireless carriers in the US are mostly incompatible with each other, so the phones can't easily be switched to your network of choice.

This is true, if the phone is GSM only, but "theoretically", the iPhone 4's are "world phones", meaning one phone can go either GSM or CDMA. Problem with these so-called world phones is that either standard will be locked by a carrier, so say, I take my CDMA Sprint iPhone to South America, I will not be able to buy a local SIM card to buy enough time while I'm on vacation; Sprint requires that I pay additional for overseas roaming charges which is dramatically higher then just buying a local SIM card.

I would prefer to buy a phone outright, and be able to do the ala carte plan, and pay for what I anticipate that I'll need, and pay additional for data, if and when needed, and not be locked into a contract for 2 years. That's just me.

[W Hoa]

I'm sorry--how is this an opening for blackberry, if people don't want to pay for data plans and that's what RIM relies on as a major revenue stream? Add in the fact you NEED a data plan for push email, for BBM, for Whatsapp...how is this news good for blackberry?

The issue with the telcos is the amount of data used not the absence of data plans entirely. Blackberry 'Social Networking' is cheap relative to most data plans.

[adrenaline_x]

You can.. Go to the apple store or buy a unlocked, from factory, blackberry or android device.

Just don't complain about the 700$ bill

[mrfreetruth]

This is a nice opening for blackberries as iphones have a huge unfair advantage of being heavily subsidized as well as android phones. I know many who only got an iphones for the fact they paid nothing for them. Many are regretting that iphones are data hogs and their bills are much greater for limited use so I don't understand why they wouldn't subsidized iphones or android phones. Anyhow its nice to see a more leveled playing field when it comes to buying a phone.

[Knightcrawler]

Amen brother.

I'd rather pay 700 dollars one time for a brand spanking new phone then the 3000 dollars i'd end up paying over the contract lifespan just so i could "save" a few bills.

[T�nis]

I think in the US it makes sense to find a carrier you're happy with and stick with it. The four major carriers are all pretty much equal where it comes to plans, their cost, and nationwide coverage. I've been with Sprint for around ten years, and never had a problem in my interstate and intrastate travels. I can't say much for international, because there hasn't been any. In this scenario, I haven't seriously considered changing carriers, and it has made complete sense to take full advantage of the subsidies and other incentives for two-year contract renewal.

[TheScionicMan]

Amen brother.

I'd rather pay 700 dollars one time for a brand spanking new phone then the 3000 dollars i'd end up paying over the contract lifespan just so i could "save" a few bills.

For the most part, in the US, you're going to pay the same for your plan regardless of whether you buy your phone outright or subsidized, so it doesn't really change the bottom line. It makes little sense NOT to buy a subsidized model because you'll pay the same for service and you can't really take it to a competitor for a better deal.

Even LTE will be fragmented. VZW and ATT are looking to use very different bands to implement it, so again we will have to have different devices that are locked to the network by the technology. Just look at the new iPad. One for ATT, one for VZW. Internationally, it's a disaster of incompatibility.

One chip that covers everything is a nice idea, but it too has downsides...

[lnichols]

Sounds more like an iPhone problem for the carriers. I have no issues if they start giving less subisdies for all phones, and think the iPhone shouldn't get more of a subsidy than an Android or Blackberry device. But if the carriers want to keep making less money by selling iPhones with huge subsidies then that is there problem.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Crackberry App!

[avt123]

I have no problem paying full retail for my phones. I bought my 9000, iPhone 3GS, 9700 and Galaxy Nexus all for full retail (had no upgrade available).

Like TheScionicMan said, it makes little sense not to buy a subsidized device right now in the US.

[wayoung]

I did the math here in Canada. By buying an unsubsidized phone and going on the cheapest plan in my area (I did check rogers and rogers owned fido plans as well) I'd save... Absolutely nothing on most new smartphones. Older, cheaper, used ones yes - but not new. It could even end up costing more to buy unsubsidized then subsidized since you get the "free 6 months of" whatever when you buy on a contract. So yeah, no wonder Rogers is looking to get rid of it. Kinda saw this coming with there awesome "screw the consumer" decision to change 24 month upgrades to 30 month upgrades without grandfathering in those of us who bought our phones before the policy switch.

[Canuck671]

I'm sorry--how is this an opening for blackberry, if people don't want to pay for data plans and that's what RIM relies on as a major revenue stream? Add in the fact you NEED a data plan for push email, for BBM, for Whatsapp...how is this news good for blackberry?

see the title. My 1 GB RIM data is all I need, and I am A hard core user. 75% of my playbook usage is thru my BB. Not wifi. I sometimes use my buddies i-phone as a wifi hotspot, and it kills his data lol

[billy88n]

I will never buy a subsidized phone again. I think it was smart to be able to get a new phone every two years considering how fast the technology was changing.

Now I think it will take a while for the software to catch up to the quadcore chips so having a two year old phone isn't going to be a big deal.

I will be buying off contract for now on.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9810 using Tapatalk

[vtpmt81]

In the US, T-Mobile has some decent prepaid plans for devices compatible with their networks. They have a $30 5gb/100 min plan, $50 unlimited talk & 100mb HSPA+/unlimited 2G plan, and a $60 unlimited talk/2gb HSPA+ plan. Straight Talk has a $45 dollar unlimited calling, 2gb (approx.) data plan that is a "bring you own device" plan. What sucks is that they don't have access to BIS so you cant get Blackberry data.

However, you could buy an unlocked Galaxy Nexus from Google for $399, get a T-Mobile or AT&T SIM, and use it for $45 dollars a month. That is a good deal.

[papped]

Tmobile value plan for $50 with 500 minutes + unlimited text + 2gb BIS data (upgradeable to 5gb for $10) ftw.

The phone isn't subsidized, but the plan is instead.