In some situations, there are even main value fluctuations occurring with the identical provider. Freedom Cellular, as an illustration, fees $10 per thirty days for a 100 MB plan, which works out to a whopping $100 per GB, whereas when you go together with the corporate’s 100 GB plan for $59, it really works out to $0.59 per GB. That’s a value swing of $99.41 per GB with the identical firm.
Decide what sort of telephone plan you want
In evaluating what suppliers and plans will be just right for you, concerns embrace:
- Portability: Are you able to port your present quantity to the brand new provider?
- BYOD (carry your personal system): Do you plan to make use of your present telephone, which interprets right into a decrease month-to-month payment with all carriers, or are you seeking to improve to a brand new telephone which is able to bump up your month-to-month fee?
- Obtain velocity: Would you like/want 5G, or is 4G and even 3G ample to your wants?
- Protection: Is the plan only for Canada, or does it embrace the U.S., and in some situations Mexico, as effectively? And particularly essential for B.C. residents, how in depth is the protection in your house province?
- Pre-payment: Are you OK with committing to common month-to-month fees to your financial institution or bank card in return for a decrease fee?
- New vs. outdated: Is the marketed month-to-month fee only for new clients, or does it embrace present purchasers—and the way lengthy will it final?
Assuming you’re bringing your personal telephone and are in a position to preserve your present quantity, three key inquiries to ask are:
- How a lot knowledge do you want?
- Do you want 5G or will 4G suffice?
- How a lot are you ready to pay every month?
Information choices vary from a barrel-scraping 100 MB with Freedom to 200 GB out there via Bell, Rogers, and Telus. In the event you’re used to downloading films and watching them in your telephone frequently, which may chew as much as 7 GB per hour when you’re watching in 4K, then chances are you’ll be inclined to go together with a extra strong knowledge plan.
After all, it can save you the expense of such a plan by proscribing your viewing to occasions and locations you possibly can avail your self of wifi. Examine previous payments to see how a lot you utilize frequently to provide you a transparent image of what you want.
Want for velocity: 4G vs. 5G
By way of navigating the variations between 4G, or fourth-generation, mobile community know-how and 5G (as defined on Koodo Cellular’s web site), 4G supplies obtain speeds starting from 20 to 100 Mbps (megabits per second), or as much as 30 occasions its 3G processor, whereas 5G speeds can stand up to 250 Gbps (gigabytes per second). Recognizing that 1 Gbps is the equal of 1,000 Mbps, 5G speeds might be as much as 100 occasions quicker than 4G.
So how a lot velocity do you want? By way of downloading knowledge, Netflix says it solely takes 5 Mbps to stream full HD content material—a fraction of what 4G brings to the desk. So if you wish to obtain a 2 GB two-hour HD film to look at later, as an illustration (e.g., whereas on a flight), based on the helpful GIGAcalculatorutilizing 4G at 100 Gbps it takes about three minutes. With 5G at even 150 Gbps it will likely be achieved in a blink of an eye fixed.
Cellular plan pricing in B.C.
The common Canadian shopper makes use of just below 10 GB of information per thirty days, which helps to clarify why lots of the present cell plans being provided vary between three and 80 GB.
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On the low finish, Freedom fees $25 per thirty days for 3 GB ($8.33 per GB), in comparison with Virgin ($39 per thirty days, 13 GB) at 5G. Chatr additionally gives a 3 GB plan at 4G for $25 per thirty days ($8.33). So, lower than Virgin and the identical as Freedom, however for a slower service.
In the event you’re a kind of “common” customers that want 10 GB, Freedom fees $34 per thirty days ($3.40 per GB) for 5G. So, lower than half the greenback per GB that it fees once you pay an additional $9 per thirty days whereas giving your self an additional 7 GB of information to make use of. Public Cellular additionally gives a ten GB 5G plan for $34 a month.
When evaluating most service suppliers, massive and small, most plans prime out round 80 GB, with each Freedom and Public charging $49 per thirty days ($0.61 per GB). Apparently sufficient, Fido’s 80 GB plan prices extra: $55 per thirty days ($0.69 per GB) on a slower 4G LTE plan.
In case your mindset is “larger is best,” for 100 GB per thirty days of 5G knowledge, Bell fees $75, or $0.75 per GB, in comparison with Rogers and Telus, which each cost $69, or $0.60 per GB. Each Freedom and Public Cellular even have 100 GB 5G plans for $59 per thirty days ($0.59 per GB).
Two different carriers with 100-GB-plus knowledge plans are Chatr Cellular, which fees $55 per thirty days for 100 GB ($0.55 per GB) and Fortunate Cellular, which has a 105 GB plan, additionally for $55 per thirty days ($0.52 per GB). However once more, as typically is the case with these smaller suppliers, the plans are tied to 4G, not 5G.
Double your knowledge to 200 GB and also you’re taking a look at $105 per thirty days with Bell ($0.53 per GB) and $90 per thirty days both with Rogers or Telus ($0.45 per GB), the one present suppliers with 5G knowledge plans of that dimension.
Incomes, saving and spending in Canada: A information for brand new immigrants
Metropolis or freeway?
Protection inside Canada and extra particularly B.C. is one thing you have to scrutinize, too. Based on a research carried out by Whistleout“Telus has the perfect total protection within the province, however shares a lot of its community with Bell. Smaller low cost carriers (described by business insiders as “flankers”) akin to Koodo and Public Cellular piggyback on the Telus community.
However even the perfect community has its limits. Individuals travelling overland in B.C. must cope with not solely the lengthy distances and empty areas discovered elsewhere in Canada but additionally mountains that hinder cell alerts. Based on the B.C. authorities, the province has 15,000 kilometres of major and secondary roads. As of 2024, 32% of those roads lack ample protection.
