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As smartphones become more powerful and necessary, demand rises and so do prices. In the USA we complain about carriers over-charging us and limited data plans. All that anger quickly fades when we start seeing what customers in other countries have to pay, though. Take Bell’s and Virgin’s new smartphone plans as an example.
These postpaid plans come in $50 and $65 variants (with a contract). That might sound like one juicy deal when we compare them with smartphone plans from the largest carriers in the US, but all hope dies after you see what these plans include.
Is 200 anytime minutes really fair for that price? 100 MB for the $50 plan and 1 GB for the $65 one? Makes me remember my vacations out of the country. In the US it is easy to get a prepaid phone with unlimited everything for under $40 per month. Unlimited is many times not even an option in other markets, or it is simply too expensive to even consider.
Just remember, we do pay more for our smartphone plans in America, but we sure get much more too. Meanwhile, if you live in Canada and think one of these plans is good enough for you, they are available as of today. And those who go with Bell also get 10 hours of Mobile TV under the $65 plan. Have at it!
[Via: Mobile Syrup]
You guys have it soo good in the US, everything from gas to cell phone plans.
Gas is cheaper here??? MAN! You must all be rich!
About 4.70 a gallon here.
Where?
Windsor
Wait, what the hell does gas cost in the great white north? (Eh?)
I recently went to Toronto for a vacation, gas was $1.30 (Canadian dollar)… so someone can do the conversion math to gallons.. :)
As of today (August 12) $1.30 Canadian = $1.3115 U.S….but I have no idea what the gas companies are charging up north. For example, here in the Midwest, there was recently a refinery issue, and the oil companies used it as an excuse to raise prices from about $3.15 to$4.05 a gallon in about 2 and 1/2 weeks.
$1.30 a liter.
so… that’s like $4.96 USD for a gallon…. wooooooooooooooooooooooooow… i dunno what i would do if i had to pay near $5 a gallon
I Smell Sarcasm
No Sarcasm, Canada Is More Expensive. (Technically)
“Technically” is the magic word. The price of things tend to be more expensive in Canada, but a lot of it is do to taxes. But then again, Canadians do get more government services too…
I remember in the early 90’s I was around Montreal and a pack of cigs were around $7. While I was shocked at the price, but the Canadians said it was because taxes to help fund their “free” health care. Hahahaha… Sure didn’t look like health care was free.
Canadians also have a higher average income. In the end though the American citizen has a higher disposable income by a small margin.
Go burn down a government building then. Don’t be such pussbags.
Hmmm, pay through the nose for health care, or get raped on your smartphone plan? Choose wisely, maple leafs. O_o
True that… Health care is a big deal.
I’m an RN here in Canada, to be subtle health care is not free 13% sales tax coupled with astronomical cost of living taxes. Cuts to health care are getting bigger, most people don’t realize but since we have a deficit within our health care system due to a stagnant budget put in place in the 90’s, sooner or later it will cost an arm and a leg to actually get effective care. Long story short we’re kinda fucked
Come to a populated area of the U.S… It’s all corporate. In order to get a half way decent plan, (not even talking about something that covers a major medical expense such as cancer treatment or dialysis), you are going to pay $250 a month, and that’s if you have a good employer willing to match. AND, that doesn’t include dental/vision. AND THEN, watch the insurance company turn around and cut you off if you actually do have a serious health problem.
On top of this, if you end up in a hospital, you are going to likely be stuck with medical personnel that make an average of about twelve bucks an hour and don’t care about anything but what they are doing after work.
I work in an industry that sees all of this. Don’t tell me how bad Canada has it in this respect.
As a 40+ American that’s been working and living in Canada for the last 6 years, I can tell you that the Canadian system isn’t much if any better than a “corporate” system in the US, and having a “policy” is just as expensive, if not more so.
That’s provided you have a full-time job in the US and aren’t bagging groceries or delivering pizza, of course. Canada does cover the underemployed better, but that’s (you guessed it) covered by the higher taxes on the middle-class.
Oh, and most of the provincial health plans don’t cover any dental or vision expenses (though they can be tax deducted just like in the US).
And the system is failing…waiting lists, deficits, near-stagnant population growth (which means fewer younger people paying for more older people’s coverage, a scheme which will fail dramatically in the future, just like Social Security in the US).
The Canadian health care system is nice to have, but because it’s free everyone goes to the doctor for every little thing as if the whole country is filled with hypochondriacs, which makes waiting times unreasonable to unacceptable. My GF is waiting for an MRI for now more than 16 months. I decided to not take the chance and go to a private clinic and pay for the MRI myself. So even though healthcare is great here, it has it’s problems. Think the solution would be a mix, patient pays the first $20, this time people think twice if it’s really necessary.
I have talked to some people from Canada they say if its major surgery they come to the USA to get it they said we give better care here. Obamas plan is killing that though leave it alone my wife lost her Job because of Obama care
How did your wife lose her job?
Sales tax is high but it’s similar in some states. Alberta only has GST no PST (Provincial Sales Tax) so in Alberta sales tax is only 5%. But in British Columbia it’s over 13%.
all you have to do is not get sick… oh wait, cellphones have radiation… increased cancer risk!
Ho-ly-crap
Canadian here… feel sad for me…. 90 bucks for 5 gig.. will pay left arm for an unlimited plan.
This makes no sense. I’m paying $30 for 6Gb on Rogers (not that I don’t envy you guys south of the border). What carrier are you with?
I’m using a Telus plan that was the best data at the time the desire came out.
Yeah, Telus is a btch. Same as Bell. And if not for this data plan I got with my G1, I’d say Rogers is too.
$90 for a cellphone or $10,000 for health insurance…
How about both? Look at our income tax rates too…we’re without a doubt paying for the privilege for average-at-best health care, usually on a waiting list. It’s not “free” by a long shot.
And my 500mb plan with 300 minutes, 5 message voice mail, caller id, and no texting plan is costing me $92/month. Good news is, that 500mb is good in the US or Canada, no data roaming, and I had to kiss serious retentions ass to get that put on my plan. Oh, and of course, a three-year contract.
I am not happy with my Canadian health care. People think because they have certain priorities others should have the same. 10% of every ta/ dollar goes towards health care, and out of that over 90% goes towards the elderly in their last two years of their life. I’d rather live with public run internet and more science and education spending then live an extra two years of the most uncomfortable time in my life.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.snrblabs.grooveip&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDMsImNvbS5zbnJibGFicy5ncm9vdmVpcCJd
Groove IP Lite
MiFI Device
40GB+ Of Talk, Text, Data.
I just found out about this. I’m so mad. It uses your Google Voice to make calls and send text messages over data. The free one uses WiFi only. So if you connect your phone to a MiFi device over WiFi, you can make calls and stuff.
I thought this was on topic. =.P
Groove IP is wonky on voice though. Takes a lot of tinkering and even then it is random on call quality.
I’ve used it for a few. I Sony really talk though. I text. But I’m not too sure about my idea. LoL!!
The governing body in Canada (CRTC) won’t allow for any real competition. So we pay through the nose in Canada! It’s disgusting…
In Indonesia $5 for 2Gb CDMA/500mb GSM and $10 for 6Gb CDMA/1Gb GSM and for 600 minute calling plus 600 sms only $2.How about it?
Whats the average salary there though? And cost of living? According to this site
http://www.zdnet.com/indonesia-it-salary-benchmark-2010-2062204816/ the highest sector has an average of
144.3 million Indonesian rupiahs = 15,295.8 U.S. dollars
which is pretty damn low. A kid working in supermarket in the US can make that much or more just working part time.
It’s amazing how better the deals in the UK are compared to both the US and Canada.
Yeah, when I’m in the UK I get a prepaid month from T-Mobile/Orange for what amounts to $20CAD, which is about 20% what I’d pay for a similar post-paid plan here in Canada.
I pay 50 bucks for 10 GB of Verizon LTE :)
Thats not bad kinda, atleast it isnt verizon where its 1gig $50 plus add $40 if you have a smartphone or feature phone. But i guess they did this because volte is comming so they added unlimited talk and text
Thunder Bay Ontario resident here. Tbaytel with the power of rogers. 50$ a month. 100 mins (who calls people nowadays?) 5 gigs data, unlimited texting. http://www.tbaytel.net
I live in GA and I pay $65 flat rate for unlimite service, on top I have umlimite international call for the same price. I have metro pcs 4G lite. No complaints so far.
100 mb of data i use that in about 10 seconds crazy high prices. t mobile has unlimited data text 100 min talk for 30 a month no contract
How does the Canadian gig compare to the American gig?
Just chiming in from Germany. My prepaid card on O2
(Lidl is the MVNO) offers 5 Gigs for 14.99 euro for 30 days with .09 euro cent a minute for calls in country and .15 cents a minute to the states. I actually use the 500mb data plan though for 7 euro a month. My total bill per month is usually under 15 euro. I don’t make a ton of calls and do what I can over the HSPA+ data connection. Prices are pretty good in all of Europe from what I understand.
you can get unlimited in Canada for $45 (albeit with potential data throttling), with the “alternative” carriers, like Wind, Mobilicity or Public Mobile.
Oh, one more thing. Funny thing about the effect of taxes on the price of things. Diesel up here goes for about $4.40 US per US gallon. That’s a price not unheard of in the States. Must be why VW and Mercedes Benz sell so many diesels up here.
That $65 plan actually sounds like quite a good deal if you rarely talk on the phone. You can get 2GB data plus voice (when you need it) and texting for $75. Just for me to be on a family plan here (this isn’t even owning the account) on AT&t, it’s $35, and that’s not even with texting. That’s actually quite affordable.
rip off well I hope rogers and telus won’t follow this trend. bell will loose many customers this way.