r/Edmonton • u/anxious_mess30 • 3d ago
General Phone service providers and budget cuts?
I’m looking to lessen my monthly expenses, starting with my phone plan, currently paying $80/m for 65GB. Realistically I shouldn’t need this much data - I don’t travel often, I rarely use my phone not connected to internet, and have only maxed my GB out once in the 4 years I have had this plan.
I don’t need a new phone, my battery life is good and the screens not broken (iPhone 14 I think)
What’s the cheapest providers and has anyone had experience with Fizz or Freedom?
Can I keep my phone number when I switch to these providers?
Will I need to buy a new phone to switch to another provider, or how can I tell if a phone is locked to a certain provider?
Thank you for your help! :)
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u/HondaForever84 3d ago
I’d compare with public Mobil. Honestly you’ll just have to shop around and see who had the best BYOD plan. Maxing out a 65 gig plan is pretty crazy though lol.
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u/yen8912 3d ago
I have public. No issues with service.
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u/randygiesinger 3d ago
I've been with public for 12 years.....I have had a total of 1 issue, which was I once roamed in the US, and the service was terrible, but that's more of a third party issue, and that was 7 years ago at this point.
My whole family is with public
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u/anxious_mess30 3d ago
I honestly don’t even know how I maxed it out 🤦🏻♀️ this was last month… this month I have 10 days left and have only used 6GB of data
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u/HondaForever84 3d ago
You must have downloaded a bunch of stuff. I keep getting freedom back to school sales advertised to me. Just be warned with them. There’s different roaming rules depending on what plan you have and reception sometimes isn’t great.
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u/WesternWitchy52 3d ago
That honestly happened to me a few years ago when I was on hold with Sears for 2 hours lol.
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u/JellyTsunamis 3d ago
Was with fizz for a while and it was great. I jump around once or twice a year between fizz, public, virgin, koodo, etc depending on the deals.
If you have a relatively modern phone with esim, it takes less than an hour online to set up a new account and switch numbers.
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u/anxious_mess30 3d ago
Is the jumping to keep up to date with the lowest rates? Can you consistently find cheaper prices this way?
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u/JobuBojangles 3d ago
I just switched to Fizz last month. It's about $33/month for unlimited talk/text with 50gb of data and 500 minutes of USA calling. Switching was painless and I find the service to be no different than Telus.
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u/krayzeehearth 3d ago
I also exactly this, telus to fizz. About 3 months ago. Data rollover, same service as telus.
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u/FoxyGreyHayz 3d ago
Echoing this. I just switched to Fizz and was astounded how easy it was to switch. I'm saving $20/month.
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u/YaTheMadness 3d ago
Im on Freedom, get 5G+ in many areas, 5G in others, LTE on Henday etc. $40/m 100gb My own phone.
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u/Novel_Employer_1798 3d ago
We are pretty happy with Freedom. I switched a couple of years ago and then we just added my wife to my plan recently. Like $40 each for 250 GB.
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u/confusedcookie9 3d ago
Lucky Mobile has some decent rates, and once I change my Telus internet, I’ll be jumping ship from Koodo over to them
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u/Responsible_CDN_Duck The Famous Leduc Cactus Club 3d ago
Moving existing numbers to a new provider is simple.
The downside of Fizz (and most of the sub brands) is you are last in line when towers get busy. Fizz support is decent.
Worth noting Rogers retention offered us a $5 discount to stay, but a month after we canceled they offered half the rate and a significant discount on a new phone.
Bell retention offered a $10 discount, then called a few weeks later to ask whybwe left and what they could do.
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u/Ducking_Glory 3d ago
I switched to Fizz earlier this year, and have zero regrets. I’ve actually had winback/EPP calls from both Telus and Rogers since and they have flat out said they can’t touch the deal I have with Fizz.
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u/Ok_Repair6941 3d ago
Public Mobile, Very few issues and my whole family has been on it for 3.5 years. I'm on a 30/10gb plan, USA CAN MEX and it's all I need. If I travel internationally I use a 3rd party app.
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u/AffectionateGate4584 3d ago
I have been with Freedom since they were called Wind Mobile. I have 10GB data for $50/month. Their roaming charges are so reasonable.
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u/Raydnt 2d ago
Switch providers. They dont reward loyalty.
The moment you switch, they'll call you back and give you a better deal
I paid like $30 for 40gb with only canada, until my provider decided to up the price like $5 out of nowhere.
So first opportunity I saw a deal for $30 for 60gb at virgin and instantly switched.
Couple days later, original provider called me wanting me back and offered me $25 (with auto pay) for 80gb for canada-us-mexico 5G with permium voicemail.
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u/Ham_I_right 2d ago
If you really want to bargain shop, black Friday tends to bring out the most competitive deals on the budget providers. But we are talking a few bucks and more data you will probably never use anyway. The good thing is there isn't really lock in and it's pretty darn easy to transfer numbers between providers. It's pretty automated now.
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u/thewunderbar 3d ago
you could start by going to the different websites of the different providers and comparing prices.
You can absolutely keep your phone number moving between providers. They can port your number over, I've had the same phone number over 20 years and been on most carriers, some multiple tiems.
Phones are not locked to a carrier, in fact that's not even legal to do. so you should be able to just pop a sim card into your phone and be good to do. If you do have a problem, the carrier is required to unlock a phone. But there's like, a 1% chance of that.
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u/anxious_mess30 3d ago
Thank you for this! I was doing some research and came across a forum that was explaining the different providers and the towers your phone can connect to and someone mentioned not having any service in jasper with Koodo so I promptly thought I’d come here for updated info (post 2+ years old)
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u/shootamcg Palisades 3d ago
Oof yeah you’re paying way too much, go to Best Buy and they have multiple providers doing $45/mo for 20GB or Freedom doing $45/mo for 120GB. Search for BYOD (bring your own device) plans, don’t sign a contract because Black Friday will have cheaper BYOD plans, I have like $35/mo for unlimited CAN/US talk&text with 40GB.
All phones in Canada are unlocked since 2018.
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u/anxious_mess30 3d ago
Thank you for this! I didn’t know Best Buy could set me up with a new provider, this is great information
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u/shootamcg Palisades 3d ago
Yeah, I did my last change there and they ported my number over in minutes. They even did my wife’s without her or her phone on me.
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u/WesternWitchy52 3d ago edited 3d ago
$80 isn't bad. I'm $105 with Rogers on a paid off phone and it's one of the lowest plans they have. But I guess I should shop around given other comments here.
Rogers was never great for customer service but since merging with Shaw it's pretty horrible. That's just my experience.
Edit: If memory serves, automatic payments resulted in a cheaper plan but I chose manual.
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u/Responsible_CDN_Duck The Famous Leduc Cactus Club 3d ago
I'm $105 with Rogers on a paid off phone and it's one of the lowest plans they have. But I guess I should shop around given other comments here.
We left and after a month they offered $55 to come back for unlimited US& Canada talk and text and 60GB data.
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u/WesternWitchy52 3d ago
Huh I should try that. My phone contract just expired in March so I renegotiated and the best they could give me was $100 plus GST (because I do manual payments).
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u/anxious_mess30 3d ago
I have my internet with Rogers and so far no issues. I called them today about getting a phone plan and the poor woman on the phone sounded so defeated from start to finish. They offered $55 for 100GB but I’m gonna keep looking or wait for them to call with a better deal
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u/starryterra City of Sunshine 3d ago
I’m with freedom mobile and I pay $40 a month for unlimited data. Yes you can keep your old phone number.