Tag: Freedom Mobile

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Surprise! Freedom Mobile is already increasing prices

Much ado has been made about Vidéotron acquiring Freedom Mobile as part of the Rogers-Shaw merger.

Despite all the talk of a fourth national carrier and lower prices for Canadians, Freedom has already logged a price increase since the ownership change.

As spotted by Ben Klass, a researcher for the Canadian Media Concentration Project, Freedom’s 20GB ‘Big Gig Unlimited’ plan went from $40/mo in March to $45/mo in April. On a closer look, it appears what’s actually changed here is the associated credit for customers who bring their own phone, dropping from $10/mo for 24 months to $5/mo for 24 months.

While not technically a price increase, the cost of Freedom plans has effectively increased by $5/mo for new customers who bring their own devices, at least compared to before the acquisition. This increase would impact any Freedom plan with the $10/mo BYOP credit.

Thankfully Freedom’s plans still cost significantly less than the competition (for now). It costs $67/mo or more to get 20GB of data from flanker brands like Koodo, Virgin, or Fido, and the Big Three charge $85/mo for 25GB — Freedom’s 25GB plan costs $50/mo for BYOP customers.

Of course, that leaves room for further price increases. Freedom Mobile’s new owner, Pierre Karl Péladeau, was praised for coming out swinging with plans to undercut the Big Three’s prices by 20 percent — something that Péladeau is bound to do by the agreement he signed with Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne. Another part of the agreement is that Freedom must maintain prices for existing customers for at least five years and increase their data by 10 percent.

But that doesn’t stop Freedom from changing prices for new customers, and with the 20 percent rule, Freedom can actually increase prices and still meet the terms of the agreement. For example, the Big Three charge $85/mo for 25GB of data, which means Freedom could charge about $68/mo for a similar plan under the rules of the agreement — an $8/mo increase over the provider’s current plan, not including the Digital Discount or BYOP credits. Klass actually makes this exact point on his blog. And while plan prices are the focus of the agreement, as we’ve already seen, other bonuses and credits are free game.

Source: @BenKlass

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Freedom Mobile is now a Québecor brand

Québecor subsidiary Vidéotron has completed the acquisition of Freedom Mobile from Shaw under the company’s move to merge with Rogers.

Through Vidéotron and Freedom, Québecor has more than 3.5 million mobile services customers, a press release from the company states.

“The alliance of Freedom and Vidéotron will permanently transform Canada’s wireless market for the benefit of consumers and create a new competitive environment that delivers innovative products and services at better prices,” Pierre Karl Péladeau, president and CEO of Québecor, said.

The move also solidifies a settlement between Vidéotron and Rogers. In October 2021, Vidéotron filed to sue Rogers for $850 million relating to an alleged breach surrounding a network-sharing deal. Vidéotron didn’t provide specifics but did say the two companies are working together to continue with the agreement.

Freedom’s ownership switch has been completed just days after Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne approved Rogers’ $26-billion takeover of Shaw. The companies agreed to sell Freedom to Vidéotron in a $2.85 billion agreement.

Champagne granted approval after Québecor agreed to a number of conditions, including providing plan options that are 20 percent cheaper than the main competitors, Bell, Telus, and Rogers.

Source: Vidéotron

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Now that Vidéotron owns Freedom Mobile, would you make the switch?

After being stuck in regulatory approval for years, Canada’s Innovation Minister, François-Philippe Champagne, has finally approved Rogers’ merger with Shaw and Vidéotron’s acquisition of Freedom Mobile.

Now that Vidéotron has officially acquired Freedom, it has agreed to expand its 5G network in areas where Freedom Mobile already operates within the next two years. The company also says it will make its plan options 20 percent cheaper than major competitors, and data allotments for Freedom’s customers will increase by 10 percent.

All of the details are still unclear, but with Vidéotron now taking on Freedom Mobile, are you willing to make the switch if the brand’s service is available in your area?

Personally, I’d make the move. Vidéotron offers pretty good plans that offer 20GB of data for $50 per month with 100GB in your bucket for the year, and data at full speeds, the entire time. That said, it’s unclear if Vidéotron will bring these plans to Freedom Mobile, but if the company does, I’d definitely go through the hassle of changing providers. Who wouldn’t?

Let us know in the comments below if you’d make the switch.

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‘It’s really sad for Canada:’ Vidéotron finalizes Freedom purchase after government approval

Ottawa’s approval of Rogers’ $26-billion Shaw takeover has left Anthony Lacavera surprised.

The Chairman of Globalive and founder of Wind (which became Freedom Mobile after a sale to Shaw) said the merger received mountains of opposition from various parties and organizations. “It’s a complete disaster for Canadians and for Canada,” Lacavera told MobileSyrup.

The approval means Québecor subsidiary Vidéotron is now a national wireless company through Freedom Mobile with customers in Ontario, Alberta, and B.C.

Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne has subjected Rogers and Vidéotron to 21 different conditions focusing on affordability and the accessibility of wireless services.

But the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) says these conditions are “smoke and mirrors.”

“We do not believe the conditions obtained by the Minister can counteract the anti-competitive effects of this merger on Canadians, and will lead to another decade of high wireless prices for Canadians,” John Lawford, PIAC’s executive director, said in a press release.

The details on the specifics of the agreement are sparse. One condition Vidéotron has promised is to offer plans that are 20 percent cheaper than major players. However, without the specifics, it’s unclear how the Minister would enforce this.

“These things are impossible to track and enforce,” Lacavera said. “There are all kinds of ways that the big players have historically and will now going forward get around these types of undertakings.”

The Liberal government started this week off by providing Canadians with a little bit of hope surrounding the telecom sector through affordability measures in the federal budget. Coupled with Champagne’s opposition to roaming fees, the government painted a short-lived picture of affordability.

“It’s a massive betrayal that’s only made worse coming from a government that has long-promised improved telecom affordability,” Laura Tribe, the executive director of OpenMedia, said.

“Despite press releases claiming otherwise, Minister Champagne’s putting the nail in the coffin of competition in telecommunications in Canada.”

Tony Staffieri, Roger’s president and CEO, said the company is pleased with the decision. “Building on a shared legacy with Shaw, we will invest substantially to bring more choice, more value, and more connectivity to Canadians across the country,” he said in a press release.

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Québecor CEO says company is ready to expand wireless services to Canadians

Montreal, QC, Canada – September 4, 2021: Quebecor headquarters in Montreal, QC, Canada. Quebecor Inc. is a Canadian diversified media and telecommunications company.

Québecor is ready to expand its mobile services outside of Quebec.

Company CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau expressed the sentiment during a conference call Thursday following the release of the company’s fourth quarter 2022 financial results.

“Our plans are drawn and we are ready to go, ready to create real, lasting competitive dynamics in Ontario and Western Canada,” Péladeau told analysts. “This project represents a springboard to a new era (of goals) for Quebecor.”

The company runs Fizz Mobile, a digital wireless provider, under subsidiary Vidéotron. The company is also hoping to acquire Freedom Mobile under a $2.85-billion deal with Shaw and Rogers. It’s unclear if Freedom and Fizz will merge in any way if the company is successful in its acquisition attempts.

Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne must provide Québecor, Rogers, and Shaw with approval before the move can be finalized. The side deal is cardinal to Rogers’ $26-billion takeover of Shaw.

Champagne previously stated his conditions for approval include Vidéotron keeping the wireless licenses it acquires for 10 years and dropping wireless bills for Ontario and Western Canada residents by 20 percent.

“As ISED reviews the transaction, we reiterate our determination to attack Canada’s telecommunications oligopoly and our commitment to creating a competitive landscape that will lower the relatively high prices Canadians are still paying, as we have been doing in Québec for more than 12 years,” Péladeau said in a press release detailing the financial results.

Québecor made $1.19 billion in revenue in Q4 2022, a 0.1 percent increase year-over-year.

Image credit: Shutterstock 

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Freedom Mobile drops $15/mo 500MB plan

Shaw-owned Freedom Mobile appears to have removed one of its lower-cost ‘Freedom’ Starter plans.

An update to Freedom Mobile’s website spotted by MobileSyrup saw the removal of the provider’s $15/mo 500MB plan. The plan included 250MB of LTE data on the Freedom network along with a bonus 250MB for 500MB total monthly data.

Additionally, the plan included unlimited Canada-wide calling and incoming calls, unlimited global text, picture and video messaging, and Voicemail+.

Freedom’s $15/mo plan is no longer listed on its website.

When customers leave the Freedom network and use ‘Freedom Nationwide’ on a partner network, the plan includes 100 minutes of calls to Canada, unlimited incoming calls, and unlimited texting.

The removal of the plan leaves customers with fewer low-cost options. Freedom’s plans now start at $25/mo for a ‘Freedom’ plan and $40/mo for a ‘Big Gig Unlimited’ plan. On the prepaid side, Freedom’s cheapest plan is $19/mo.

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Understanding the differences between Canadian wireless providers

Most Canadians know the Big Three carriers — Rogers, Bell and Telus.

But for those who only think about their carrier when its time for a phone upgrade (or those who aren’t avid MobileSyrup readers), it might come as a surprise to know that most wireless service providers in Canada are owned by the Big Three. Even if you know that, figuring out the differences between, say, Rogers, Fido, and Chatr can be tough.

So here’s everything you need to know about the differences between Canada’s wireless providers, though this isn’t an exhaustive list of every provider operating in Canada (it’s also worth noting many of these brands offer other services, like internet or cable TV, but we’re going to focus on wireless).

National providers

First up, the national providers. These are your Big Three, Rogers Bell and Telus. If you have cell service in Canada, you’re probably using one of these three or a provider owned by one of these three. Unless you want to dig into the technical nitty-gritty, there isn’t a lot that’s different between the Big Three carriers and, in all the ways that matter to most Canadians (like price), they’re effectively the same.

What makes the national providers stand apart from the others on this list is that they offer 5G services (most of the others cap out at 4G or 3G), service bundles (such as family discounts if you have multiple lines, or discounts if you have multiple services with one provider), and they’re also the most expensive.

Here are some of the things you can get with the Big Three that might not be at other providers:

  • Plans starting around $85/mo and up
  • 5G/5G+
  • “Unlimited” data (what you actually get is a data cap at a set speed, and then unlimited usage throttled at a maximum speed of 512Kbps)
  • Speed caps of 250Mbps to 1Gbps, depending on the plan
  • Canada/U.S. plans
  • Multi-line/multi-service bundles
  • Streaming bonuses (Bell offers Crave with some plans, Rogers offers Disney+, and Telus has a streaming bundle, though it’s also available at Koodo)

Flanker brands

Koodo, Fido, and Virgin Plus logos on smartphones.Next up, we have the flanker brands. Chances are you’ve heard of these guys: Fido (owned by Rogers), Virgin Plus (owned by Bell) and Koodo (owned by Telus). Despite looking and acting like separate entities from the Big Three, the flanker brands are very much part of the Big Three’s strategy. Moreover, they operate on the same wireless network as what’s offered by the respective Big Three carrier — in other words, if you have poor service at home with Rogers, switching to Fido probably won’t help.

The flanker brands tend to add value compared to the Big Three offerings, if you’re willing to take a hit on network performance. You might also get worse customer service with flanker brands, though your mileage may vary with that (in my experience, I’ve had better customer service from Koodo than from Telus, Bell, Rogers and Fido.)

Here are some things you’ll get with the flanker brands that you might not get from other providers:

  • Plan prices ranging from $30-$70 per month
  • Conventional data allotments with overage fees
  • Up to 4G LTE service
  • Speed caps of 100Mbps to 150Mbps (depending on provider)
  • Special perks or bonuses (Koodo’s Pick Your Perk plans, Virgin’s Member Benefits, Fido Xtra)
  • Refer a friend perks
  • CRTC-mandated ‘Starter’ plans

It’s also worth noting that at the time of writing, Koodo was the only flanker brand that hadn’t switched over to the device financing model offered by the other flanker brands and the Big Three.

Budget brands

There are several budget brands available in Canada as well that are owned by the Big Three. This includes Chatr (Rogers), Lucky Mobile (Bell) and Public Mobile (Telus). Like the flanker brands, the budget brands offer service on the Big Three networks but at a reduced price (and usually at a reduced quality, such as capping data speeds at a 3G level).

Moreover, budget brands only offer a small number of cheap phones but focus on bring-your-own-phone service, often with no-commitment plans and no credit check. While the service can be basic, it’s often cheaper than flanker brands or the Big Three.

Here are some of the things you can get with the budget brands that might not be available at other providers:

  • Plan prices ranging from $15-$70/mo
  • 3G or 4G speed (depending on the provider)
  • No credit check
  • Monthly data bonuses
  • Service credits for things like helping the community or referring a friend

Regional and other players

Finally, Canada has a variety of regional providers that are only active in certain areas of the country. Sometimes these providers also offer service that falls back on the Big Three networks if you leave their coverage region.

Regional players include providers like Freedom Mobile, Shaw Mobile, Vidéotron, Eastlink, Tbaytel, Sasktel and more. When shopping for mobile services, it’s almost always worth exploring regional options since they tend to offer lower prices than the Big Three, although service might be unreliable or restrictred outside of the regional provider’s footprint.

Most regional players offer at least 4G service, with some offering 5G as well.

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MPs question how Rogers picked Vidéotron as fourth competitor

The Rogers-Shaw and Vidéotron-Freedom Mobile mergers are close to gaining full approval, but questions still exist.

Concerns were displayed at the House of Common’s industry and technology committee meetings today, with questions directed toward telecom officials. This is the second meeting on the matter. The first took place in March 2022 and was before Rogers and Shaw announced it would sell Freedom Mobile to Vidéotron.

The transaction laid the grounds for several MPs who questioned how and why Rogers was able to place Vidéotron in its coveted role. The Québecor subsidiary is paying $2.85 billion for the wireless spectrum, $1 billion less than Globalive’s $3.75 billion offer.

Tony Staffieri, Rogers’ president and CEO, told MPs they picked the best option that “met the criteria.”

Globalive’s chairman, Anthony Lacavera, was also present at the meeting. The company previously signed a conditional network and spectrum-sharing agreement with Telus that was contingent on Globalive acquiring Freedom.

Despite that not being the case, the telecom giant still appears to lend its support to Globalive. Lacvera recently announced Globalive’s plans to acquire Xplore Mobile in Manitoba and is looking to expand its agreement with Telus.

Lacavera has been a strong voice of opposition against the two mergers. When asked how the competition would differ if Globalive acquired Freedom, Lacavera said Telus wouldn’t be dictating the company’s actions.

“There’s no scenario where Globalive is in bed with Telus, working for Telus. That’s just not with our history,” Lacavera told the committee.

When it came time for Shaw president Paul McAleese to speak, he had some pointed words about Lacavera. Shaw acquired Wind in 2016 from Globalive and rebranded it to Freedom, and that process required Shaw to straighten out several problems.

“I operated what was Wind Mobile after Mr. Lacavera exited the building, and I have a deep understanding of the effort required to fix the many challenges we inherited,” McAleese said. One such problem was Apple “refusing to authorize iPhone on the sale of Wind’s network,” which Freedom secured in 2017.

Some of the attendees asked Innovation Minister Francois Philippe-Champagne not to approve Shaw’s spectrum license transfer to Vidéotron. TekSavvy recently filed an application with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to examine the matter.

When asked if Minister Champagne will wait for the CRTC to make a decision on TekSavvy’s application, Éric Dagenais, a senior employee from Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) Canada, said the Minister will make a decision in “due course.” Dagenais said he couldn’t provide any further details.

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Shaw reports Q1 revenue decrease as it waits to face the Federal Court of Appeal

Shaw added thousands of new wireless customers in the first quarter of 2023, its financial results show.

The company, which offers its services in Ontario, Alberta and B.C., has 13,800 wireless customers. Most of them (12,300) are prepaid, and only 1,500 are postpaid, a sharp decrease from the 36,000 added year-over-year. Shaw blames the latter figure partially on increased competition and a higher churn rate, which refers to customers who stopped doing business with the company.

Subscriber growth contributed to wireless service revenue growing by 5.4 percent. On the wireline side, Shaw lost approximately 52,800 customers, and revenue decreased by 2.7 percent.

The company reports $1.37 billion in total revenue, a 1.2 percent decrease compared to the first quart of 2022.

Rogers-Shaw merger

The merger is set to face the Federal Court of Appeal on January 24th, based on the Competition Bureau’s challenge to block the merger.

The Commissioner of Competition has until the 13th to file his arguments. Shaw, Rogers, and Québecor must provide a reply by the 17th. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) also needs to provide approval, and Minister François-Philippe Champagne said he’ll wait to see how the legal proceedings play out before sharing anything.

The Freedom Mobile transaction, which will see Québecor subsidiary Vidéotron acquire Freedom Mobile, also faces regulatory approval from the Commissioner of Competition and ISED. The merger can only close if Rogers’ takeover of Shaw is approved.

The proposed closing date for the Rogers-Shaw transaction has been extended to January 31st.

But the date could be extended due to the current appeal and ISED’s decision. However, Vidéotron will have to “consent” to the expansion, Shaw stated in its financial results.

Image credit: Shutterstock 

Source: Shaw

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Court of Appeal temporarily suspends tribunal’s ruling backing Rogers-Shaw merger

The Federal Court of Appeal has issued an “emergency interim” suspension on the Competition Tribunal’s decision to back Rogers and Shaw on its merger plans.

The tribunal was tasked with hearing the Competition Bureau’s application to block the $26 billion merger in December. Before the month ended, the tribunal dismissed the bureau’s application, allowing the merger to proceed.

The bureau filed a notice of appeal on December 3oth, soon after the tribunal released a summary of its decision, and the Federal Court of appeal granted the temporary stay on January 1st.

“This will remain in effect until our application for a stay and an injunction can be heard,” the Competition Bureau tweeted. The stay does not mean the merger is blocked but does prevent it from closing until the case is heard.

In its final decision, posted on December 31st, the tribunal said, “the proposed transactions and ancillary agreements comprising the arrangement are not likely to prevent or lessen competition substantially.”

The tribunal further dismissed arguments that selling Freedom Mobile to Vidéotron would make it a “less effective competitor” or that the merger would increase anti-competitive behaviour.

In a recent statement, Shaw asked the bureau to reconsider its application to fighting the tribunal’s decision. “It is now clear that the Tribunal rejected the evidence of the most important witnesses of the Commissioner, as well as all of his key complaints and theories.”

The merger received approval from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in March 2022. Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne also needs to approve the merger. But he won’t share his decision until the legal challenge is heard.

Source: Competition Bureau, Shaw,  Competition Tribunal