It’s one of five new companies going up against Rogers, Bell and TELUS
On March 19th Public Mobile Holdings Inc. opened its first 25 stores, aiming at the Quebec and Ontario regions. Within the next two months the company plans on having 50 stores in operation.
The company’s philosophy is to make cell phones more affordable and accessible to everyone–an annoying promise we hear far too often with companies like Rogers, Bell and TELUS. However, Public Mobile seems to be working hard to live by that philosophy.
With no contracts or credit checks, Public Mobile offers customers a flat rate of $40/month for unlimited local talk and texting. Clients won’t be chained to contracts; instead, they will only be required to pay the $40 fee and renew at the end of each month.
Public Mobile’s CEO, Alek Krstajic, who previously worked for both Rogers and Bell, says that if costumers join Public Mobile before the network launch, they will instantly get free unlimited Canadian long distance calls – for life. Not a bad deal.
“We’re trying to serve the unserved market,” Krstajic says about the company’s target consumers. Public Mobile is aiming at the Ontario and Quebec regions, to people who have avoided companies like Bell, Rogers and Telus–that all together dominate about 95% of Canada’s cell phone market.
A setback of Public Mobile is that for the moment there are only four phones to choose from. Two phones are made by Kyocera Corp., one by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., and the other by ZTE Corp. The phones are very basic with simple features like: a camera, QUERTY keyboard, speakerphone, and Bluetooth. Krstajic says that if Public Mobile were to add smartphones to company, then those phones will come with a flat data plan charge.
Public mobile is the second of five new carriers starting their business this year. Wind Mobile was the first and started its service back in December, catering to Alberta and Ontario, so far. The company also has a choice of four phones; however, three of them are smartphones. One phone that is offered is the BlackBerry Bold 9700. Wind sells the phone for $450.00, without a contract. Rogers sells the same phone without a contract for $549.99 and Bell sells it for $599.95. That’s already a huge difference.
Although you have to pay the full price of the phones upfront at Wind and Public Mobile, in the long run you do save quite a bit of money. Also, keep in mind that not all the phones are priced that high. Wind’s phones start at $130, and Public Mobile’s range between $70 and $180. And the great thing about these companies is that there is no contract and the client is free to cancel at any moment. Unlike the larger companies who have costumers hooked for three years and charge insanely high fees for canceling.
Public Mobile is certainly going to expand their phone selection in the future, but for now its simple flat-rate plan is a great deal. Unlimited local talk and text for $40/month will benefit future clients and save them a lot of money without the contracts and other unexpected surprises. Public Mobile’s service will start in Montreal and Toronto in mid-May.
