Let’s clarify some reasons.

Network Coverage: The networks for Rogers, BELL and TELUS offer, more or less, the same coverage for those consumers and businesses concentrated in urban areas so carrier should not matter as much as price and solution. For those in rural areas, consult the coverage maps for each carrier and see what the service is like. This is the only situation where service should trump price. No use going with a cheaper network if the phone works half the time.

Poor Customer Service: We have all been slighted by any of one the carriers and their customer service centers. “BLANK has the worst customer service.” (Substitute BLANK with Rogers,BELL or TELUS). I won’t discount the importance of customer service but the goal of the carriers is too ensure we pay as much as possible. What customer service offers you one month will not be the same the next month. So what you should do is find the best cell phone plan for your company, regardless of carrier, and ensure you understand everything about your plan. Most calls to customer service can be avoided if you understand the limits of your plan and how they charge. Why call them if you don’t need to?

Overcharging/Relationship: Let’s face it. The carriers are in it to make money. They will never call you up and say, “I think your company is paying too much or we can lower you bill by this much if we do this and this”. The same is true with most local authorized dealers. They make a percentage of your monthly bill so it is really not in their best interests to keep your monthly bill low. Wouldn’t it be nice to know that you could have saved a ton of money for your company with an unlimited long distance package or a travel roaming package or an application that you could have downloaded that would have cost you nothing? Wouldnt it be nice if  you had cell phone bill assurance? This would limit overcharging and calls to the customer service center.

Now, I will not promote one carrier over the other. The most important thing to decide when selecting a carrier is to select a carrier that gives you what you need at a price that makes sense. One that will explain all facets of the plan before you sign up.

Let’s face it. You owe it to your company and yourself to make sure that one of the most important tools for your business is not its most expensive. The best way to ensure it is to have the carriers compete for your business. Your company’s bottom line will thank you.

• Daytime minutes – this is the time of day when most business is done. MAKE sure you know what your monthly calling patterns are during the day because the second you go over, and I mean the second, the meter starts running. If you have more than one user on your plan, make sure you get a business share plan.  Also, remember all the cell phone companies round your usage up to the minute.
• Unlimited Incoming – this is great feature to have if you receive a lot of calls. Whatever the amount of daytime minutes you select, make sure you account for calls made and received to see what your total minutes used would be. The Carriers love people that go over their allotted minutes, because that means more money for them.
• Evenings/ Weekends (EW) from 6pm – great feature to have but how many business people are using their phone between 6pm and 9pm (Standard E/W start time). If you use your phone a lot during those 3 hours, make sure your E/W start at 6pm or 5pm if possible.
• Text messaging –  Most business people communicate via email. Most times, a package of 250 text messages is more than enough but if you are a heavy texter, look at the unlimited bundle. The per text charge can be anywhere from $0.20-$0.50
• Data – most of us do not come even close to using 0.5GB of data per month but we have it in our head that the extra $5 to $10 is worth it to have Unlimited or 6GB of data. Especially if you have a blackberry as they compress the data. Take a look at your current wireless bill and see what your usage is like. If you want to see how much data you need, take a quick read.
• Long Distance – if you call long distance within Canada to Canada/US, you must know how much you are paying per minute. It can range anywhere from $0.15-$0.35/minute. If you talk more than 100 minutes, make sure you get a bundle that fits your calling habits. You will get value from a bundle. Unlimited long distance bundles range from $15 to $20 per month.
• Roaming to the US – check out one of our more popular blogs that gives a few tips to Canadian travelers roaming in US.
• Carrier to Carrier – great feature to have when you call a person that has the same carrier but most of times not even a factor.

Look at your bills and understand your calling patterns and cell phone usage. The better you understand each feature you are paying for, the less you will end up over paying.  Of course, if you need any help to optimize your business cell phone bills we can assist you as well.

Understanding your first cell phone bill

The last conversation you had with your Canadian cell phone company was that you would be on a $40 monthly plan plus some other fees, so your expectation was that your bill would be around $50 – $55 max.  But what happened, you received your first bill and you nearly drop to the floor in surprise….a whopping $140. How is this possible on a $40 a month plan?

Well, let me explain, your first bill is almost always large because of three main reasons:

1. Activation fees: more often than not, there is a onetime activation fee, typically $35 that is added to your first bill (or sometimes charged at point of purchase)
2. Usage:  depending on when you activated and which bill cycle you are on, a month may past before your bill arrives and you will have to pay for one month of service say $40 + system fees 10 + any overage charges, say $5 =  $55
3. Advance billing:  carriers typically bill one month in advance, so you will be charged upfront for the next month’s plan and any system access fees (learn more about one carrier is doing with these fees)

Combining these fees together gives a large first month bill of $140 (see table below) well above the expected $40 plan first quoted.

There you have it, activation fees and billing in advance essentially doubles your regular monthly bill on your first bill.

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Blackberry decided to offer an entry level quad band GSM smartphone and provide an update to the BlackBerry Curve 8310/8320 line. This device targets customers who are new to the smartphone world as well as those looking for an affordable device that can do most of the things other BlackBerries are known for. One of the down falls is the camera does not have a flash and there isn’t any GPS. Some users may find the lack of 3G support a bother , but it does have Wifi. There are dedictaed media keys, making it a lot simpler to navigate the web. The phone is light and has a nice soft feel in your hand. One of the things you will notice is the side keys have been changed from other BlackBerry devices, they are now intergrated into the side band, making the smartphone phone much sleeker. The trackpad touch navigation is a nice touch as well, making navigating throughout the 8520 easy. The Curve 8520 comes in two different colours; Black, of course, and Frost Blue.

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You are not alone.

Canadians pay more than Americans for wireless services. Only 65% of Canadians have a cell phone compared to the G8 average of 107%. (USA, France, Japan, UK) In fact, a quick scan of the world’s wireless landscape at the end of 2008 indicates that there are only two countries in the world (Ireland and Norway) that pay more than Canadians for cell phone usage. Canadians pay $60 per month on average while the G8 average is $40 and the world average sits around $25 dollars.

As a result Canadians do not readily adopt new services as quickly as their industrialized counterparts.

There are reasons why we are expected to pay more than some other countries. It costs more to set up the infrastructure across the second largest country in the world with a population density of 33 million versus 300 million south of the border. However, this does not explain why our monthly bills have been going up consistently over the last 5 years. Nor does it explain why we pay 50% more than the G8 average.

What’s timely is the likelihood of having new wireless providers coming into the market in 2010. While this is good for competition, how does a customer search for the best deal when there are over 20+ wireless brands in the marketplace and new players adding to this confusion with their own brands?

The fact of the matter is that Canadians have not had a voice in the wireless space. There are many confused and frustrated individuals who are looking for a better deal. There is a solution. myCELLmyTERMS.com promises to alleviate some of the pain by providing a free online service to all Canadians. myCELLmyTERMS empowers customers to negotiate their very own cellphone terms using a simple, guided and powerful online portal. They shop your proposal anonymously to an exclusive wireless dealer network who compete for your business.

myCELLmyTERMS provides you with a one stop shop for all your wireless deals, the latest devices whether they are smartphones like the iPhone, BlackBerry or Palm Pre and the best cell phone plans available. The best cell phone deal is what you – the customer chooses – not what is dictated by the “flavor of the month”.

Canadians finally have a voice in the wireless industry.

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Understanding contract cancellation fees in Canada

In Canada, many people sign contracts without being fully aware of the fees associated with breaking that contract. These fees can be staggering, in some instances more than $50o if you have a smartphone contract and you cancel within the first year.

So, to shed some light on early cancellation fees or TLCs (Termination Liability Charges) here is the low down on these fees:

For Rogers here are the key items you need to know if you are going to cancel your contract early:

- There is a $20 per month fee for each month remaining on your contract to a max of $400, with a minimum of $100 if you break your contract with less than 5 months.  This is called the  ECF or Early Cancellation Fee.

- If you purchased a Smartphone, however, you would be required to commit to a data term as well, and the data early cancellation fee (DECF) is $5 for every month remaining to a maximum of $100 or a minimum of $25.

- And to top it off 30 days’ notice is required for every cancellation, so be prepared for another 30 days of charges on your phone bill.

Bell and TELUS also have similar terms in their TLCs:

• Both have the $20 per month fee for each remaining month on your contract to a maximum of $400.
• If you have a smartphone with TELUS then there is a $100 fee for cancelling within the first year of your contract, Bell has a “data Service Price Adjustment” charge of $200 for early cancellations of data devices like smartphones.
• Each one has a minimum of $100 to cancel your cell phone contracts

If you bought a smartphone on a 3 year contract with a $45 monthly plan and wish to cancel your contract after 6 months of usage, then your cancellation charges will be:

• For TELUS:  $400 (early termination charge) + $100 (data early cancellation fee) + $45 (one month of cancellation charges) = $545
• For Rogers:  that’s $400 (early termination charge) + $100 (data early cancellation fee) + $45 (one month of cancellation charges) = $545
• For Bell: $400 + $200 (data service price adjustment) + $45 = $645

It seems that the best time to cancel your contract is with 5 months remaining, since the minimum applies of $100 + $25 (if on a data plan with Rogers) = $125, providing that you give 30 days notice of course.  These fees are staggering and ridiculous!