I’m into my second week here in Canada where I’ve studied almost all my options for a mobile phone line. One thing that stood out to me is that I miss my unlimited LTE from Smart. It’s impossible to get unlimited data here on your phone here.
To give you an idea, here’s my current plan with Fido which is a carrier under the bigger brand Rogers. Like what Sun is to Smart. And I’m going to compare it to an almost similar-valued Plan 1500 from Smart.
| Fido $39 Plan (tax inc.) | Smart Plan 1500 | |
|---|---|---|
| Text: | Unlimited inc. international | 120 |
| Calls: | 200 mins. | 60 mins. |
| Data: | 400MB | Unlimited |
| Extra: | Unlimited Canada-wide calls after 5PM and during weekends. |
Some things to remember with how mobile plans work here in Canada:
- Receiving incoming calls will also use up your free minutes unless you have unlimited minutes. So wrong number calls and solicitors calling will hurt your minutes. And you can’t really do a mis-call and have the other person call you.
- Text is the way to go if you want to save since even the cheapest plans have unlimited texting.
- The most Data available on any plan is 6GB monthly and that plan is already in the $100+/mo. range.
- However, there’s a small carrier called Wind which offers unlimited data (throttled after 2GB) for $30/mo. but their network is still spotty and it’s only 3G.
- Although plans in Canada are generous in calls and text, with unlimited data, you can reach a wider set of contacts through other means (Viber, Skype, etc.) if you have a smartphone.
Having limited data, users here only rely it for checking transit schedules, e-mails, social network updates, and the likes. Not for downloading or watching high-def videos despite being on LTE.
Why it’s cheaper in the PH
So why is it that PH, a third-world country, can bring down the price of their mobile data while maintaining unlimited bandwidth (throttled speed is still technically unlimited). You have to look at the economics behind it.
| Philippines | Canada | Ontario province | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Area | 300,000 km² | 9,984,670 km² | 1,076,395 km² |
| Population | 98 million (2013) | 35 million (2013) | 14 million (2013) |
For example, let’s just take the Ontario province where Toronto is. Its area can fit 3 Philippines and its population is just 1/7th of the Philippines. This means that due to the vast space, the infra that telco companies need to setup is going to be expensive but the customer base is not that huge compared to the Philippines. This is why plans are considerably pricier here compared to the Philippines.
Well at least the network is not as congested here so you’re paying for that value as well. Still, if you look at it, there’s really no point in bitching with 3GB (Globe) or 1.5GB (Smart) monthly cap before being throttled if you use your smartphone for it’s real purpose.
