SaveOnCellPhones.ca

Here is a great tip for any of you travellers to the USA.  The carriers in Canada are starting to catch on to our work and travel patterns and are falling into suit offering data add-ons that help to eliminate the typical roaming charges that come from visiting the USA. 

As an example Rogers announced a $10 Data Roaming Add-on this year which helps their subscribers save money when travelling to the states.  You can add this feature on to your phone for one month or more and it provides significant cost savings for your DATA usage.  Without the package you would be paying $6/MB, on top of your current data package. With the$10 add-on you only pay $1/MB in additional roaming charges. 

NOTE: With 1MB you can send/receive 514 emails (text only) from a BlackBerry® Bold™ or send/receive 341 Instant Messages from regular consumer phone.

So if you are travelling to the USA and you expect to be using more than 2MB of Data (2MB x $6 = $12) then the $10 add on makes sense to utilize.  Add this on before your trip and you will realize the cost savings on your next bill.

For more information on this offer from Rogers visit their website at: 

http://www.rogers.com/web/content/wireless-network/wn_usdataroaming 

For more information on Travel Add-ons offerred by Rogers visit:

http://www.rogers.com/web/content/wireless-network/wn_travelphone.

I will be writing about offers from Telus and Bell in the weeks to come.  In the meantime feel free to visit their websites with more information on their US Data Roaming Plans.

Zer01 Mobile – New USA Cell Phone Service Operator

The United States is seeing significant growth and competition in the wireless industry.  One of the most recent players is a company call Zer01 Mobile (www.zer01mobile.com).  Zer01 Mobile launched services in the United States July 1, 2009 and offers a very unique service for customers, UNLIMITED USAGE!  That is correctly, Zer01 offers true unlimited calling, unlimited data and unlimited web browsing.  The unbeatable part of their offer is their pricing in the US.  Starting at just $69.95 / month Zer01 is going to be a competitive player in the market that will likely attract a lot of new business.

So what is the difference with Zer01 that allows it to offer true unlimited service at a low discounted price?  Well the answer is Veritable Mobile Convergence (VMC) which allows “smart phone users to make voice calls or transmit data by sending voice communications through a VoIP system.”  This patent pending technology is provided through Buzzirk Mobile’s VOIP communication system and allows for this inexpensive communication channel, more info at (www.buzzirkmobile.com).

One of the main challenges facing Zer01 Mobile is device compatibility.  As of today the only devices compatible for them are Windows Mobile 6.0 type devices on the GSM network.  CDMA models are not compatible and many GSM mobiles will not be compatible either.  This means that customers would have to change devices including ditching their iPhones and Blackberries, which may be tough for many consumers to handle.

However, the company still seems to be drawing on positive PR and exposure. Zer01 Mobile has attracted so much attention lately that at the CTIA 2009 Wireless 2009 Conference they were awarded the ‘Best Overall Product’ by Laptop Magazine.  As Zer01 Mobile moves into the USA marketplace it will be interesting to see how their service, devices and company hold up against major industry players like AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile.  However, if the product is as good as it sounds it could change the landscape of the mobile industry.

The next question is when can we expect a service like this in Canada?  Well, although the website does mention entry into the Canadian market I would not expect to see Zer01 Mobile in Canada anytime in 2009.  The Canadian marketplace is very difficult to enter due to government regulations and tight competition from the current players.  For now, watch what Zer01 Mobile and other new entrants to the US market do and maybe we will see them and their low cost, high usage options in the not too distant future. 

World Cell Phone Penetration Reaches 60%

In 2008, the International Telecommunications Union forecasted that global cell phone penetration would be at 50% by the end of the year.  As of 2009, the numbers are now showing that 6 out of 10 (or 3 of 5) humans on the planet now have a mobile phone. A United Nations 2009 review reported that global cell phone penetration is now at 60%.  As a result we have seen an improvement in cellular services around the world as companies upgrade to 3G networks and offer new services and plans for customers.  The growth in the market has mostly been attributed to an expanding pre-paid market as apposed to a slower growth rate in plan subscriptions.  The carriers and manufacturers are looking to cash in on these new users which are nearly 4 billion individuals across the world.

There is a definite skew toward the developed nations of the world.  Switzerland, as an example, has over 80% cell phone penetration and most developed nations are over 60%.  However, there is expanding growth in third world countries where some people don’t have bank accounts but do  have cell phone accounts!

The rapidly expanding market penetration of cell phones is magnified by the fact that  in 2002 only 15 % of the global population used cell phones. In only 8 years the world population of cell phone users has gone from approximately 1.2 billion to 4 billion.  Some reports are suggesting that by 2012 nearly 90% of the world’s population will be using cell phones.

What does all this mean?  Hopefully for Canada it will mean two things. 

1. That Canadians will see more competition and thus better pricing and services.

2. And that with more cell phone users in Canada that they will have more of a voice and say in the government decisions on cell phone practices in Canada.

What do you think?  Will increase market penetration of cell phones in Canada and the world be a positive or a negative?

(For more information on this article see: http://www.tgdaily.com/html_tmp/content-view-41586-113.html)

Cost Saving Text Messaging

More and more of us are text messaging and text messaging plans are getting both bigger and more expensive.  I recently had one client that used 2900 text messages in one month!  That is nearly 100 a day.  Unfortunately for her she was not on the correct text messaging plan and she was paying $0.15 / msg for a lot of those texts.

Here is a quick and easy way to save some money on your text messages.  Each of the carrier’s websites (Rogers, Telus, Bell and others) have websites where you can send text messages to their subscribers for free.  As an example, if I am a Rogers subscriber and I want to send a text message to my friend on Telus instead of texting from my phone I can go to a Telus website from my laptop (or mobile device) to send the message.

This is a quick and easy way to send a free message to your friends and family while avoiding the high costs of text messaging.  I will provide you with the website links for some of the Canadian carriers, but you may also want to look for some of the links for US or International carriers.  Go to your friend’s carrier website and look for “Send SMS” or “Send Text” .  There is typically a link that will allow you to send free text messages.

Here are some of the links for Canadian Carriers.  Remember, you need to find out from your friend which carrier they are on as it only works if you send it from their carrier’s website.

Telus Mobility: http://www.telusmobility.com/en/BC/send_message/

Bell Mobility: http://www.txt.bell.ca/bell/en/

Rogers Wireless: http://websms.rogers.page.ca/2way/ 

                (Note: Free User Account Required)

Fido Mobile: http://websms.fido.page.ca/2way/?lang=en 

                (Note: Free User Account Required)

Solo Mobile: http://www.txt.mysolo.ca/solo/en/

Koodo Mobile: http://koodomobile.com/en/on/sendamessage.shtml

There are also a number of websites on the internet that offer free text messaging to various carriers around the world.  These can sometimes be hit or miss and you need to be careful about using them as you may get added to a distribution list.  You can search on Google for them but I would recommend that you stick to the carrier ones above.  Use at your own risk, but they do save the hassle of going to the different carriers websites.

Be sure to save this post on your computer so you can quickly access these links and text your friends for free.  You may also want to try this from a web browser on your phone as it may save you some time and money that way as well.  Have fun texting.

Globalive – New National Cell Phone Carrier for Canada

In 2007 / 2008 the Canadian Government released what is called Spectrum for Canadian companies to bid on.  Spectrum relates to the “airspace” or “bandwidth” in which Canadian Cell Phone carriers can use to broadcast their cellular networks.  Understanding spectrum can get a bit complicated but to simplify it, it means they have created more space for their to be more cell phone competitors.

(If you want to learn more about spectrum specificially, I recommend: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/sf08408.html)

One of the major players to buy some of this spectrum was a company called Globalive.  Globalive has been providing wireline services across Canada since 1988.  Some of their more well know services include Yak, OneConnect and 10-10-580 which provide a variety of discounted long distance services and business connectivity.

What is interesting about Globalive is that they were one of the major purchasers of national spectrum, in other words they have purchased the license to create and operate a new National Wireless Carrier in Canada (except Quebec).  This means that not only will we have Rogers, Telus, and Bell, we will also have Globalive.  Currently they are in the process of hiring their management team and constructing and installing their cellular towers, whichwill operate on the GSM network just like Rogers.

With a new national carrier in Canada this could mean a real opportunity for change in the market place.  With actual competition in the GSM / HSPA market place and a new carrier looking for customers to re-pay their hundreds of millions of dollar investments it could make for a great benefit for us as Canadian wireless customers.  Unlike the US that has over a dozen carriers, Canada essentially has only two.  Globalive has the potential to shake the industry up.  The question is how much of an impact will they have or whether they will become another one of the money hungry wireless giants.

A recent blog post at The Boy Genius Report reveals some of the insights and secrets into Globalive’s new wireless company, set to be called GlobalWireless.  In his posting he reveals the handsets, pricing and usage that is slated to be part of GlobalWireless’s offer to Canadian consumers.  Here are some of the highlights:

14 Handsets (including):

• Sony Ericsson TM506
• Nokia 5330 XpressMusic
• Nokia 5730 XpressMusic.
• Nokia 6070 Classic
• Sidekick LX 2009  
• Sony Ericsson Xperia X1
• Global (HTC) G1
• Global (HTC) M1

Airtime Rates

• $29.99 – 350 minutes, unlimited e/w, unlimited incoming
• $39.99 – 650 minutes, unlimited e/w, unlimited incoming
• $59.99 – Unlimited minutes and incoming.

Included Services for Monthly Plans

• Unlimited SMS (Canada and USA), Voice Mail, Caller ID, Name Display, MissedCall, Call Waiting, Call Conferencing and Call Forwarding

Data Access Rates

• $10 – Unlimited email (20MB in reality), IM and “communities” (social media sites?)
• $23 – 2.5GB data and unlimited email
• $40 – Unlimited, plain and simple

Not to take too much from the Blog itself but those are some of the offerings slated for GlobalWireless.  For the full details and information check out the Boy Genius Report directly through this link:

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/05/19/ex-globalive-employee-gets-revenge-by-leaking-the-crap-out-of-the-upcoming-carriers-plans/

In reviewing this information I am both not blown away and not surprised.  I didn’t expect their to be anything earth shatteringly different, but I did expect them to come in with less expensive options than this.  Although this is just an early report on the carrier’s offer it does leave me a bit dissappointed.  Hopefully as they get closer to launch date they will look at better and more cost effective plans and offers than can help entice new customers and to create more competition in the market.  For now, we just need to wait and see.

For more information on Globalive and their company please visit http://www.globalive.com