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After getting through governmental approval, yet another carrier in Canada is ready to rock and roll: Mobilicity. Their launch devices will be the BlackBerry Bold 9700 for $499.99, the Nokia 5230 for $169.99, Nokia Totem for $99.99, Sony Ericsson TM506 for $99.99, Huawei U7519 for $109.99 and the HTC Snap for $199.99. That lineup will match Wind’s selection as soon as Mobilicty opens store doors tomorrow morning.
What’s probably more interesting than their devices are their prepaid and pay-as-you-go plans. Prices range from $15 to $65, and even at their most basic, include unlimited texting across North America. Wow. The Pay-Per-Use service deducts funds from a bucket called “My Wallet”, ensuring you don’t get surprised with some nasty roaming fees that you hadn’t budgeted for.To cater to the international crowd, Mobilicity is offering $20 add-ons that provide unlimited calling to east or south Asia (like China or India). When roaming outside the city on Rogers or T-Mobile, rates are $0.20 per minute in Canada and $0.50 per minute in the U.S.
Mobilicity will be duking it out with Wind Mobile, and likely Public Mobile at some point for low-cost, prepaid, local markets. One of Wind’s biggest cases against these new competitors has been that they offer Canada-wide roaming even though their own network is relatively new. Mobilicity looks like they’ll be meeting that standard head-on, even though it migh take them awhile to get rolling in the major cities that Wind has already.
One way or the other, it’ll be an interesting summer in Canada. Check out Mobilicity’s brand new site for a closer look at services and handsets.
[via Mobilicity]
About The Author
Simon Sage
Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.
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john Hinkley
