You may know that CRTC announced a new Wireless Code that would officially be implemented on December 2nd. This country-wide initiative is created to fix some of the concerns users have with their mobile operators, including the ever-long 3-year contracts which are more often than not presented as a default option.
The Commission considers it appropriate to limit the maximum number of months over which the early cancellation fee must be reduced to 24 months, so that Canadians will be able to cancel a contract at no cost to them after two years or less. The Commission considers that this will minimize the costs of switching WSPs for consumers, benefit consumers, and ultimately result in a more dynamic marketplace.
And it looks like Bell will be among the first Canadian carriers to adopt this practice and unveil its new offering based on two-year contract terms on July 17th. According to MobileSyrup, “Bell will replace all existing Consumer rate plans with a new line-up designed for 2 year contracts to offer greater choice and flexibility.” Moreover, hardware pricing will be determined by the plan the customer selects and it’s likely low-end phone pricing won’t be affected.
There will be three key categories of rate plans offering different values of minutes and data usage. These new plans will be available on a 30 day and 2-year terms; the rate plan categories will be Voice, Voice and Data Lite, and Voice and Data Plus…