We already have a cell phone (on a monthly plan) and a landline phone, but with both of us working, we really feel the need for another cell phone. The new phone would only be used for short calls and for emergency purposes.
Our cell phone usage tends to be very patchy. We tend to make very few calls most months and exceed our minutes in others. I keep a detailed log of our usage and found that a pre-paid plan would be ideal for our situation.
Before shopping for a cell phone, I researched the phone plans offered by the major wireless operators. Here is a summary of their pre-paid plans:
Bell Mobility: 30 ¢/min for the first 2 min of a call and 5 ¢/min thereafter; $10 top-up valid for 30 days and $25/$50 top-up valid for 60 days.
Rogers Wireless: 33 ¢/min; $10 top-up valid for 30 days (I think); Free Call Display.
Telus Mobility: $50 card - 25 ¢/min, valid for 60 days; $25 card - 33 ¢/min, valid for 60 days; $10 card - 40 ¢/min, valid for 30 days; Free Voicemail and Call Display.
Virgin Mobile: 25 ¢/min first five minutes of a day, 15 ¢/min thereafter; $15 top-up valid for 120 days; Free Voicemail and Call Display.
Based on the plans, we decided to go with newly launched Virgin Mobile. They offer the most services for the lowest price for our usage patterns and they also use the Bell Mobility network.
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13 responses so far ↓
1 frugal chick // May 8, 2005 at 7:24 pm
Good choice. I’ve had Virgin Mobile for the past two years and I absolutely love it. It even has the text message feature at 10 cents per message.
2 Big Cajun Man // May 8, 2005 at 8:12 pm
Good analysis, I have been trying to figure out which plan to get for my teenage daughter, thanks!
c8j
3 Canadian Capitalist // May 8, 2005 at 10:56 pm
Frugal Chick: I checked out the text messaging feature after your comments. Its great! Thanks!
Cajun man: Yeah, I find pre-paid to be the best deal. Now, I am just waiting for the Bell Mobility contract to end on the other phone and I’ll switch in a heartbeat.
4 John // Oct 20, 2006 at 7:58 am
Hi, great site and this helped me decide… likely will go with virgin mobile but wanted you and readers to know the topup for 120 days has gone up from $15 introductory rate to $50 (or 90 days for $25).
5 Mario // May 10, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Hi CC, are you still happy with Virgin Mobile? I have been trying to figure out which service is the best for an occasional user.
6 Canadian Capitalist // May 10, 2007 at 6:17 pm
Mario: We are still with Virgin Mobile. Like John pointed out, the best rate now is 90 days for $25. Still the cheapest per month rate (but only by a few dollars), so it is not as great a deal as it once was.
7 Mario // May 21, 2007 at 1:16 pm
Thanks CC! By the way, Virgin has very nice promotion right now giving away free air time worth $25
8 Life Lnsurance WebLog » Blog Archive » goMobileZone - Your specialist in GPS navigation solutions and cell ... // Aug 4, 2007 at 9:30 pm
[...] Comparing Pre-Paid Cell Phone Plans Before shopping for a cell phone, I researched the phone plans offered by the major wireless operators. … Based on the plans, we decided to go with newly launched Virgin Mobile. They offer the most … http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/2005/05/08/comparing-pre-paid-cell-phone-plans [...]
9 Our Top Ten Money Saving Ideas // May 25, 2008 at 10:13 pm
[...] save by using two pre-paid cell phones from Virgin Mobile. If you tend to use your cell phone sparingly, you could save about $20 per month for each phone in [...]
10 jamie // Jun 7, 2008 at 11:44 am
is it possible to use a bell mobility cellphone plan on a virgin mobile cell phone?
11 Canadian Capitalist // Jun 7, 2008 at 4:12 pm
jamie: I don’t think so. Though the Virgin Mobile service uses the Bell cellphone network, I think you’ll need a Bell branded phone.
12 jamie // Jun 8, 2008 at 1:34 pm
really? thats unfortunate! i have a virgin phone but their long distance plans, or lack of , has me wanting a bell plan. thanks for your feedback:)
13 Murray // Jun 12, 2008 at 3:32 pm
I’m still holding off until the cell phone companies catch up to Europe. While we lived in Europe we could buy pre paid cards which would last forever and were never required to top up. Plus SMS cost about 1 cent/message. A $100 pre paid card would last me over a year!
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