Generally, the big carriers flanker brands – Fido, Koodo and Virgin are much better priced than their parent companies. They have eliminated long distance charges in Canada and never charge roaming fees for calls made/received anywhere in Canada, unlike Wind. Plus users get the network quality of Rogers/Telus/Bell respectively.

Wind works hard to hide its in-Canada roaming fees while boasting about its low rates for US roaming and has minimal quality network and coverage.

There are some excellent regional plans; e.g. people in Saskatchewan and Manitoba get far better prices than most Canadians, but these are not available to most of us.

In year's past the December holiday period was the best time of year to negotiate a mobile plan. This was not as obvious in 2013 and who knows what will happen in 2014. Public Mobile has already been absorbed by Telus, Mobilicity is on the verge of bankruptcy collapse and Wind is desperately searching for a buy-out partner (its business model is unsustainable and it has run out of money to upgrade its network). I don't expect prices to see a significant drop in the near future.

An hour's online research time should show $80 month is the most anyone should need to pay for voice and data unless that plan to constantly stream video to their smartphone.

The bam would only apply if we weren’t already on a contract, haha. But also Wind only reaches so far and unfortunately the boy’s work is wide spread. There are a lot of areas in which he works that he wouldn’t get service.

My contract with Telus is up. They are currently offering me a new 3-year contract that costs $55/m that includes top 10 numbers nationwide unlimited calling. 200 any-time minutes, visual voice mail, call ID, 1GB data, unlimited evenings/weekends.

All I have to do now is decide what handset to get.