Tales From Telus: The Competition-Bell

I have not been a Bell customer in decades. As a third party ISP customer Bell has been a thorn in my side for years as they conspire to not provide the legally mandated service levels that is required of them. 

However, they might be worth a look.

The Lineup

Phone*	Off contract Cost	On 2 Year Contract
Iphone 5s	$729	$229
Iphone 5c	$619	$79
Galaxy S4	$700	$99
Nexus 5	$500 ($350 from Google)	$49
Lumia 1020	N/A	N/A
HTC One	N/A	N/A

Off contract Bell charge $10-20 more for Apple products but is on par with Android. The only difference in on-contract prices is the 5C which is $50 less with Bell than Telus.

Plan in the Ass

A reminder of my current plans that would be replaced with a new device or a new provider:

VOICE/TEXT	FAVORITES* Included	Data	Price per Month(before tax &fees)
200 Local	8 favorites #’s(local & LD)	6 GB/month	$70 (promo plan only offered for 60 days)
Unlimited nationwide	n/a	1 GB/month (promo)	$55 + $20 data (promo)
200 Local	10 favorites #’s(local & LD)	1 GB/month	$55 (student promo)
		TOTAL	$205

Bell plans:

*$35 connection fee applies 

Non-Shared Plan across 3 devices (out of contract)

VOICE/TEXT**	FAVORITES Included	Data	Price per Month(before tax &fees)
Unlimited nationwide	n/a	6 GB/month(promo)	$105 (promo)
Unlimited nationwide	n/a	2 GB/month (promo)	$85 (promo)
Unlimited nationwide	n/a	2 GB/month (promo)	$85
		Data overage	$0.05/Mb
		TOTAL	$275

**Included in all plans: unlimited national text/picture/video messaging, Call display, Voice Mail, Conference Calling

Shared Plan 1GB (parity with Telus) across 3 devices (out of contract)

VOICE/TEXT**	FAVORITES Included	Data	Price per Month(before tax &fees)
Unlimited nationwide	n/a	6 GB/month	$105 (promo)
Unlimited nationwide (shared)	n/a	shared 2 GB/mth	$85
Unlimited nationwide (shared)	n/a	shared 2 GB/mth	$35
		Data overage	$.05/Mb
		TOTAL	$225

**Included in all plans: unlimited national text/picture/video messaging, Call display, Voice Mail, Conference Calling

Shared Plan 10 GB across 3 devices (out of contract)

VOICE/TEXT**	FAVORITES Included	Data	Price per Month(before tax &fees)
Unlimited nationwide	n/a	shared 10 GB/mth	$140
Unlimited nationwide (shared)	n/a	shared 10 GB/mth	$35
Unlimited nationwide (shared)	n/a	shared 10 GB/mth	$35
		Data overage	$0.05/Mb
		TOTAL	$210

**Included in all plans: unlimited national text/picture/video messaging, Call display, Voice Mail, Conference Calling

Bell's Share Plan is close to my current bill but requires I buy out of my current contracts on which I owe the following:

• 2 year old Android (on contract)= $152.44/9 months left
• 1 brand new Android (on contract)= $479/22 months left
• 1 3 yr old iphone (off contract)=$0
• 1 wife-destroyed windows phone (on contract)=$294/19 months left

Upfront costs: 

• $925 contract buy out
• $35 connection fee

Total: $960 with monthly recurring fee of $5 extra a month

Sigh. On to the Rogers.