Telus Mobility BlackBerry Service
Editorial Rating
Overview:One of the newer wireless providers in Canada, Telus Mobility offers wireless voice, data and Internet services to businesses and consumers. They are based in Scarborough, Ontario.Pros: Depending on what you want from your BlackBerry plans, Telus offers different features per differently-priced plan. Telus has several deals on until November 2007 for their data plans, including unlimited data and local calling for up to three months. Calling features like call waiting and conference calling are also included. Cons: The plans are quite similar to Bell Canada’s plans, right down to the activation fee of $35 and the monthly system access fee. However, Telus’s system access fee is almost $2 cheaper, which is a plus, and consumers do get more voice minutes. Like Bell, there are quite exorbitant charges for extra data – Telus charges up to $12 for each additional MB. As well, each additional minute costs $0.35. You are also charged for roaming. Detailed Provider Information:Voice Plan Options: Telus offers two voice plans for BlackBerry. The first plan, the Talk and Email 45, costs $45 a month and gives users 100 voice minutes and unlimited local incoming minutes and local nights and weekends. The second plan, the Talk and Email 60, costs $60 a month and gives users up to 350 minutes and unlimited local and nights and weekends minutes. You also get unlimited local calling on your birthday and included call waiting and conference calling.Data Options: Telus has data plans that range from 4 MB per month to 1024 MB a month. The prices for these plans are indicated in the plan’s name – for example, Email and Web 100 for BlackBerry will cost $100 a month. The plans are Email and Web 25, 40, 60, and 100. You can choose to have these plans stand alone or you can add them to a talk plan. If you go over your data usage for the month, you will pay per MB charges between $1 and $12, depending on your data plan. For both voice and data plans, you can choose PCS or Mike networks. Messaging Options: Telus offers text and picture messaging as an extra to any plan. Email is included in data plans. Customer Service: You can contact Telus by phone or by email. They also offer a self service function on their website so that you can access FAQs and information about your account and services. They also offer a knowledgebase and search function so that you can find what you need. Contract: Most of the phones you can get with Telus are offered at a certain price, provided you have a contract with them. For the BlackBerries, you must have at least a 3-year contract to get a good price on the phones. If you want to get out of your contract, you must pay all charges owed and a termination fee. Messaging: Text messaging is an add-on. You can choose between picture messaging and text messaging, and the number of messages you want a month. It costs $0.15 per message. International Calling and Messaging: Charges to the U.S. are $0.50 a minute and international calling to Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Peru is $0.99 a minute for calls within the country. Roaming Charges: Roaming charges apply outside of your calling area and overseas. Activation Fee: You will have to pay an activation fee of $35 and a monthly system access fee of $6.95. Additional Features: Telus puts its services together by offering different add-ons for each plan. Some include texting, SPARK (different features packaged together), autotel and satellite, and more. Insurance: See Terms and Conditions. There is a repair tab on the website which explains the warranty and the conditions for each situation. For the most part, warranties cover your phone up to 30 days after activation.  Phones: Telus offers the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition. The World Edition has many great features that allow Telus customers access to more than just email. As well, they're one of the carriers of the stylish BlackBerry Pearl.Some Additional BlackBerry Models Available: BlackBerry 8130 Pearl BlackBerry Curve 8330 BlackBerry 8703e Coverage Map: The Telus coverage map can be found here. |
This information is a little out of date, but Telus now provides the best data options for consumers in the Canadian marketplace. Between November 2007 and February 2008, a BIS user could get unlimited on-device data (no tethering) for $15/month. The new plan has been raised to $30/month, but this is still far better than all of the competition, and even rivals US carriers.
Patrick is right about Telus
At current price plan, theres nothing that can compare to Telus's data offering on its BB and other PDA phones
On top of that, its voice plan are one of those that leads the market in Canada as we speaks... Canadian been long waiting for affordable or even cheap data service with little to no string attach
Now it is the time, at Telus
AS OF JUN 2008 TELUS WAS THE INLY PROVIDER OF UNLIMITED DATA FOR 30 A MONTH (I GOT DEAL FOR 15/MONTH DURING XMAS) BUT BELL HAS SAME FEATURE NOW 30 A MONTH WHICH IS THE BEST IVE SEEN GOOD FOR TELUS FOR SETTING THE BENCHMARK
If you still want to get the unlimited email/web browsing/IM (including msn messnger and yahoo messenger) for $15 dollars a month, just call up their loyalty and retention service and try to negotiate with them. They usually are able to give you expired promotions if u give them a good enough reason. (ex, switching to someone else)