Xplornet to let Manitoba customers roll over unused data.
TORONTO • Xplornet Communications Inc. will let customers roll over unused wireless data to the next month when it launches mobile service in Manitoba, a unique promotion the underdog carrier hopes will attract customers from its larger competitors.
The New Brunswick-based private company’s new wireless brand, Xplore Mobile, announced the rollover plans on Monday as it prepares to launch across the province on Nov. 14. It’s the first foray into wireless service for the rural internet company that will now take on the Big Three as Manitoba’s fourth wireless carrier.
Under the rollover plans, when wireless customer purchases 7 gigabytes of data per month but only uses 5 GB, the leftover 2 GB will automatically be rolled over to the next billing cycle, giving them 9 GB the following month. That particular plan costs $55 per month if a customer brings their own phone, according to Xplore’s website.
The concept of rollover data is popular in the U.S., Australia and Europe, but Xplornet believes it’s the first to offer such plans in Canada. Xplore recognized it needed an attractive promotion to lure customers to an untested brand, director of communications Sebastien Bouchard said in an interview.
“Let’s be realistic, there’s a lot of competition in the marketplace at the moment and we had to come up with something compelling to convince them to come over to a brand new carrier,” Bouchard said.
It received an “overwhelmingly positive” response when it tested the concept with consumers in popup stores in Brandon and Winnipeg, he said.
Xplore is trying to position itself as a fair brand with simple plans. Its entrance into the Manitoba market comes weeks after Canada’s telecom regulator held a public hearing into perceived aggressive or misleading sales practices throughout the industry. Consumer advocates and researchers raised concerns about the difficulty of getting information when buying wireless services.
“There’s one thing for sure, the wireless space has been highly criticized,” Bouchard said. “Though the mobile industry is highly competitive a lot of people aren’t necessarily pleased with plans that they have, so what we want to do is be the fair mobile carrier.”
It’s a plan Xplornet hopes will appeal to consumers in a country where people often gripe about relatively high data prices, low data allotments and the resulting overage fees, which netted industry players more than $1 billion in revenue in 2016, according to the CRTC.
But it has a long way to go to build a network that will compete with the incumbents that dominate the Manitoba market, serving about 98 per cent of its 900,000 wireless subscriptions.
Xplore’s entrance into Manitoba was a result of BCE Inc.’s $3.9-billion purchase of Manitoba Telecom Services. Regulators approved the deal on the condition that Bell divest 24,700 subscribers representing a typical group of customers, six stores and 40 MHz of spectrum to Xplornet. They also granted Xplornet special access to Bell’s networks, towers and supply chains for a few years. (Bell also had to sell one third of its new subscribers to Telus Corp.)
Regulators worried that consolidation would lead to higher wireless prices in a province that enjoyed some of the lowest rates in the country. The Competition Bureau credited the presence of a strong regional competitor, MTS, for Manitoba’s lower prices. This summer, Bell raised rates by about $5 per month for new customers and existing customers who upgrade their plans. It also stopped offering unlimited plans to new customers.
Still, Xplore was a surprise choice for a fourth player since it had never offered mobile wireless services before. Even with the leg up, Xplore plans to invest $100 million in Manitoba to get its network running. Xplore has built roughly 25 per cent of that network so far, Bouchard said, but customers will roam on its competitor’s network until the build is complete. He insisted there will be no difference in coverage.
Xplornet started transitioning about 20,000 mobile customers from Bell MTS to its service earlier this fall. It has already opened three stores where customers can set up appointments to transfer their service, and plans to open three more this week. Xplornet acknowledged the change may be stressful or confusing for customers, and said extra staff will be available to help customers switch until March 2019.
“Our proposition is really about being customer first … it’s something that we feel will help us differentiate versus the larger players,” Bouchard said.