Competition heats up as Big Three telecos offer 10 GB plans

TORONTO — Bargain hunters flooded wireless retailers over the weekend as the Big Three offered unprecedented promotions that matched a data deal from Shaw Communications Inc.’s Freedom Mobile.

Competition heated up between the Big Three wireless providers, with BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. and their flanker brands Virgin, Fido and Koodo all offering plans with 10 gigabytes of data for $60 per month to new customers or those bringing their own devices. The promotions end Tuesday at Bell and Telus. Rogers’ deals expired Monday, but it extended the promotion to Tuesday for existing customers and bring-your-own-phone customers in Ontario.

That much data typically costs at least $115. Not surprisingly, customer service phone lines were jammed and mall line-ups were long. On social media, people reported waiting hours to get an amount of data at a price previously unheard of from the three largest players that serve 90 per cent of the country’s 31 million wireless subscribers.

The offer comes less than two months after Freedom launched 10 GB plans for $50, albeit with some limits on roaming outside a customer’s home city.

The eyebrow-raising deals also came days after the federal government released a report that found wireless prices are up to 31 per cent lower in regions where there are four strong players, such as Quebec (Videotron) and Saskatchewan (SaskTel). Canadians paid among the highest prices for mobile data compared to other G7 countries and Australia, according to the report prepared by Nordicity Group Ltd. for Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.

Shaw’s Freedom adds a fourth player in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta. Shaw has invested millions into infrastructure upgrades since it bought Freedom (previously called Wind) in 2016, but its network still isn’t as extensive as its competitors’ networks.

When Shaw launched its 10 GB deals, analysts didn’t expect it to shake up pricing quickly since it had an inferior network and didn’t sell Apple Inc. devices. But in November, Shaw announced a deal to sell the new iPhones and subsequently started selling the full range of iPhones.

Much like the back-to-school period, the holiday season is typically marked by heightened promotions. But the deals on the weekend were notable given the large data buckets in an era where skyrocketing data usage has fuelled carriers’ profit as consumers buy larger plans or are dinged with data overage fees.

Rogers kicked off the price wars on Thursday in Alberta and B.C., but not in its home turf of Ontario. Bell followed suit in the Western provinces. By Friday, Telus joined the fray, but also offered deals in Ontario. By Saturday, Rogers and Bell had lowered their prices in Ontario as well.

“We’re responding in a competitive marketplace,” Bell spokesman Marc Choma said in an email.

“We’ll always be competitive in all segments – Lucky Mobile’s another great example,” he wrote, pointing to the low-cost brand Bell launched earlier this month.

“We’ve seen tremendous response from Canadians and thank everyone for their patience and apologize for any wait,” Rogers spokeswoman Sarah Schmidt said in an email, adding that Rogers regularly has promotions around the holiday season.

On Twitter, Telus said it was “absolutely floored” by the response to the current promotions.