Bell Canada Unveils HTC Touch...and $7 Flat-Rate Data Plan?!

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/11/15/bell-canadas-htc-launch-and-unlimited-internet-for-7-is-a-go/' target='_blank'>http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/...-for-7-is-a-go/</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Seems the rumor we heard last week about Bell's HTC Touch launch and unlimited surfin' and mail for $7 are true. Judging by the loveliness pictured above, we'll go out on a limb to say that today's HTC Touch launch by Bell Canada is most definitely gonna start a frenzy up north. Though our prices last week were a bit wonky, it appears the Touch will only set you back $150 on a 3 year stint, or $400 off contract and not the $250 and $450 we'd quoted. Nice handset only made better by a great price and mind boggling -- at least, in Canada -- wireless web deal. Hop on over to Bell's site to enjoy the finer details."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/touchunlimweb2-engadget-nov16.jpg" /><br /><br />$7 for flat rate data on a Windows Mobile smartphone...in Canada? Has hell frozen over? I'm not going to switch to a CDMA carrier (I dislike the device lock-in) any time soon, but I applaud Bell Canada for unveiling a data rate plan that will undoubtedly put massive pressure on Telus and Rogers/Fido to stop their anti-consumer collusion and start to compete on price. Bring it on!

[Shrink]

Well this looks like my chance to ditch Telus mobility. :)

[PantheraLeo2k3]

I want to say call me back when you can get the Bell 6800 or other similarly high-end device with this kind of plan, but anything that'll start pulling down data prices in Canada is a Good Thing. Hopefully Rogers will be soon to follow suit for those of us stuck with GSM.

[JesterMania]

Whether it be CDMA or Touch-only, this is surely a break-through in terms of data pricing in Canada. Hopefully this is a positive sign for the future. I guess this also cancels out any argument that so many people have been using that the U.S. has a denser population therefore they can afford cheaper data plans whereas we cannot. Obviously, we can - it's just collusion that's driving the prices up, nothing to do with population at all.

[Gerard]

Wow. I've just this week joined the somewhat confusing but certainly interesting world of the Pocket PC phone; got a slightly used WM6 Atom. Just getting the finishing touches on my setup now... but one thing I did was to delete several references to GPRS from the registry. The darn thing just kept insisting on trying to connect to GPRS service if I forgot to toggle on Wi-Fi, and once I think it succeeded in connecting to Rogers thanks to the stupid insistence on connection in Messaging. So I had to do something. No way am I going to get stuck with a huge accidental bill. On researching it a bit further, I found that there are at least utilities which allow toggling GPRS availability, to prevent just this sort of nonsense.

But now that Bell has got the fair price ball rolling, it may not be too many months (or years?) before Rogers notices and follows along. That'd be slick, and well worth a hard reset and fresh setup - you see, I didn't bother backing up those deleted registry values... Not that I really need a cellphone data plan, but hey, it'd be handy sometimes.

[possmann]

I wonder if verizon would allow me to run this phone on their network? LOL

Congrats for Bell Canada and that great flat rate - :mrgreen:

[SteveHoward999]

I wonder if verizon would allow me to run this phone on their network? LOL



ROTFLMAO - yeah if that happens, you know hell really has frozen over!

[Noel]

Wait a minute.
I have a Touch and love it.
Unlocked GSM on Rogers.
I am glad for the great success of the HTC Touch (over 1,000,000 sold in Europe within 5 months!)
I have heard that the Bell variant is , how shall I say, "differently abled",
namely, NO WiFi - hence el cheapo data pricing... can anyone here confirm?


Noel

[extravagant]

Well, I just called Bell and they told me it is not in fact unlimited, only WAP is unlimited. So you wouldn't be able to send unlimited emails, browse in IE or download RSS feeds from like SPB Insight... the bell rep then asked me if I was interested in 1GB for unrestrictive for $100, but even Rogers offers 1GB for 65$

[JesterMania]

Well, I just called Bell and they told me it is not in fact unlimited, only WAP is unlimited. So you wouldn't be able to send unlimited emails, browse in IE or download RSS feeds from like SPB Insight... the bell rep then asked me if I was interested in 1GB for unrestrictive for $100, but even Rogers offers 1GB for 65$

Hmm...I would like some additional confirmation on this. Maybe hop on over to HowardForums and see what those people say or call in again. Frankly, I and many others can tell you the amount of incorrect information given by CSRs. Call 10 CSRs and you will get 7 different answers - it's seriously this bad. For example, I was told that my $10/10mb Rogers data plan was only good for WAP sites only but it has been confirmed by myself and many others that "data is data" and the service works for everything. Let's hope Bell follows the same rule.

[Cybrid]

I've spoken at length to Bell and Telus. (Day off, nuthin better to do?).
the $7 is for wap sites only, about 120 of them...they might not be able to tell or not has not been confirmed but the bell rep did mention that he's seen customers assume "unlimited" and get nailed.

P.S. subscribe to a fun bundle instead and get another $50 off. Fun bundle 15 =caller id + unlimited mobile browser + voicemail + picture messaging (200)
Better deal.




Well this looks like my chance to ditch Telus mobility.
Naw, hold em hostage. You may be pleasantly suprised.



Wait a minute.
I have a Touch and love it.
Unlocked GSM on Rogers.
I am glad for the great success of the HTC Touch (over 1,000,000 sold in Europe within 5 months!)
I have heard that the Bell variant is , how shall I say, "differently abled",
namely, NO WiFi - hence el cheapo data pricing... can anyone here confirm?
Yes no wifi but a 400 MHz processor and 128 Mb RAM compared to 201 MHz and 64Mb.

[Cybrid]

Oh and some hilarious moments....

I asked the telus rep if the Touch has a midlet manager. No. and I quote....
"Besides the minute you load a 3rd party app, you void your warranty..."
???? 8O

"....since...it could cause the device to operate in ways it was unintended..."

"Yeah..." I sez "...I'd just hard reset..."

He replied " this would clear personal data but not the loaded app."

So I thought I should correct him and mentioned that a hard reset would delete everything and turn it to factory defaults.

"Yes, It would load the factory defaults for the 3rd party app too but wouldn't uninstall it...."

I seriously need some of whatever he's smoking. :mrgreen:

[Gerard]

Not smoking I think. It's mushroom season. Gotta be something like that. The logic loop is simply beautiful.

When I finally washed my hands of any and all connections with Telus this summer (after 17 years of landline service which got worse every year, and 3 years of ADSL which had me calling tech support on average twice per month during the last year), I had concluded they are all insane there. The answers I got were just nuts, right from the first day of ADSL service, which turned out to take a month to set up because they connected my line to a dead outside line. When the rep asked why I was leaving, well, the only concise answer had to be the one I gave: 'I just can't listen to that Billy Joel song one more time.' Still Rock'n'Roll To Me had been hissing in my ear so many times while on hold with them I'd actually memorised the damned thing.

[Noel]

Yes no wifi but a 400 MHz processor and 128 Mb RAM compared to 201 MHz and 64Mb

Thanks for the confirmation!

However, who doesn't have WiFi @ home or work?
I sync, stream music from my home network while I garden, email, browse to my heart's content, essentially free.
The 201 cpu makes for the most battery efficient PDA I've ever used!

No WiFi for me would be a deal-breaker.

[Shrink]

Oh and some hilarious moments....

I asked the telus rep if the Touch has a midlet manager. No. and I quote....
"Besides the minute you load a 3rd party app, you void your warranty..."
???? 8O

"....since...it could cause the device to operate in ways it was unintended..."

"Yeah..." I sez "...I'd just hard reset..."

He replied " this would clear personal data but not the loaded app."

So I thought I should correct him and mentioned that a hard reset would delete everything and turn it to factory defaults.

"Yes, It would load the factory defaults for the 3rd party app too but wouldn't uninstall it...."

I seriously need some of whatever he's smoking. :mrgreen:

It's because of examples of exchanges such as this that I avoid calling Telus (not to mention tech support for other technology). It is incredibly frustrating when I know that I am dealing with folks who know less about their product than I do but insist on treating me as though I am the one who is mistaken.

I am going to hold off for now and keep my fingers crossed that Google gets the 700mhz spectrum in the US and Canada and offers some real competition with the wireless weasels up here!

[Jason Dunn]

Hmm. Sounds like the $7 deal was too good to be true - I couldn't find a trace of that mentioned online, but I trusted Engadget's story so...we end up here. Let me email Bell's PR person and get the final word.

[Cybrid]

Hmm. Sounds like the $7 deal was too good to be true - I couldn't find a trace of that mentioned online, but I trusted Engadget's story so...we end up here. Let me email Bell's PR person and get the final word.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/world/americas/7141935.stm


Shock at $85k mobile phone bill
A Canadian man has been shocked to receive a mobile phone bill for nearly $85,000 (£41,000).
Piotr Staniaszek thought he could use his new phone as a modem for his computer under his $10 unlimited mobile browser plan from Bell Mobility.
He downloaded high-definition movies and other large files unaware that this incurred massive extra charges.
Bell Mobility has since lowered the bill to $3,243, but Mr Staniaszek says he intends to fight the charges anyway.
'Nobody told me'
The 22-year-old oil-field worker from Calgary said he thought a first bill for $65,000 in November was a mistake.
When he spoke to Bell Mobility he was informed the bill had climbed to nearly $85,000 after more downloading.

"I'm going to try and fight it, because I didn't know about the extra charges"
Piotr Staniaszek

He said he normally paid about $150 a month for his phone and used to be notified of high charges.
"The thing is, they've cut my phone off for being like $100 over," he told CBC News.
"Here, I'm $85,000 over and nobody bothered to give me a call and tell me what was going on."
Bell Mobility said they would lower the bill to $3,243 in a "goodwill gesture" to match the best data plan available for using mobile phones as a modem, the Globe and Mail reported.
The trouble stems from the new phone he received when he renewed his mobile phone contract.
The new model allows him to connect with his computer and download data.
"I told them I wasn't aware I would be charged for hooking up my phone to the computer. I'm going to try and fight it, because I didn't know about the extra charges."
Canadians complain that their mobile phone charges are much higher for comparable service in the United States.

[ctmagnus]

The fact that anyone's phone bill could skyrocket into five digits is testament to how lame Canadian telcos really are.