There are a lot of reasons to go for a BYO cell plan. First and foremost: if you already have a phone that you're perfectly happy with, it's a great way to save money. The same goes if you're off to buy a budget handset, rather than a big, shiny flagship. BYO plans tend to be cheaper per month, because they don't have to offset half or more the price of a new smartphone.
Another great perk is freedom. BYO cell plans are month-to-month, meaning no long-term lock-in contracts. As long as your device is compatible, you're free to chop & change plans either within or between carriers each month as you see fit. Just keep in mind that each carrier has its own unique activation costs, ranging from almost-negligible to about $25.
5GB plans
The Saskatchewan (SK) market is a little different to others. 5GB plans are often cheaper, or only a little-bit more expensive than 1GB ones.
Moreover, they're all pretty close to identical in monthly cost and feature unlimited Canada-wide (CW) calls.
|
Carrier
|
Data
|
Calls &
messages |
Per month
|
Activation
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5GB |
Unlimited CW minutes, Unlimited CW & international text, Unlimited CW & US picture msgs |
$48 |
$4.99 |
|
| 5GB |
Unlimited CW minutes, Unlimited CW & international txt & picture msgs |
$48 |
$5 |
|
| 5GB |
Unlimited CW minutes, Unlimited CW txt, picture & video msgs |
$48 |
$10 |
|
| 5GB |
Unlimited CW minutes, Unlimited CW txt, picture & video msgs |
$50 |
$20 |
|
| 5GB |
Unlimited CW minutes, Unlimited CW txt, picture & video msgs |
$55 |
$24.95 |
Here, the Virgin, Koodo and Fido plans pretty much only differ in activation fees. Fido is a tiny bit different, in that it does not offer international messages, but does include unlimited CW video messages.
With all three plans being so similar, our best advice is to choose whichever you know or suspect to have the best coverage around your home and the places you frequent. You can always feel free to experiment and check out coverage for yourself, just remember about those first-month activation fees.
To help you pick which might be best at covering your little slice of Canada, it could be helpful to know that Virgin is owned by Bell, Koodo by Telus and Fido by Rogers. All three operate over the networks of their parent carriers.
Rogers is surprisingly close in price to the smaller providers at just $2 per month more. The lack of international messages might be a deal-breaker for some, but most users tend to keep their texts within Canada and shouldn't notice its absence.
Bell is probably out of the running here. For $7 more per month, it offers the same data and more-restrictive message inclusions than Virgin Mobile. That comparison is important; Virgin is owned by and operates over the same network as Bell, so coverage should be comparable if not indistinguishable.
1GB plans
1GB plans are popular in the rest of Canada, but in SK they're not that much more appealing in terms of price than larger options. You can cut back by going for a local-calls-only plan, but some of the time you still end up paying a comparable amount to a 5GB option from a different, or even the same carrier.
|
Carrier
|
Data
|
Calls &
messages |
Per month
|
Activation
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1GB |
Unlimited local minutes, Unlimited CW & txt, picture & video msgs |
$40 |
$20 |
|
| 1GB |
Unlimited CW minutes, Unlimited CW txt, picture & video msgs |
$44.95 |
$15 |
|
| 1GB |
Unlimited CW minutes, Unlimited CW txt, picture & video msgs |
$49.45 |
$15 |
|
| 1GB |
400 local minutes, Unlimited CW txt, picture & video msgs |
$50 |
$34.99 |
|
| 1GB |
400 CW minutes, Unlimited CW & international txt, picture & video msgs |
$54 |
$25 |
*Plans beyond this point are equal-to or more-expensive than some of the 5GB options in the table above.
The top Rogers plan is enough cheaper per-month that you might consider it over one of the 5GB options above. At $8 per month less, that comes to a saving of almost $100 per year.
As for the rest, they're all similar to or noticeably more expensive than the larger plans we showed you first. Data's not like food or water; you don't have to feel guilty for letting half or more of it go unused once you've bought it. You may as well treat yourself to 5x the data and go about your month comfortable in the knowledge that you're unlikely to hit that cap, assuming you're anywhere close to the average user in your online habits.
Image of Saskatoon from Shutterstock
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