Mobilicity
Mobilicity at 100 days
Aug 26th
Lately Mobilicity has seen its share of consumer criticism, but like most start-ups going through growing pains they have persevered and lasted in this Canadian cut-throat market.
Today, Mobilicity issued a press release on its 100th day live to let the people know how they are doing and their future plans, here are some of the key points shared:
- 30% growth in retail distribution
- 40 new GTA locations opened
- 300 points of distribution
Mobilicity’s President and CEO Dave Dobbin had this to say:
“We’re continuing to enhance our distribution to provide the most convenient customer experience around, with our extensive and growing network of locations, Mobilicity customers can easily shop for phones, pay their bills and receive customer support near their homes or workplaces.”
Glad to see Mobilicity doing well and look forward to seeing more good news come from them!
[via CNW]
Follow me on twitterMobilicity is alive and well
Aug 20th
Recently there has been rumors circulating the blogosphere that Mobilicity wasn’t doing well, and in fact had plans to close their doors.
Shortly thereafter my Twitter timeline exploded, followers looked to me for answers, asking me what was going on and some even dropping tips to our hotline mentioning “Mobilicity is preparing to announce bankruptcy.” Instead of posting on hearsay I reached out to my contact at Mobilicity for some answers and here is what she had to say:
Hi Corey,
Appreciate your call.
We wouldn’t put stock into slanderous rumours likely started by the competition. We have a more aggressive growth trajectory than any other new entrant and must be having a greater impact on their businesses than we first anticipated.
As you can see the rumors are just rumors.
Mobilicity is doing well and growing faster than they had ever expected, they already have a retail reach of over 300+ stores and that number is growing rapidly.
Thanks to all for the tips, I hope this post has cleared up any doubt in your minds.
Canadian Contracts Are Vampires: Study
Aug 11th
Get it? Flipout?
Canadians pay too much for their monthly cell phone bill, and are dragged into lengthy contracts that punish consumers for ending them before their term, according to a SeaBord Group study entitled “Death Grip.” (Great name!)
There will likely be another wireless spectrum auction in 2012 or 2013, and could increase competition again in the country, as the auction did in 2008, leading to the creation of WIND Mobile and Mobilicity, two companies who are completely contract-free.
But these companies will always be at a disadvantage to the three incumbents, Rogers, Telus and Bell, in part because they are established brands within the country, whose networks extend nationally, but also because they offer huge phone subsidies when signing a contract.
The problem comes in when customers want to remove themselves from the contract; they have already received promotional prices on their phone, and likely preferred monthly rates on their plan, but the cancellation fee is directly tied to how many months remain in his or her contract. Sometimes these penalties can cost more than the cost of the phone itself, which is the whole reason the contract exists in the first place.
But contracts are guaranteed revenue for these carriers, and they are loathe to change their business model, especially for higher-end business and data clients, who spend $100+ every month on their smartphone plan.
The report goes on to say that even though the Canadian carriers have less “buying power” when purchasing handsets, the discrepancy between the cost to the consumer and to the carrier is too high, and consumers end up with the brunt of it.
Read the entire report, and see for yourself.
(via The Globe and Mail)
Mobilicity Back To School Promos!
Aug 10th
An anonymous tipster, has given us a look at Mobilicity’s back to school promos which will be effective as of tomorrow. If you use Mobilicity, you definitely want to have a look-see.
We are excited to announce all of our Back-to-School promotions which include:
- $35 Plan now includes province-wide calling
- Recurring monthly credits on $35 – $65 plans
- $20 Multi Minute long distance add-ons
- HTC Snap™ Promotion
Hit the Jump for full details>>
Rate Plan Change: $35 Plan now includes province-wide calling! More improvements to our $35 Plan We have improved our $35 Plan to include unlimited province-wide calling. This makes Mobilicity the best value in the market for the $35 price point. Please note that this is a PERMANENT rate plan change, and all EXISTING customers on the $35 Plan will receive the province-wide calling as well, and will be notified via a phone call. Promo #1: Recurring Activation Credits Amazing offer – ends Sept. 6, 2010 New customers will receive recurring activation credits for the $35 plans and up for as long as they are a Mobilicity customer. The credit will be given to them within 24 hours of activation. The great thing about this promotion is that there is no expiry date! Customers will continue to receive the My Wallet credit as long as they activate their account before Sept. 6 and do not go into cancellation mode. Key points to note: Promo #2: Multi Minute Long Distance Add-Ons Introducing amazing Long Distance Add-Ons to 12 countries! For just $20 a month, customers can receive packaged Long Distance minutes to many countries. This can only be added once per month. The details are as follows: rate For more information and updated rates, please go to www.mobilicity.ca/addons Promo #3: HTC Snap™ Promotion Customers will receive a $50 credit if they purchase the HTC Snap™ handset! Activate the HTC Snap™ phone on ANY Mobilicity monthly plan and the customer will receive a $50 My Wallet Credit. This amount will be credited to their account in five (5) business days from the activation date.
Countries
Minutes included
Per minute
Bangladesh
900
0.02
Guyana
100
0.20
Iran
300
0.07
Iraq
250
0.08
Jamaica
150
0.13
Pakistan
300
0.07
Philippines
200
0.10
Sri Lanka
250
0.08
Trinidad & Tobago
300
0.07
Ukraine
250
0.08
United Kingdom
175
0.11
Vietnam
450
0.04
The Battle For Canada: Chat-r vs Wind vs Mobilicity vs itself
Jul 9th
Is it fair that Rogers, the established giant of mobile dominance in Canada, and especially in Toronto, is launching a discount brand, Chat-r, to compete directly with the two newly-launched, low-cost providers in WIND Mobile and Mobilicity? John Bitove, Chairman of Mobilicity, doesn’t seem to think so.
After learning of Rogers’ intention to squarley aim for the the small companies’ bottom lines, he has filed a complaint to the Canadian Competition Bureau. “They’re trying to destroy our success,” he said to the Globe and Mail. Not surprisingly, Mobilicity is less keen than WIND to see Rogers attempt to eat into their limited market penetration, as the company only officially launched in May of this year. WIND has been around for almost a year now, and, while not the run-away success story that many hoped it would be, has certainly created a new sense of urgency in the Canadian mobile market for fairer prices and more included features. With unlimited internet usage, and low talk-and-text plans, WIND and Mobilicity have aimed themselves at urbanites who don’t need a great number of features on a phone, as well as new immigrants, who want cheaper ways to call back home. Chat-r does not intend to offer data connectivity with their talk-and-text plans, though those will be unlimited.
A few days ago, Anthony Lacavera stated that Chat-r is exactly what this country needs: more competition. On a BNN news segment, he said that Chat-r is “great for consumers… the big guys are starting to react, and the more they react, the better we look.” This heavily contrasts Bitove’s view, and brings home the idea that WIND, with their Egyptian financial backers, Orascom Telecom Holding, seem more capable of weathering out the short-term growth issues than does Mobilicity. Certainly, Rogers is going to have a much easier time than either WIND or Mobilicity in bringing Chat-r to the market, since they are providing similar service and similar prices without having to build an entirely new network infrastructure to it; instead, they are piggy-backing off existing Rogers towers in the same locations that the former carriers have launched in: Toronto, Calgary, Ottawa, Edmonton and Vancouver.
I don’t necessarily see Chat-r as a full-fledged success from the get-go. Sure, Rogers is going to leverage its own brand when advertising it, unlike with Fido which operates completely independently of its big brother. But with the knowledge that Chat-r is owned by Rogers will also come the understanding that it is not the nimble, young company that WIND is, nor the forward-looking enterprise that is Mobilicity. It’s Rogers under a new banner, and for some people, especially those that have been burned by the company in the past, Chat-r must be a huge turn-off.
Live From The Mobilicity Content Portal Launch In Toronto!
Jun 3rd
Good afternoon! We’re reporting live from the Mobilicity Content Portal Launch today in Toronto! Stay tuned to this space for all the details, photos and sensational ethnic flavor.*
According to the company:
Having recently launched its service in the Greater Toronto Area, Mobilicity will showcase its mobile content portal featuring top-selling games, the music industry’s Top 40 hits, as well as Bollywood and Asian singing sensations.
*Flavor may or may not be sensational.
We’ll have lots more for you later, including a candid video with Dave Dobbin, CEO of Mobilicity. In the meantime, check out the web portal over at Mobilicity’s website.
Dave Dobbin, CEO, awarding a free Nokia 5230 to the lucky winner of the Mandarin naming contest. They’ve clearly marketed themselves to a specific demographic of the GTA. This shows pretty shrewd marketing to the ethnic minority, and in some places, majority, of certain GTA areas.
Mobilicity Announces Plans, Coverage, Phones, World Domination!
May 14th
This will be updated as the day goes on.
We are covering the Mobilicity launch live from their flagship store in Scarborough.
First, they are announcing their flagship phones: The BlackBerry 9700 for $499, and the Nokia 5230 for $169, along with something called The Totem for $99.
Their coverage maps seem fairly large, and they have roaming agreements with Rogers on their EDGE network outside the GTA, and with T-Mobile in the US.
Their plans go up by increments of $10, and they have a $65 talk/text/long distance/data plan.
Mobilicity Gets The Green Light To Launch
May 7th
The AWS carrier’s $243 million investment in the wireless spectrum has been approved by the CRTC, and plan to launch in late spring with the slogan, “No Contract. No Credit Check. Unlimited Wireless.”
Will they be able to compete with the other incumbents? They may go a different route than the other two new wireless carriers, WIND Mobile, and Public Mobile, but I don’t see much of a middle road between the two. Public Mobile hasn’t made much of a dent in Toronto, despite a large advertising campaign. The are focusing on low-income families who need a no-frills phone plan without a fancy device.
WIND has gone the other approach, and is offering a wider variety of devices, from lower-end voice-and-text-only, to the BlackBerry Bold 9700 with unlimited data option.
Read the whole, boring spiel at CRTC’s website, or just trust us. And wait till they arrive in Toronto, followed by Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa.
Who’s Ready for Mobilicity?
Apr 15th
Remember Dave Wireless? Wonder what happened to them and their CEO Dave Dobbin since their early February re-branding as “Mobilicity”? Other than that press conference not much has been revealed in regards to their launch, other than to expect it mid-Spring in Toronto, with Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa closely following. Recently, Mr. Dobbin was confidently quoted stating: “Mobilicity will kick the value equation up a notch this spring. If you live and work in one of our cities and you’re looking for the best wireless deal around, you’re going to love Mobilicity.”
Now we have received word that Mobility will be offering BlackBerry, Nokia, Sony Ericsson phones on launch, and even Google’s Nexus One will work (much like on WIND Mobile). They will be offering unlimited packages, but in depth details on pricing and inclusive features aren’t immediately known. Although, the clearest/strongest signal will be found within the GTA, they do have a roaming agreement with Rogers so you phone will work outside the city. I am definitely excited about their impending launch and to see what they will bring to the table, but, I think they need to follow in WIND Mobile’s footsteps by opening a blog to hear what their future customers have to say. Leaving people in suspense may not work as well as they want. Consumers feed in information and being kept up to date on the latest happenings. They may want to start building a trust so on launch, customers know who they are and can already relate. Their tagline has always been “Competition is coming”, let’s see how well they can do with this build up, especially on a network built from scratch.
Think you will give Mobilicity a shot? Leave a Comment letting us know.
[Via Mobile Syrup]
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