Article Summary
Freedom Mobile has launched new prepaid programs with two big differences; lower price and nationwide coverage. Plans range from $9-$24/month and include up to 1.5GB of data for a limited time.
Although they are no stranger to prepaid plans, Freedom Mobile hasn't promoted them for a while. Facing stiff competition from prepaid rivals Public Mobile, Chatr and others, Freedom has launched three new plans that can put a cell phone plan in your pocket for under $10 per month. Plan prices advertised take into account that you've signed up for Digital Discount where you'll get the plan for $5 cheaper every month when you sign up for Auto Pay with pre-authorized payments.
For $9/month with Digital Discount you'll receive unlimited global text. Talk time is pricey at $1.50/minute, but if you just want a plan for an emergency phone then this is pretty well priced. It's also the cheapest way to get a plan that gets you access to over 300,000 Freedom Wi-Fi hotspots found all around the country.
At $19/month with Digital Discount you get unlimited Canada-wide calling and Voicemail+. Freedom's new Nationwide Network service means that you can still call without time limits as long as your phone finds signal anywhere across Canada.
For a little bit more, you can also get 1.5GB of LTE data for $24/month. This is a limited-time offer. After their prepaid launch promotion is over this plan will be reduced to 1GB of data. What's unique is that this is also on the new Freedom Nationwide Network which means this could be Canada's Best Prepaid plan.
Several nationwide carriers have launched data-only and cheap data plans. This reflects the greater need for low-cost plans, and reduced need for talk time when many people are communicating through apps and VoIP services.
Koodo, Fido and Virgin Mobile all offer 1GB LTE data-only plans for $28-30 per month. Chatr and Public Mobile have plans with talk, text and 1GB of data for cheap but download speeds are throttled to 3Mbps compared to 100+Mbps for LTE. At $23/30 days, Public Mobile's plan is cheaper, but the Freedom Mobile option includes full-speed LTE data and an extra 500MB if you sign up now.
Freedom Mobile offers a wide selection of premium and low-cost phones, but you'll need to buy one outright or bring your own phone to take advantage of prepaid deals. There are no 2-year plans on prepaid packages. You'll also need to pay $10 for a SIM card to get your phone on the Freedom Mobile network.
Unlike Freedom's monthly plans, data on the prepaid plan is not unlimited. However, add-ons for monthly plans can be used on prepaid packages. You can accessorize your plan with unlimited US long distance for $5/month, or get an extra 1GB of data for $15.
What is 3G and LTE Data?
Plans on Freedom Mobile use high-speed 4G-LTE network while in cities covered by their own network, and continue with fast downloads while roaming nationwide on Freedom's partner networks.
Data speeds on many nationwide prepaid plans (including Chatr, Lucky Mobile and some plans with Public Mobile) are "3G quality". They top out at 3Mbps speed. You may wonder, "do I need 3G or 4G LTE?". It depends on how you use your phone when away from the home or office WiFi. 3G will be fast enough for streaming music and browsing social networks like Instagram without any slow loads, but you may have to wait for videos on YouTube or Netflix to buffer before watching.
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