I haven’t noticed anything meaningful. Still typically 120-odd Mbps at peak times, 200 or even more than 300 outside that. Despite using a minimum of 400GB each month.
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Public Mobile Offering 60GB of 5G Data for $20/Month in Canada
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daniesy
macrumors 6502
jimthing
macrumors 68020
There are 2 thumbs-down reactions to this post. Is it a bad thing to point out affordable mobile data plans outside of the US? Looking at the two usernames though, I wonder if these 2 reactions are from bots …
… “limited data is usually limited”, mmhh. Is limited data unlimited too?
A more appropriately named term then would “fair confuse policy” 😊
Just in case this was supposed to be amusing: Replace the m with the bilabial voiced stop to know how it came across to me. (My apologies if that was not your intention.)
EugW
macrumors P6
Not sure, but I think this is the first time I've seen a Canadian cell deal on the front page of MacRumors.
Great timing for my kid's line. I switched that one from Bell, because Bell was going to raise that 40 GB plan from $30 to $36, a 20% increase.
Great timing for my kid's line. I switched that one from Bell, because Bell was going to raise that 40 GB plan from $30 to $36, a 20% increase.
Not very useful for most Americans and Canadians as it comes with a Mexican phone number. People trying to call from US and Canada would usually incur long distance charges, and some may not even know how to call Mexico properly. Plus, it could be problematic for 2-factor authentication texts, since some companies may require area codes within your country of residence. It would be good for a travel SIM though.
GregJohn
macrumors 6502a
Considering my Bell plan is I think $95 a month (for more data) but it’s Canada only and no one really needs the stupidly high amount of data they “offer”. They just keep increasing the number knowing that 1% hit the cap but “justifies” the price increase each year.
EugW
macrumors P6
Indeed, but sometimes the higher data plans are actually worse in some regards. Gotta pay attention to the fine print.
My kid's Bell plan mentioned above was $30 with 40 GB Canada only, unlimited talk, and unlimited international SMS/MMS. It was going to be raised to $36, but they also had an offer for $35 with 150 GB data. However, the gotcha is that the SMS/MMS was Canada-only.
My kid uses about 20 GB per month, so the 150 GB plan would be worse, since all international texts would cost extra. We have family members who travel frequently, and they often get local SIMs. Obviously if we send them texts while they're overseas on a local SIM, having free international SMS/MMS is a key feature to have with our Canadian plans.
Apple_Robert
Contributor
Your post is all about you bragging and rubbing the nose of other people who pay more in the cellphone dirt.
Koodo is another Telus shell company that offers similar pricing e.g. 40$ per month. Unfortunately, their prices can go up: I switched to sign up for a promotional 60GB for 35$ per month and a year later noticed a 5$ monthly price increase, which is 60$ per year. I called out to ask about it because I did not agree to plan change, and the person I spoke to said prices can go up because of increasing cost to provide the services. My previous plans never changed price, so I expect the plan was promotional without being advertised as that. I will now avoid upgrading data plans because I think this may set me up to be paying for it later. A bit of speculation, sharing in case others find it helpful.
Wow didn’t realise North American prices were so steep even with 50% off. Those standard prices are crazy!
Considering that the average monthly salary in Canada after taxes, this price is not that expensive. (By the way, I lived in British Columbia for nearly a year several years ago, so I have some understanding of how life is there. A lovely country—one I would love to visit again.) Telus is not a particularly cheap provider, anyway.
However, considering what I pay for 200GB of 5G data (as per the provider's offer) on the phone, unlimited telephone calls and SMS on my phone, unlimited internet, telephone calls and sms for my wife's phone, unlimited home internet for any number of devices, along with a TV connection that includes multiroom capabilities, an additional stationary internet phone number, and TV on-the-go for phones or any other device—plus considerable free roaming in the EU—costing just the equivalent of $62 (with tax)/month, that Canadian price for one phone before tax is quite expensive. I also received an offer from the provider for Netflix 4K for four devices at the equivalent of $5.06 (with tax)/month for two years, which I happily accepted, as I was previously paying several times more directly to Netflix.
However, considering what I pay for 200GB of 5G data (as per the provider's offer) on the phone, unlimited telephone calls and SMS on my phone, unlimited internet, telephone calls and sms for my wife's phone, unlimited home internet for any number of devices, along with a TV connection that includes multiroom capabilities, an additional stationary internet phone number, and TV on-the-go for phones or any other device—plus considerable free roaming in the EU—costing just the equivalent of $62 (with tax)/month, that Canadian price for one phone before tax is quite expensive. I also received an offer from the provider for Netflix 4K for four devices at the equivalent of $5.06 (with tax)/month for two years, which I happily accepted, as I was previously paying several times more directly to Netflix.
That's great to hear @EugW, I'm so glad the post helped you save some money! I'm stoked about my new 100GB for $20/month plan.
addamas
macrumors 65816
Crazy that old age Europe has way better cellular plans.
My example in Nju (Orange):
8.72$ after calculation from Polish PLN for:
- unlimited SMS/MMS and calls in Poland and EU
- 60GB of data/month for first 6 months, then a 120GB then after 1 year 150GB, then after 2 years 180GB / month of 5G mobile data
- almost 11GB in roaming in EU.
My example in Nju (Orange):
8.72$ after calculation from Polish PLN for:
- unlimited SMS/MMS and calls in Poland and EU
- 60GB of data/month for first 6 months, then a 120GB then after 1 year 150GB, then after 2 years 180GB / month of 5G mobile data
- almost 11GB in roaming in EU.
I snagged a “reasonable” deal (for Canada) from Telus. I pay $170 a month ($42.50 per line for 4 lines) with 80GB on each line, unlimited data at reduced speed, free international texts and free long distance in Canada. This is my permanent rate and not a special deal for new activations or a 2 year discount that goes up later.
That’s $7.50 less per month than the regular Public Mobile price and I don’t have any of the minor issues people have complained about Public Mobile.
That’s $7.50 less per month than the regular Public Mobile price and I don’t have any of the minor issues people have complained about Public Mobile.
freedomlinux
macrumors 6502
It is, IMO, off-topic and not useful to tell people about mobile plans they cannot use.
Canadians are well-aware that their telecom prices are historically quite bad. Reminding US/Canadians that we're paying a lot doesn't help as we can't do much about it.
EugW
macrumors P6
For four lines, yes that's a reasonable deal, but not an excellent deal. A few weeks ago there was an in-market consumer plan for a single line for $35 / 100 GB for Canada / US on Bell/Rogers/Telus. For example on Rogers it was a $55 plan with a $15 permanent discount (including autopay discount), and a $5 discount for 2 years, so effectively a $40 plan with a $5 term discount.
I'm personally on a Telus $35 / 60 GB Canada/US/Mexico Telus plan which is a single user consumer winback plan, that has a $5 discount for one year, so the current cost is $30. I could have put my kid on this same plan, but decided instead to put that line on this Public Mobile $20 / 60 GB Canada/US/Mexico plan which again was a single user in-market consumer plan. Yes that goes up to $40 in 2 years, but I've learned not to fear the 24 month discount, as it almost always is true that we can find a new better cellular plan within 1-2 years, so these days I rarely keep the plans longer than 24 months anyway.
The best deals are usually around Black Friday or Boxing Week, but other excellent deals pop up from time to time as well. Given that these periodic single consumer deals are already often under $40, in 2026 I personally wouldn't go out of my way to bring 4 lines over to a single cellular provider as a package deal unless it was something like $30-$35 60-100 GB Canada/US/Mexico, or it provided some other perks.
I'm still waiting for the holy grail though, which is free worldwide roaming and 60+ GB per month, for $50-$55. I don't expect to see that anytime soon unfortunately. The closest I've seen so far is Rogers for $70 250 GB on RPP, covering roaming to 65 countries, but not too many people need 250 GB on a phone line. (Actually, a few people have gotten it for $55 but only because of very unique circumstances.)
A reasonable option though for worldwide roaming is the Freedom Mobile $49 80 GB Canada/US/Mexico plan which includes 15 GB worldwide roaming per month. My wife is on Freedom (different plan) and at least in the GTA, so far the coverage and reliability have been excellent for her, so Freedom will be a decent option going forward. It's a very huge improvement over the old Wind days a decade ago. Freedom also has a decent feature set and actual real agents for customer service including phone support, so it doesn’t have the same potential issues that could come with a provider like Public Mobile.
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thanks for posting this macrumors. In Canada we get fleeced most of the time. At least this is a deal we can use.