Android Where are you?????

[Astylis]

... and I'll say again - I get a much better *price* with MTS for the plan I want/need than I would with any of the other carriers. I bought my own unlocked phone and will probably do so again in a year's time. If anything changes in terms of plan features or cost, I would of course move to a different carrier. Handset choice is not the deciding factor for me.

Were you able to get a nice, new, unlocked phone for a reasonable price? I agree that my MTS plan cannot be beat by any other carrier, but paying $700 vs $150 for the phone kind of ruins that argument. When I bought my unlocked SGSII my goal was to get another on contract when the phone came to MTS and sell the unlocked one to try and get some money back. That was a year ago.

This shouldn't be an argument about who needs a carrier with handset selection and who is just fine with MTS. MTS is the only carrier without a newer Android option. According to the website, they only have 4 HSPA Blackberries and the iPhone. 5 HSPA smartphones in total. It's a little baffling. I've heard some crazy things about handset agreements with Rogers, but I can't see how MTS would get the short end of the stick in the partnership when they owned majority of the original towers.

The fact that MTS still shows subscriber growth each quarter says more about the type of people living in this province than to MTS's business model being successful.

[Derfel]

Well I have it from a very reliable source that MTS is losing a lot of customers to Rogers/Telus because of their inability to offer the latest phones.

Except that so far, all financial reports show the opposite - MTS is adding subscribers quarter after quarter...

Were you able to get a nice, new, unlocked phone for a reasonable price?

My HTC Liberty cost $150, all in. I'll probably be upgrading next fall.

Point is - as I've made a hundred times before - handsets are important for some, and price of plans/features is important to others. So far, MTS isn't sinking too deeply by offering the best selling handset.

[caanda45]

Well I have it from a very reliable source that MTS is losing a lot of customers to Rogers/Telus because of their inability to offer the latest phones.

But he also said MTS was supposed to get a Samsung phone in April, so who knows. According to him he's seeing a big time decrease in new customers at his store. Yes, he is an MTS dealer.

So basically the deal to share towers with Rogers was all that was made with them. It seems it never was extended to handsets because they never have gotten one from Rogers. This kind of reminds me of RIM 5 years ago dismissing Apple I-phone as a mere "toy". Maybe not making a handset deal with Rogers as they did with TB Tel and as Sask-Tel made with Bell will be the undoing of MTS????

Point is - as I've made a hundred times before - handsets are important for some, and price of plans/features is important to others. So far, MTS isn't sinking too deeply by offering the best selling handset.

Just your opinion...I think in the end they will sell the Cellular division to most likely Rogers...just an opinion...

[Huffer]

When I switched to HSPA, I told them I was bringing my own phone and that I was halfway through my contract. I called customer service on advice of the MTS store employees, and they waived the network charge and gave me bonus minutes.

Thanks Derfel.

I don't mean to be a pain, but how did your bill get down to $31?

The Talk, Text and Surf plan is $50 even on a bundle, and the network fee is $9. So that's $41, and doesn't include call display.

The reason I am asking is that is a pretty amazing plan. If I could get something like that as well, it would make my decision to stick with MTS pretty easy.

Thanks.

[Derfel]

Thanks Derfel.

I don't mean to be a pain, but how did your bill get down to $31?

The Talk, Text and Surf plan is $50 even on a bundle, and the network fee is $9. So that's $41, and doesn't include call display.

The reason I am asking is that is a pretty amazing plan. If I could get something like that as well, it would make my decision to stick with MTS pretty easy.

Thanks.

The network fee is not $9. It's $3.50, and I got my waived somehow. I can't even really say what I did, other than call and ask.

EDIT: Okay, after looking at my bill... it seems my plan must have gone up recently. It's $33.50 before taxes.

I have:
- the Talk, Email & Surf Plan ($44.99)
- bonus 50 minutes
- Talk n' Text Pack ($17) - this is what increased, it was $15 before

... and then the wireless network fee waived and the $28.50 "free" wireless plan credit.

[Huffer]

The network fee is not $9. It's $3.50, and I got my waived somehow. I can't even really say what I did, other than call and ask.

EDIT: Okay, after looking at my bill... it seems my plan must have gone up recently. It's $33.50 before taxes.

I have:
- the Talk, Email & Surf Plan ($44.99)
- bonus 50 minutes
- Talk n' Text Pack ($17) - this is what increased, it was $15 before

... and then the wireless network fee waived and the $28.50 "free" wireless plan credit.

Thanks for your response Derfel. I know you said that the price was including the wireless credit, I must have forgot about it. I also have the max credit, but I just kind of "assign" it in my mind over all the services and not solely the wireless part.


Anyway, do you know if MTS offers different or cheaper deals to people that bring their own phones? Or are all the deals the same?

Thanks!

[MaxSteel]

Who knows about this statement, I'd think they'd sell it as a whole.

I know Bell is itching to have a Manitoba presence, and I know they used to partner with MTS once upon a time (no longer).

So who knows maybe MTS is just waiting for the right buyer.. Why waste time and money on other things in that case.

Either way, my contract is up in December, and I hope I have at least 1 option by then.

I think in the end they will sell the Cellular division to most likely Rogers...just an opinion...

[caanda45]

Who knows about this statement, I'd think they'd sell it as a whole.

I know Bell is itching to have a Manitoba presence, and I know they used to partner with MTS once upon a time (no longer).

So who knows maybe MTS is just waiting for the right buyer.. Why waste time and money on other things in that case.

Either way, my contract is up in December, and I hope I have at least 1 option by then.

The more and more I think about you are most likely right and sell the thing...new Network no phones, less inventory...profitable in other aspects of their business, please MTS sell soon!!!

[radmacks]

I'm on month to month and after a terrible weekend of no service in the Grand Beach area, - Bad Reception, - No handset options, + great plans (2 - and 1 +). I'm seriously considering jumping ship. My buddy on Telus was getting 5mbps all weekend long. We actually had to get him to tether us at one point (WTF). I can deal with 2 positives an one negative but 2 negatives and one positive. Moving back to Telus is starting to look attractive again.

[Derfel]

The more and more I think about you are most likely right and sell the thing...new Network no phones, less inventory...profitable in other aspects of their business, please MTS sell soon!!!

... except that they are running profits on their wireless division. What is it with people and not reading financial statements of companies?

[jcalder]

I'm on month to month and after a terrible weekend of no service in the Grand Beach area

My girlfriend was at a wedding at Canadinns Fort Garry on Saturday and she said her Torch 9800 showed "SOS" the whole time, even after a couple of battery pulls.

That kind of surprised me. However last week there was all sorts of 3G issues out here, with Rogers and MTS. At least with Rogers I could fall back on 2G.

[caanda45]

I actually mean that they are profitable period....and would be a good choice for someone to buy......one can only hope!!!!

[s.luween]

... except that they are running profits on their wireless division. What is it with people and not reading financial statements of companies?

With all due respect, you cannot expect for the average person to look at a financial statement and understand what is going on. Indeed, an increase in subscriber base is easily interpreted, as is revenue. However, to truly understand the financial position of a corporation, one must be familiar with with terms such as current ratio, debt ratio, ROI/ROA, acid-test, and much more. I wouldn't invest in a company if and only if all I knew was that it added more subscribers and generated greater revenue- in comparison to last year.

So please stop trying to impress people on an Internet forum; you're not an accountant, I am. Also, a company is referred to as "it", never "their".

[WPGHTC]

Natural growth can explain MTS' increase. It sure as hell isn't marketing.

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using HowardForums

[jcalder]

So please stop trying to impress people on an Internet forum

Always good advice.

you're not an accountant, I am.

So? I'm not a pilot but I know how airplanes work. Because of my keen interest in them and the amount of books, manuals and simulators I've used, I might even know more about piloting an airplane than some pilots...

While I appreciate the usage of correct terms, be it a company being referred to as "it" instead of "their" or someone using "your" where "you're" would be appropriate doesn't mean they are idiots.

If his posts were written such as "U R an idiot cuz mts fons r xcelnt and dey r awsme cpny cuz i us dem LOLZZZZ!!!111"

I'd dismiss his opinions. He hardly comes off like that though.