Tech Blog

[#1]

WIND Mobile has launched and their webserver crashed. That's actually a remarkably good thing as it clearly outlines how much interest there is in this product. It's clear that many Canadians have been eager for a mobility company more in-tune with their needs and it appears that WIND Mobile is it. How does it break down?

First Month Free

Chat: $15 per month

Unlimited incoming text

Call Control (Caller ID, missed-call alerts, call forward, call conferencing, call waiting, call hold)

Unlimited WIND to WIND calling when in any WIND HOME Zone

Unlimited incoming WIND calls when in any WIND HOME Zone

100 province-wide minutes when in any WIND HOME Zone

50 Canada/U.S. outgoing text

Always Talk: $35 per month

Unlimited incoming text

Call Control (caller ID, missed call alerts, call forward, call conferencing, call waiting, call hold)

Unlimited WIND to WIND calling when in any WIND HOME Zone

Unlimited incoming calls

Unlimited province-wide calling when in any WIND HOME Zone

50 Canada/US outgoing text from any WIND HOME Zone

Always Shout: $45 per month

Unlimited incoming texts

Call Control (caller ID, missed call alerts, call forward, call conferencing, call waiting, call hold)

Unlimited WIND to WIND calling when in any WIND HOME Zone

Unlimited incoming calls

Unlimited Canada-wide calling when in any WIND HOME Zone

Unlimited outgoing text to Canada/U.S. when in a WIND HOME Zone

Voicemail

Data Plans

Infinite Mobile: $35 per month (used with any voice plan)

Unlimited internet for phones (tethering too)

Infinite Laptop: $55 per month

Unlimited internet for USB data sticks

BlackBerry data plans

Social BlackBerry: $10 per month

UNLIMITED Facebook®, MySpace™, BlackBerry® Messenger, Windows Live™ Messenger, Yahoo!® Messenger, Google® Talk, and AIM®

Infinite BlackBerry: $35 per month (used with any voice plan)

Includes all the benefits of Social BlackBerry® PLUS UNLIMITED:

• Email for up to 10 accounts

• Internet – all you can eat – you can even tether!

• BlackBerry® App World where you'll find 100's of the coolest apps – tons are absolutely free!

Addons:

Voice Mail $5 per month

My Country International Callling $5 per month (preferred rates)

Canada/US unlimited text $5 per month

US Unlimited Long Distance $10 per month

Canada Unlimited Long Distance $10 per month

Extra Home Zone Minute 10c/min

Canada/US Text 10c/txt

Away minute in Canada 25c/min

(roaming, no extra LD)

Away Text 15c/txt

(outside Wind Home Zone)

Away Data 10c/25kb

(outside Wind Home Zone)

Canada/US LD Minute 15c/min

My World Internationial Roaming

(coming January 2010)

Phones:

Blackberry Bold 9700 $450

HTC Maple $300

Samsung Gravity 2 $150

Huawei U7519 $130

Huawei E181 Data Stick $150

(a big thank you to imonreddit from reddit.com for snagging this before WIND's server ate dirt)

So there it is - reasonably priced plans with no SAF or GRRF with reasonably priced add-ons. Unless we see some serious changes from the Big Three™ I think it's clear that folks who work for their Loyalty and Retention departments are going to be really busy.

[#2]

Some info on their phones: some of them seem to be GSM only (no UTMS support). You'll be roaming on Rogers outside of their native coverage area.

Significantly, their BlackBerry Bold 9700 is $450 no contract / subsidy! that's $250 / $200 cheaper than on Bell / Rogers... so if you buy the Wind BB9700, you could unlock it and use it on Rogers as a GSM phone, but couldn't use it on Bell. Just mentioning this because if you're unsure if you'll be happy on Wind over the long term, at least you can switch the phone to Rogers or one of their sub-networks (SpeakOut, Petro-Canada).

[#3]

edit: sorry: Both Rogers and Bell offer the 9700 without contract at $600, not $700... but that's still $150 less.

[#4]

Unfortunately their coverage areas are miniscule. Although they'll cover a large population, I don't think it's a good idea to jump right on to a network in such infancy. Pricing is great, but there are always drawbacks.