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Chatr Wireless officially launches
It’s official. Rogers new discount wireless brand has officially launched in Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Vancouver. Pretty much exact to what we’ve been saying and showing over the past few weeks.
They have specific “chatr zones” and offer 2 different monthly price plans: $35 (Unlimited Talk) and $45 per month (Unlimited Talk & Text). There are a couple ways to get a Chatr plan: “AutoPay” is having your credit card charged every month and “Self Pay” is basically top up whenever you want to. Chatr has their first promo on for those who “Auto Pay”, they’ll give you a $30 credit. The legal fine print reads “Customers who enroll in auto-pay will automatically be eligible for this promotion. Eligibility is allowed once during the customer’s account lifetime. A $10 bonus will be applied to customer’s balance once per month upon each successful credit card transaction, for the first three months of program enrollment.”
As to where to get a device. Searching the locations it seems it’s available at Future Shop, Wireless Wave, TBooth, Zellers, Best Buy plus others. Also, they have stand alone kiosks in several malls across the 5 cities. In addition, customers currently have a choice of 4 phones :
- The Nokia 1661 called “The essential” for $60
- The LG GB125R as “The flip” for $75
- The Samsung Gravity as “The QWERTY” for $130
- The Nokia 2680 as “The slider” for $95
Check it out here over at Chatr Wireless
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67 comments for “Chatr Wireless officially launches”
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they’re website looks so cheap. i hate rogers
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Normally you write: their website…
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I have a feeling that Chatr will be like another solo. First the nokia phone they offer is 10$ more than Fido and they charge out of zone roaming, on their own network? I was going to switch my mom to chatr when it launched, but it doesn’t look that appealing, I’ll let her stay with Fido and maybe get a retention deal instead.
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Hopefully this forces WIND to fix their $35 plan. We’ll see. cause 50 txt and no voicemail just cant cut it.
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Yall can hate all you want. I speak the truth and you know it!
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UGLY site. That’s all.
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how can Rogers claim with a straight face that this is not a response to eliminate the new entrants and not open their brand to quebec? It’s all running on the same network anyways..
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They will don’t worry !
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Not interested at all in any Rogers products. Regardless what tactics they employ, it is still Rogers.
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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I think I love you jarr
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Rates, plans, and coverage zones identical to WIND; beware this wolf in sheep’s clothing!! Notice how they charge when you go outside a chatr zone? Even though it’s Rogers’ network? Pretty sketchy if you ask me
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Zones the same? Wind is not in Newmarket Chat-r is.. funny thats no the same zone..
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If it’s talk/text only, no data, where is more selection? @ plans only, when Solo is rebranding soon for plans from $10? Typical Rogers greed, not interested at all.
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Mmm, these plans seem very targeted towards WIND mobile’s lineup. Unfortunately, they fall short of offering any real value to the consumer.
This also seems very rushed, the graphic design is subpar, and check out the “no worries” page, thats just plain unprofessional with the example used on the right hand side.
For all of Rogers’ anti-competitive practices however, they do have one point. The newcomers are severely lacking coverage regions because they do not have as much development capital as Rogers. WIND has the best chance of surviving as a new entrant, but they seriously need more cash to put up more towers and expanding network datacenters and so forth. Otherwise, Rogers will just walk over the new guys.
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I cannot believe the nerve of Rogers…
That entire company seems setup with the sole purpose of killing the new carriers. Look at their descriptions and the way they are trying to discredit the “new guys” and “new carriers”.
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I can’t see the 12 comments
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Wind “celebrates” Chat-r’s launch:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2010/28/c7035.html
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Wind celebrates? hardly they were asked some touch questions by the media and promptly did not answer any of them.. how many subscribers do you have? no answer How is it that Orascom has 1 billion dollars in your company and has no control.. how is that that they gave you all the tech, all the know how, set up everything and yet they have no control.. and what do you think of this investor report that shows Wind in Canada as the Canadian arm of Orascom.. again no comment.. wind was and is in tears..
what no comments?
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You spout the same smelly s**t as me, do you like it up your a*s zone like me?
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Rogers should not be allowed to launch a service that is only available in select areas of their network where they face competition.
The point of allowing new entrants in was to bring about cheaper prices across the board. Those of us not living in a wind/mobilicity/chatr area are virtually no better off than we were 2 years ago, and rather than lower prices everywhere to compete, Rogers has launched Chatr so that they only have to lower prices where consumers actually have a choice.
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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JAWG JAWG JAWG…. I just shake my head at you.
You talk about business and markets like you think you actually know anything.
There are RULES in the canadian business act specifically written to allow new competition to develop in oligopolies. Rogers are not playing by those rules. That is not good business. That is bad business. Bad Rogers…
JAWG when will you admit you are a Rogers PR stooge.
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You i***t, how does Chatr offer better phones and coverage? Last I checked, they mimicked WIND’s coverage map to a T. Does Chatr offer SIM cards so you can use your own phone?
Oh, and the phones shown in the Chatr website pics don’t count.
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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Jawg = 1pts
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douchebag
thats what I am
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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Once again it comes down to you and me Jawg.
Your reply to my post did not present any new information or even a rebuttal to what I posted.
Why bother… If you want to insult me give me your email address and Ill give you mine and we can trade insults all day.
I am pretty sure yours is going to have a Rogers.com domain.
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You two sound like youre married. lol!
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this is funny their $35/month plan includes so called unlimited in-province calling BUT its 25 cents/minute to check your voicemail… how is that unlimited calling when you cant even check your vm without paying 25 cents per minute.. only Rogers would pull off such a scam!
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Wow Chatr is Exactly the same coverage as the new city fido plus a few areas. This is a joke and a pathetic attempt at killing of the new comers. One thing everybody forgets when they bash the new comers and there networks and compare to rogers is that Rogers always got free spectrum from the Feds from the get go and didn’t pay till this last auction. If wind or any of the others had the same deal they would have a lot more dough to build there networks quickly and bigger faster, but they didn’t.
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oligopolies are neither illegal nor a bad thing
there are many examples of oligopolies across various industries
the average age of the blogger on this site is likely in the 15 to 19 year old range with no actual concept of the real world, business or economics.
throwing around statements casually such as “there are rules out there to stop oligopolies” … wtf? do you even know what an oligopoly is? it’s not a disease. it’s not a bad thing – it’s a normal market structure that many industries have had in the past and will continue to have well into the future.
i shake my head at the majority of you out there
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JARR,
Read my comment above.
Nothing said about preventing oligopolies… just rules aimed at preventing oligopolies from crushing new competition.
Once again you prove that you are nothing more than a windbag with very little communication skills. A person with GOOD communication skills would have been able to read my post and understand what was written.
Tell us all Jarr, why do you think why Chatr is good for canadian consumerism.
It doesnt service any market other than ones served already by the new providers. Its plans are priced in direct competition with those providers. It’s not like Rogers doesnt already have a presence in these markets.
Business equations predict Chatr will result in a price war with the new entrants. A price war than the new entrants will not be able to sustain. Rogers has an established business which can sustain any price drops required to win the war. Once new entrants fold, where is the business sense in maintaining a non profitable company like Chatr.
How is this good for the Canadian consumer?
P.S. Man… 15 to 19 was good, but I wouldnt go back.
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Chatr is good, as are the new entrants, as it provides a new price point that was not in the market before (go back even a year ago).
Until today, Rogers did not offer an unlimited voice option
Now they do
Choice is good.
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@Jarr
Rogers still doesnt offer an unlimited option…
Chatr does.
Rogers will never offer an unlimited option while there is no competitive reason to do so.
If wind or moblicity do not expand then they will die. If they die so will any chance of unlimited calling options being offered to Canadian consumers.
Chatr will limit the expandion of wind and moblicity through competition.
This is why Chatr = BAD
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$0.25/minute to listen to your voicemail on the UNLIMITED TALK plan? Rogers cracks me up, hahaha.
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another way for them to make extra coin…unless your willing to pay $10 more to get the $45 plan.
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Not interested at all. Because its from ROBBERS!
I won’t buy anything from ROBBERS anymore. I am sick and tired of them already. They are just trying to fight with the new companies with some dirty tricks.
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typical rogers they always overcharge on prepaid phones, petro canada mobile (who runs off rogers)( offers two of those nokia for alot less
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Another reason I left Rogers. Scumbags.
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Would you all claim Mobilicity is being stupid for wanting to officially complain about Chatr? I sure don’t and I encourage it now.
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I’m not sure if anyone noticed, but all the people who seem so happy in their ads aren’t actually using phones that chatr offers!!! There is a kid with like a blackberry curve advertising unlimited text! LAME! =p What a horrible company! I’d much rather go with a company who is going to allow me access to their entire network as opposed to specific zones!!!!
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What is even funnier if you’re on Mobilicity on the $25 plan if you want VM it will cost you an extra $8 totalling $33 with no text/added features and worse coverage area and reception…so not having VM on Chat-R in that specific plan is really not that bad considering you have CI.Still,this may change and hopefully it will…how can this be a scam!?!
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I am a douchebag
brocoli
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these are really good plans, better than wind and mobilicity because at least you get a good network!
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jarr, stop saying that people here have no knowledge of economics. If I recall, you were the one I had to correct about economic theory.
Thanks in advance
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@KV:
If you can’t understand simple logic that’s not my fault and you’re the one attacking me,you keep saying I work for Rogers with no proof making no sensible point whatsoever and have no rebuttal ever even for jarr/rocco…so how about this considering you are so concerned with ethical business practices and being honest.
Let’s start completely over again by throwing out Wind/their corrupt backer out of the market along with M/PM and force the government to explain why they pushed for these meaningless changes when they are not worth anything to actually allow honest companies into the scene.
Having said this what is done is done and you know we can’t do this,therefore you cannot stop Chat-R from entering the market now either and if Mobilicity is successful in their legal action it will only stop competition totally which will continue the monopolies you hate…as a result of this the Newbies will simply get stronger just becoming part of the Big Three in time and rates/networks/etc will suffer considerably in the end as they will NEVER drop.In my opinion,let the boys compete and you/others can pick the provider that suits you best instead of stalling progress while more brands enter to change the environment.
Pretty funny that Wind is supporting competition because they know by keeping their mouths shut they won’t get into trouble,so you either keep supporting these hypocrites forcing them to compete by allowing Chat-R to legally launch their brand for this to happen or show some balls along with the other FANBOYS by going with Mobilicity against Wind fighting for what you think is right…if you do then Wind/the CRTC/government has to be investigated also and we can finally see what happened behind closed doors.
The only fair solution at this point is to let the companies compete and allow Canadians on their own not a bunch of 15 year olds on a web-site to decide what they want or brand they will use.Wind couldn’t even get Canadian financial backing which is why they tried Orascom the predator and both M/PM are just as bad,by supporting the law-suit you are just adding to the game by not giving people choices or allowing them to be responsible for the choices they make…the legal action is absolute GARBAGE and even Wind knows that.
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@KV:
You’re breaking up the whole place here implying that Rogers is not good for consumers and that maybe Wind/Mobilicity is,Newbies that are so bad technically they can’t even be called a company and have no integrity whatsoever when it comes to acting professional just because the Fanboys can’t afford their service where they need to go with the cheapies…one has a corrupt backer that is known all over the world for their deception and the other who only whines after promising to be better.Both with useless networks and promoting themselves simply with hype without focusing on improvements.
Thank God the majority of Canadians don’t make decisions based on what you individuals preach with hate and that’s what will make Chat-R successful.
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JAWG,
I think we just have to agree to disagree buddy.
My logic and reasoning can’t seem to sway your untempered mind. I did try to read your posts and while it was written in english it didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.
I hope you enjoy the Chatr service for the short duration it will be open, until Rogers kills the competition and then “consolidates” itself back again into a super profitable business.
To make it clear to you: If you can save money using the Chatr service then more power to you. I hope you sign up and use your phone so much that Rogers will hurt. All the better for you because you get save some $$ in the process.
I just wanted to see unlimited calling services rolled out to all Canadian consumers… not just those lucky enough to live in zones where there is temporary competition.
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Well said KV. well said…
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watermelon
fried chiken
golden showers
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I know I am a hypocrite though since thank god i can preach hate, wind fanboys cant
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I am just glad this board is finally coming around and truly recognize Rogers for what it is. They have never had the consumer’s interest at hand (remember negative option billing) and only seek to destroy true and fair competition. Down with the Red Robber.
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KV:
What I find totally interesting is that many Windies support Mobilicity’s legal actions,when in fact Wind the company is welcoming the competition and that really makes these FANBOYS look bad…it also shows them for the hypocrites they really are.
Hey,I may enjoy Chat-R now for a short time if this goes through and it’s only a minor set-back,however in the long run when Chat-R succeeds and Mobilicity is bought out I’ll be laughing…they are just mindless fools and they really only care about themselves.It shows they have already failed and are not worth investing in…so they can blow away all the money they want and I hope they will.
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I suck red rogers cocks
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oops forgot to take my meds today
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My tinfoil hat isnt working that well either…
conspiracy, there coming to get me, pyarmids, egyptians
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Ah,isn’t that cute…some moron is using my handle and pretending to be me…he can’t put together his own rebuttal/thoughts/ideas and needs to make a total fool out of himself.Only proves I’m right and that you have no self control because you’re so irritated of the truth…do you actually believe what you are doing will stop Chat-R from prospering and prevent Mobilicity/Wind from failing.Just some poor little stooge with no job living in the basement of his parents house pretending to be an Android Technician and a Perv to boot…I love it when I’m right.Too bad Mobile Syrup allows that and shows lack of integrity.
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Whatever! rogers or Chat-r brings out, I am not interested at all supporting Robbers Network. I will support Wind and Mobilicity. My wife is on Wind mobile network and I have recently switched from Rogers to Mobilicity. I pray Chat-r should die as quickly as it was launched and hope the same for Rogers too.
I hate Rogers, Fido …….
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Displaying hate or wishing someone to die is really not enough to kill a company,however you can be sure that both Mobilicity/Wind are doing an excellent job in destroying themselves with no help and considering how Mobilicity is acting and who backs Wind I’d bet on Chat-R surviving…kind of describes how all you Windies/Mobis are which is why the companies you support will fail and need each other to feel important with no real thoughts of your own.
Still,I wish you luck…even though I know Chat-R will eventually win.
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I gave up on wind.. they lied to me so now time to try Chat-r so can I use the free wind phone they gave me to spread lies online on chat-r?
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um wow
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They do in fact offer SIM cards.
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hi i how doss chat offer b
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I can say that I have tried a few pay as you go services. I am totally pleased with Chatr….I can make long distance to New Brunswick without paying more then what I am paying to refill every month…I see it as having a plan I can talk and text anytime….that is fantastic
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