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Public Mobile has “more than 150k customers”, launching Android devices in Q4
This document is by far the most intriguing internal doc that I’ve received in a very long time. Public Mobile, a “new” entrant” in Canadian wireless, invested $52 million during the 2008 wireless auction and gained coverage between from Windsor to Quebec City. Public is a private company and has a $350 million financing deal with ZTE Corporation and the Export-Import Bank of China, plus backed by OMERS with a $50 million investment – because they are private they’re not obliged to release or announce their subscriber numbers, something analysts and competitors are desperately seeking.
Well, this internal document from Alek Krstajic, CEO of Public Mobile, states that Q3 subscriber numbers have reached “more than 150k customers, with September being the best month for growth in the history of Public Mobile”. That alone is remarkable and very surprising – Public currently offers prepaid service in Toronto and Montreal. The doc continues to state that Q3 2011 saw a 40k jump in subs and was “50% higher than the combined prepaid growth of all 3 Incumbents (at 27k)”.
Public noted that their success has come by focusing in on the “value conscious Canadian consumers”, while the incumbents “focused on postpaid contracts and high-end smartphones rather than trying to compete head-to-head with us in a segment where we have a cost advantage”. In addition, Krstajic also wrote that they have the “best cost structure in the industry and are designed from the ground up to serve these customers profitably” because their ARPU (Average Rate Per User) is close to WIND’s, which was earlier reported to be around $29/month.
Finally, there seems to be expansion plans in the works and some confirmation to an earlier report of Android devices coming to their lineup. At the bottom of the doc is reads their ARPU “will grow as we add 3G services and Android smartphones in Q4″. The Android devices are expected to come in under $200.
Over 150,000 subs in 2 cities is an impressive number. To compare to the other new entrants, WIND Mobile has about 400,000 and no insight into Mobilicity as they are a private company.
Thoughts?
(Thanks tipster!)
Update: We were asked by Public Mobile to kindly remove the document, which only confirms its truth.
Discussion
46 comments for “Public Mobile has “more than 150k customers”, launching Android devices in Q4”
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Congrats Public! Keep up the good work!
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HAHA!!! u guys are hilarious and sorry tipster ur still way off I have an agreement in front of me that says acc #s 310,930 and thats on my moms life so I could care less if u wind fanboys believe thats the honest to god truth soooo yes PM has more subs then mobi DUH!!! and yes were going 3G EVDO and then LTE and yes PM is the best financial position out of the new 3 with such little investment and huge growth did u guys know PM one of canadas fastest growing companies ya a little fyact for ya.
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What on earth would sub numbers be doing on an agreement? An agreement for what? If you really are an employee of PM then you would have received the same memo that MS had posted above, it was for “All Employees”. I know someone who works for PM and she emailed me a scan of the same memo this morning putting everything you say in doubt, PhoneGuy. You keep coming out with these impossibly high increases almost on a weekly basis and yet somehow you can’t prove to us what you say is true. Try firstly explaining why sub numbers are on an agreement, and what sort of agreement would have such information and how you have access to it. Then scan the document like you said you would and either email it to MS and/or post a link to where the image is hosted. Simple really, and in one fell swoop you’ve proven your position.
Time for you to put up or shut up, PhoneGuy, and so far it’s not looking too good for what ever little integrity you have left.
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@ Jones u are such a H O M O its not even funny…1st off ur full of s**t no internal docs were emailed out this morning to all employees as I have been at my store since 9am today so your credit and integrity are shot…and 2nd I swore on my moms life I could care less if u beleive me but its the truth and I assume u work for a phone company so U should know there is the CX acc # on each agreement whether prepaid or post and that number increases on each agreement with each activation. I have worked for all 3 of the BIG 3 and can ya tell its the same there with there agreements. and oh know some F A G like you doesnt think I have integrity oh no how will I go on..LMAO get a life buddy
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PG, a little unsure of your own sexuality there, buddy?
Firstly, I never said that the document was sent out by email, nor did I say that it was sent out today. I did say it was scanned and sent to ME this morning by a PM employee, someone who I trust significantly more than you. It went out on Friday as a mass memo and was addressed to “All Employees”. If you’ve got a problem with that then I suggest you take it up with Alex, your boss.
Thank you for my laugh of the day. You obviously have no idea how accounts or account numbers are generated. Using your logic I’m Wind’s 6 billionth member because those are the numbers in my account and on my printed agreement. I think we can both agree that Wind doesn’t have 6 billion subs, can’t we?
Swear on whomever’s life/grave/soul that you like, it means nothing to me, and neither should it. Try that stunt in a court of law and you’ll probably see the judge tack on 10 years to your sentance for making a mockery of the precedings. If you have to resort to such childish antics then you’re obviously not as sure of your own arguement as you think you are.
I will say one last thing. I’m sort of inclined to think that you’re easily & honestly confused about numbers but you make it real hard on others to have any sympathy with you what-so-ever.
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150k in just 2 cities is mighty impressive, especially compared to Wind’s 400k in so many Canadian cities with popular Blackberries and Android smartphones.
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The Public Mobile Buzz is only $49 for those who are interested, although i haven’t tried it out, its stock is limited, and i’ve requested Mobile Syrup to post a review but they have yet to do this. :/
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Hmm. Just looking for phoneguy. LOL… I always appreciate the competition the new carriers are bringing to the market.
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They have more subs then Mobilicity, with only two cities.
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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FWIW, I have 2 family members with the LG Optimus One ($150 from Koodo) and both are more than satisfied with that phone. YMMV.
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Excited to see what will come from these guys come Q4.
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Sorry I have to… last sentence… they’re not their….I’m sorry I couldn’t help myself
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3G? Does that mean EVDO? That makes sense, but I guess that puts all the LTE rumors to rest.
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Where’s PhoneGuy to dispute PB’s own numbers? According to him PM had twice this amount of subs a couple of months ago. He read it in internal emails so it must be true
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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@phoneguy: LOL. At last here you are. I use wind mobile right now and don’t bash the new entrants. They all are supporting to keep the price down (except Videotron I guess). I had horrible experiences on billing with Rogers and Telus.
So, though you work for PM, don’t bash the new entrants. Couple years back, I couldn’t imagine some of the plans the big3 are offering right now.
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Sorry PG, but you claimed to be looking at internal documents that proved PM to be over 250K, the truth is they’re at 150K. How do you explain these magical internal documents that you saw?
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Yeah, get a line for CDN Roaming! :O
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LTE is still coming, but they decided that having EVDO NOW would be more beneficial.
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“leaked memo”…right
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WOW! Excellent news and great work Public.
Thanks to mobile syrup for the Scoop.
Sorta reminds me of Metro PCS. Right out of the Gate no one saw them coming.
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cue the Mobi sub numbers soon my guess is 200-250K somewhere in the middle OTH reports Q3 sometime this week or next, so it’s gonna be interesting to see how much improvement Wind has made on its Q2 #’s
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somebody is gonna get fired, I got this memo
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Didn’t they buy some ghetto cdma tech/spectrum? Is 3G even possible for them? Anyway, congrats!
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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well put
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ZTE Warp is coming!
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similar ARPU as Wind without a smart phone offering… just means that they’re overpriced and wind is a much better value
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2 cities? I think that is a bit misleading. PM is in Toronto, Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington, Hamilton. That is 5 cities right there and I have not even gone into the north part of the GTA or the east side. If you are talking about 2 metropolitan areas, well, that is different. Now you are talking about the potential of close to 10 million customers (Toronto, Montreal). They have 150,000 in the 2 largest areas of Canada, not 150,000 in 2 cities.
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I wonder what the split is on the 150k. How many in the GTA, how many in Montreal? That would be quite interesting for all of us. Does anyone know?
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i have there service switched from bell ripoffs good price plan ok phone no contract for unlimited phone cant go wrong
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Im pretty sure that the majority of the 150,000 subs are in Montreal. The market for PM to compete in Toronto is too intense.
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Mobilicity only has 100-130k subs across Canada and have invested almost a billion to building their network with very minimal gains and high customer churn. Public has more subs for a considerable smaller capital investment. I give Public credit, their business plan seems to be paying off.
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And where did you exactly get those numbers?
At the Toronto Wireless Conference that was held a 2 or 3 months back, Dave (Mobi’s CEO) did say they had a couple hundred thousands customers and couple usually means 2′s at the minimum, so I see Mobi having more than 200 000 customers.
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Those numbers just don’t make sense. RBC estimated that Mobi had 98,000 subs at the end of the 3rd quarter ’10. Are you suggesting they’ve only done 30,000 subs in 14 months? It’s quite evident that they’re struggling, but even taking into account their self imposed expansion slow down they would have to be slamming doors in potential subs’ faces to only draw 30K. I’m in agreement with Jack, I wouldn’t be surprised if RBC placed Mobi around 200,000+
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I would say 250k – 300k is a proper estimate for mobi’s sub numbers.
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as of last friday it was 168K for Mobi, the truth is that churn is out of control
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Where did you get those numbers, Sam?
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A new CDMA/EVDO network when the entire world is on or moving to GSM/HSPA/LTE is laughable. In a few years when CDMA is completely dead, they will have to spend another chunk of money to upgrade just to keep up with the rest. My bet is on Wind as the #4 national carrier for Canada.
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Jonsey & PhoneGuy are the biggest i****s I’ve ever ran across, total morons with no information whatsoever and proclaiming themselves to be TELCO GODS…get over yourselves you douchbags and everything you predict is wrong. You’re 2 losers professing to be something you’re not…you make everyone puke just like that creep Alex/Odefaced and all you do is ramble on forever.
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xtachx is one of those Mobilicity creeps who works for them, the numbers he listed are laughable and we want sources-we heard about this loser and it’s guys like him that do a disservice to any real techies on line. Just like odefaced in BC and others who are paid to stay online all day.
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There is NO WAY they have 150K subscribers. This is a slick move by the CEO to pump up the company’s profile. More like 15K subscribers. Mobilicity doesnt even have 150K subscribers.
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I think it’s going to be the ZTE Blade because U can have it in UK for 99pound (160$CAD). The ZTE Warp is over 250$USD
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Dear Infiniti Guy and other ignorant peeps who think they know anything about anything regarding spectrum and type of networks etc,
I suggest you read a book or do some research about GLOBAL wireless before making yourself look stupid by posting such mindless drivel. That in itself is laughable.
I am so sick of people talking out of their a$$ about CDMA and GSM etc etc.
I work in the industry and was intimately involved in one of the new entrants build outs.
Read about G band and what AT&T is doing with it.
Learn something about this technology and its deployment OUTSIDE of CANADA.
Understand that Public could upgrade to LTE with a simple firmware upgrade to their pots-I am assuming this is Public’s eventual goal.
This means that Public unlike incumbents do not have to replace towers which the incumbents are doing to great expense.
Bottom line, Y’all want to make yourselves look silly, keep on posting it is entertaining for the rest of us who actually work in the industry to read.
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hahahaha Couldn’t agree with you more Mr.Network
Canada (Pop 35mil) is rather insignificant relative to the Global Wireless Market.
People typically do not know about wireless as they are just spoon fed all the propaganda the big 3 here in Canada give them.
Thanks for the insight.
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