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Public Mobile CFO confirms sub-$200 Android devices launching “around the end of this month”
At the Scotia Capital Telecom & Tech 2012 Conference today Jim Hardy, CFO of Public Mobile, said their was some “leakage” in the press about their subscriber numbers – which has now topped the 150,000 mark. In addition, he also confirmed that they’ve “actually rolled out a 3G network. It’s completed, it’s in testing now. We’ll be launching Android phones on that 3G network about around the end of this month, at price points that are sub $200 for unsubsidized phones”.
As to which Android devices, this is completely unconfirmed but we’re hearing it could be the ZTE Blade and the ZTE Warp. Again, unconfirmed but Android devices on Public Mobile are only a few weeks away.
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33 comments for “Public Mobile CFO confirms sub-$200 Android devices launching “around the end of this month””
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cool story bro
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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haha I love it..GO PM!!! Sometimes its the turtle that wins the race.
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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If their phones are so good, phoneguy, can you write a review on your own blog about the Public Mobile Buzz with lots of pictures of the phone and software to tell us all how good it is? Can you post a video on YouTube? Can you use it with no roaming fees outside of Greater Toronto or Greater Montréal? Better yet, can you unlock them for use on another provider?
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Mobilicity with their poor network are now dead.
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Mobilicity’s network is mystery meat because they don’t tell us how fast the downloads and uploads are, nor do they communicate any expansion or improvements to us.
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go pubic mobile!
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Please use HTML5 audio!
SUGGESTION: Launch in other cities instead of just two metropolitan regions!
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I have a phone with PM (it’s my secondary phone, since the Big 3 stick with a fixed # of minutes), and even so, I still find phoneguy to be very annoying. Dude doesn’t need to chime in on every PM and non-PM post out there.
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Is it the Public Mobile Buzz? Regardless of what phone you have, can you publish a review for it, please?
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@Alex I have the Buzz (and 2 others). Solid phone for the price. Keyboard is actually laid out better than the BlackBarry for me. The OS if you can call it that, is very limiting. Limited number of texts saved allowed and if you don’t keep it under 200, you won’t be able to receive any new ones and they are lost in space, gone even after you make room.
It, the OS, again is very crude and archaic. Like its not easy to take an incoming call and make a contact with it or the same from a text message. More steps than it should be. I imagine they wrote this OS years ago and never bother to steal some of the functions you’d find in other handset.
The reception is AMAZING! I say it again, AMAZING. put my Rogers connection and N1 to shame. Though I do want a better handset from PM, I just can’t part with them due to the great reception I get. Better than any I’ve used and I’ve used them all since 1990.
I recommend the phone, but if the ZTE Warp is coming, hold out for that bad boy! I’m be buying it the day of its release and add to my collection of PM devices.
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Alex: no, it’s the ZTE C70, which was just discontinued and removed off their site a few days ago. When I got it, I asked the clerk what their best device was for talk only (as I use my primary phone for text, data, etc.) and he said the C70 was their least returned talk-only device. It’s good. Reception is very strong everywhere except my condo, but my condo is cursed lol. Outside, works great. Almost all indoor buildings, works great. In my condo, works but has the occasional dropped call, as it lingers around 2 bars.
Call quality is good, although I have used several devices with better. Those devices cost up to 9x more, so again, it’s a compromise. It’s certainly passable.
The screen isn’t great, but since I use it for talk only, it’s not a big deal… but even tilting it a few degrees from straight-on, the colours distort dramatically. Also, the software is circa 2004 or so.
My only real beef with the device: the speakerphone. It was poorly developed, as the sound from the external microphone is looped back into the phone, so the person I am speaking to hears a very obvious echo of their own voice whenever I put them on speakerphone.
Anyway… it looks like it would be horrible for texting, but for a pure talk device, it does the trick.
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I made fun of these guys a few times, I even said they would be dead on arrival and that Mobi would scoop them out, I must admit that was like 10 months ago, now in the last 6 months I must say I am impressed, over 150K subs, better footprint, cheap phones that serve the purpose, cheapest entry cost of all new entrants yet most probably the first and only one to become profitable in the next decade… and now 3G and Android under $200 with no tab or contract. Regardless who we cheer for I think we must admit they seem to do a lot of good things, what’s next? Public if your speed is good, your phones good and the proper price for Data count me in
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I’ve heard reports that one of the phones will sport a keyboard.
I’ve also heard reports that one of them is an HTC.
i wonder if that means we will see the HTC Status.
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I enjoy the comments about “who” Public Mobile customers are, yada yada yada. Drug dealers, people who don’t pay their rent, etc etc etc…
Let me tell you who I am.
I am a music professional with a solid 9-to-5 job. Yes, that’s right. I work making music. That’s got to tell you something right there.
I used to be a Rogers customer. And between my wife and I, we were paying in the neighbourhood of $200-$350 a month on Rogers crappy inflexible per-minute plans.
We are both Public Mobile customers now. My wife has unlimited US calling for $10/month so she can call her best friend in Georgia and talk as much as she wants. I have the $10 data option on my C76 for now. I intend to make the jump to Android at the end of the month.
I started with a Tomo, and I loved the phone but it was stolen. I’ve dealt with Rogers “lost stolen” program before. Happily because of a promotion, I was able to buy a brand new C76 for $32 and be back up and running the next day.
The Tomo and the C76 have been solid phones for me. Sure, I miss my Blackberry. But honestly, I’ve found the build quality of both of these devices to be far superior to RIM. I love my C76. It’s tiny. It fits in the change pocket in a pair of jeans and the bluetooth is flawless. I have a Blue Ant S8 in my car and actually USE the time I spend driving to make phone calls. Why not? I don’t have to worry about going over my minutes.
I’d be grabbing one of those $49 Buzzes if it wasn’t for the Android launch at the end of the month.
I went on vacation to a cottage in Northern Ontario a couple of weeks after their drastic roaming expansion. I was a solid 20 km outside the roaming coverage and I was *still* able to make calls and send and receive text messages when I had to.
I wish Public every success. I will be a Public Mobile customer until the bitter end.
You guys can flaunt your iPhones and your 3.x Androids. I just came to the point in my life when I made a decision, and the decision is this: There are more important things in my life to spend money on than a three-digit cell phone bill.
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I hear the ZTE Warp is a solid $200 Android. It’s being sold at Boost Moobile right now. I am excited to see Public Mobile go EV-DO and Android. Just like MetroPCS in the US. Hopefully this will lead to lower prices for smartphone plans overall in Canada. People in Montreal have to be happy about the EV-DO news. Videotron need some competition in the smartphone space. You gotta love how Public Mobile kept hush about the 3G network and then just dropped this bomb shell on us out of nowhere. I wonder if people will stop making fun of Public Mobile now that they are moving beyond 1x.
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I have PM that I use soley to replace my house phone….cheap, unlimited talk and has the convemience of taking the phone with me within the GTA if I need too. Wife and I use telus/rogers for cell
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Ya, but 3G data is still slow using EV-DO wake me up when they realize customers want more than 2-3 Mbps peak with normal thruput aroun 100Kbps, thats why Bell and Telus went HSPA+
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Have you seen the data speeds for Mobilicity and Wind Mobile lately, they are a complete joke and the networks are getting worse every month…even the fanboys are running scared and jumping ship.
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I can’t attest to Mobi, but Wind is holding strong @ between 2-3 Mpbs down, in Ottawa
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Mobilicity’s download speed is consistently between 1.8 – 2.5 on my Nexus S. Not that it’s fast, but still decent speed for mobile use.
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the zte blade is not very good. i think ive been spoiled by my N1, but i picked one up to play with, not the most intuitive thing to work with. not very fast, and screen was not that responsive. hopefully the warp will be better.
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Now that they have an Android phone, all they need is a Blackberry and it’s over for Mobi.
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Yeah cheap andtroid phones. Yes! lol. Don’t use your gps outside of the zone though haha. Oh ya wind and mobi users never leave their zone… I forgot. haha.
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Funny tho I have a galaxy s2 and my bills never ever come into the three digit . If your too stupid to change your plan or Switch to fido and virgin with their unlimited plans and a real solid network then you deserve those bills
Idiot
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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Why pay $200 for a phone LOCKED FOREVER to their bad network? Just buy a normal android phone from wind or mobilicity.
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I have A zte from Public Mobile… Here in Montreal
Download speed : 213kbps
Upload Speed : 876kbps
Uglyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
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@glo
True, I got my N762 in january, and the download speeds stayed around 300kb until today… now goes up to 2mb and never under 1, I hope it’s here to stay!!!
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