When Loblaw launched “The Mobile Shop” in select grocery stores back in 2011 the company aimed to be Canada’s largest third party mobile phone retailer by 2013. Their strategy was to bring a number of carrier brands under one roof and sell phones and prepaid/postpaid plans (TELUS, Koodo, Rogers, Fido, Virgin, Bell, Public Mobile, Solo and WIND Mobile).
In addition, The Mobile Shop also sells their own prepaid services under the “PC Mobile” brand. When The Mobile Shop launched I remember speaking with Maria Forlini, SVP at PC Telecom, and she stated that “we are serious about this and are in it for the long haul.” Seems like they’re digging in and getting serious now. On June 5th, PC Mobile will expand past the Prepaid market and enter the Postpaid business.
The finer details are sparse, but the brand will be powered by TELUS’ network (HSPA+ and LTE). The structure will be similar to Koodo’s Tab System where customers can sign up on a contract and pay a certain dollar amount up front with a declining balance. As for the contact length, we’re hearing PC Mobile will have either 1-year, 1.5-year or 2-year contract lengths. There will also be a small selection of monthly rate plans, starting off at $35/month and topping out at $60 (no word yet on the details of the plans).
According to an internal doc we received it shows that PC will bring the following devices and prices (SIM, microSIM and nano SIM cards are all $10 each):
– Samsung Galaxy S4 in Black ($625)
– BlackBerry Q10 in Black ($625)
– LG Nexus 4 ($400)
– Samsung Galaxy SII X in Black ($300)
– Samsung Galaxy Ace IIx in Black ($180)
– Nokia Lumia 520 ($180)
There’s still a bunch of unknown information. Coverage area will be TELUS’ network so they’ll reach majority of Canada. In addition, no word on the extra costs such as voice mail, caller ID, data, roaming, etc. However, it sure looks like PC Mobile is changing their brand strategy and aiming to accomplish their bigger goal.
(Thanks tipster!)
