MobileSyrup.com » Public Mobile

Public Mobile has 199,000 subscribers

Ian Hardy — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:56:33 +0000

Public Mobile launched their wireless service in 2010 and majority of people, including myself, who follow the Canadian wireless industry were hammering down on the new entrant. They had invested over $50 million into G Band spectrum that nobody ever touched, wanted or thought would work. Public Mobile’s CEO Alek Krstajic has always stood by his word to bring “hard-working Canadians” value. Since going live the low-cost entry-level carrier has expanded their Toronto and Montreal coverage areas, set up roaming agreements (Canadian and United States), and launched data devices (two Android handsets).

A couple months ago we let you know that Public Mobile had successfully sign up 150,000 subscribers since launching. Now for something really amazing and truly remarkable. According to a report in Reuters, Public Mobile, who operates in 2 core cities, increased their Q4 subscriber base by a stunning 45,000 to reach a total of 199,000 subs. 199k in 2 markets! It’s also been revealed that their ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) $25.27 (most likely in Q4).

To keep up with their competition, Public Mobile will be increasing their Unlimited Talk plan by $4/month February 9th to $19 per month. The talk/text and data plan is still on a promo for $35/month for 6 months.

Source: Reuters

Video: Public Mobile comes out with 3 commercials that target “Rebelus Wireless” and “Roam Rage”

Ian Hardy — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:36:04 +0000

The last place I would have thought to see a Public Mobile commercial was during the Super Bowl. Guess their 150,000+ subscribers is paying off. There are 3 news ads that target “Rebelus Wireless” – a billion dollar cellphone company that charges $1.45/minute for roaming (Public charges 15-cent/minute for U.S. and Canadian roaming)… overall the “Roam Rage” commercials are all pretty funny. Job well done Public. Check them out below

For $23k you could own this Public Mobile store, “includes all inventory!!!!”

Ian Hardy — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 03:56:33 +0000

Hot deal! Not really sure what’s needed to become a Public Mobile dealer, but why go through corporate when you can simply find your dreams on Kijiji!! This ad popped up on the classified site and gives you the chance to own a piece of Canadian wireless history! The “Established and Busy location” in Toronto is up for grabs for a cool $23,000. As a bonus the owner is handing over all the inventory.

Interested? Here you go.

Update: Seems like the ad has been pulled from Kijiji, perhaps a sale happened overnight.

Public Mobile increasing Unlimited Talk plan by $4/month February 9th

Ian Hardy — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:33:02 +0000

Public Mobile first popped on the Canadian wireless scene back in March 2010 – since then they’ve racked up over 150,000 subscribers and operate in Toronto and Montreal. Public entered the market with a low-cost unlimited talk plan for $24/month, and a talk and text plan for $40/month. At the time these were and still are incredibly affordable… then more competition surfaced and carriers came out swinging with various unlimited plans, specifically in Quebec. This saw Public change their pricing to $15/month for the talk only plan, $24/month for the talk and text plan, plus they launched a $35/month talk/text/long distance plan. Recently they added data offering to the mix that gives unlimited talk, text and data for $45/month (currently a promo for $35 for the first 6 months).

All this to say that we’ve been informed that a rate change is in the works. Effective February 9th the Unlimited Talk plan will increase from $15 to $19/month (increase of 21%). We are still gathering info, but apparently Public will be throwing in some sort of additional feature to make up for the increase. We’re also hearing that those customers who sign up before the Feb. 9th date will be grandfathered and won’t see a price increase on their monthly bill.

We’ll have more info soon.
(Thanks tipster!)

Rogers rolling out “Visual Voicemail Plus” for select Android and BlackBerry devices in February

Ian Hardy — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 13:16:21 +0000

Rogers customers who have an iPhone have been using Visual Voicemail for a while now. Rather than dialling into your voicemail all the time, the service gives you the ability to listen (via audio file) or read (via text) the voice messages people leave on your device. New details have emerged that indicates Rogers will be expanding the service to BlackBerry and Android devices, plus any handset that supports picture messaging. The app is called “Visual Voicemail Plus” and is scheduled to be available in February – the main feature will give owners the option to save a voicemail message for an unlimited period of time. However, there are some limitations at launch – BlackBerry users who have the Bold 9700 and Torch 9800 will be the only supported devices. As for Android devices, the Sony Ericsson X10 and the Samsung Galaxy Q are the chosen ones.

Excited?

Source: Technapedia
(Thanks Gen!)

Public Mobile expands distribution, wiggles its way into 29 Zellers stores

Ian Hardy — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 01:49:38 +0000

Is Public Mobile the little wireless underdog that could? The carrier only operates in Toronto and Montreal but they continually seem to advance in many ways. Most notably is their handset lineup, recently launching a couple low end, low cost Android devices, bringing email capabilities to their unlimited offering and adding various roaming options. All these changes happened throughout 2011, along with expanding their distribution. They recently entered into Walmart and now have found a spot in 29 Zellers stores in GTA, and Montreal.

No word on what Public has planned for 2012 – rumours of a possible buyout are circling – but they will be adding to their growing subscriber base, which is now above the 153,000 mark.

Public Mobile releases the ZTE F451

Ian Hardy — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 20:07:28 +0000

You’ve got to hand it to Public Mobile. For a company that came out swinging with only Unlimited Talk and Text plans and truly sub-par handsets that were targeted to the “price conscious” crowd, now have 7 of their 8 devices are ‘Email and web friendly”. In addition, 4 of them have a QWERTY keyboards (physical or touchscreen). Don’t get me wrong – they are still priced incredibly low and the specs are nowhere close to the top of the line, but reaching these upscale market has never been the Public Mobile dream.

The latest QWERTY device to make it onto the shelves is the ZTE F451. It’s available for $119 outright and comes with a 2.4” display, a 2MP camera with flash and the overall design is similar to the INQ Chat that was released on Koodo and TELUS last year.

More here at Public

Public Mobile finds a home in 48 Walmart stores

Ian Hardy — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 22:06:58 +0000

Walmart Canada is no stranger to selling wireless, they have majority of the brands – Bell, Rogers, TELUS, Koodo, Virgin and Fido. Recently newer carrier Mobilicity entered into a distribution agreement with the big box retailer in Toronto, Calgary, Surrey, Ottawa, Edmonton and Vancouver. Now, another new entrant has worked their way into Walmat’s “Action Alley” areas, Public Mobile devices can now be purchased at 48 Walmart stores in Ontario and Quebec (39 in Ontario and 9 in the Greater Montreal area). Public’s low-cost plans and devices actually makes sense in Walmart.

Public Mobile releases the Android 2.3 ZTE N762 for a low $149

Ian Hardy — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:27:55 +0000

Public Mobile’s 2nd Android device has been released – the ZTE N762 can be yours on the cheap for $149 outright. The best feature apart from its 3.5-inch touchscreen display is that it’s running OS 2.3 Gingerbread. However, this will probably be the last OS the device will ever witness, so what you see is what you get. In addition, the N762 has a 2MP camera and Wi-Fi. Certainly not for everyone, but something to consider for those interested in an entry-level Android.

Source: Public Mobile

Public Mobile introduces U.S. Roaming

Ian Hardy — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:01:00 +0000

Public Mobile – once a grand new entrant underdog in Canadian wireless – has come through in many fashions. When they first launched they released sub-par handsets that that had limited coverage, only in the core Toronto and Montreal areas. Now a year and half later they have established a customer base of over 150,000, expanded coverage to include Canadian roaming, and recently introduced 2 Android smartphones, which are both available for well under $200.

Today Public went south. The über entry level cost conscious carrier has introduced U.S roaming. In an internal doc we received it states that their “roaming coverage has expanded with the addition of a new US roaming partner. Customers can now talk and text in the continental United States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands (Alaska and Montana are not included). Looks like data roaming is not set up yet. As for the rates, impressive as they are the same as the Canadian roaming. $0.15/minute for incoming and outgoing calls, plus sending a text is also $0.15 each, incoming texts are free.

Update: A press release reveals that their U.S. roaming partner is Sprint and that “with the introduction of our 3G Smartphones we also look forward to introducing data roaming in Canada and the U.S. in the coming months”.

You can check out the full US roaming here at Public
(Thanks tipster!)