Virgin Plus launches 5G plans and refreshed website

Bell-owned Virgin Plus has launched a refreshed website along with new plans, including 5G access. Virgin is the second Canadian flanker brand to add 5G access, following Telus-owned Public Mobile earlier this year.

Part of the refresh includes bringing on Andre Braugher (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) as the new face of Virgin Plus. You’ll see him on Virgin’s website and in some promotional material, like the below tweet.

https://twitter.com/VirginPlus/status/1683817742959345670?s=20

Virgin Plus now divides its plans up in a few different ways. First, customers are asked to pick whether they’re buying a device or bringing their own phone. Next, plans are divided into three categories: ‘Unlimited nationwide data plans,’ ‘Fixed data plans,’ and ‘Promo plans.’ However, Virgin only offers a limited selection of plans for customers who are buying a phone, and customers who bring a phone can get a $10/mo discount for 24 months on some plans. Moreover, the ‘Promo’ category just shows plans from the other two categories that have an ongoing deal attached.

Virgin’s new “unlimited” plans work similarly to the unlimited plans offered by Bell, Telus, and Rogers. Customers get a bucket of data with a set maximum speed, and if they use up that data, they can continue using data at a significantly slower speed without overages. Virgin’s unlimited 5G plans cap data speeds at up to 250Mbps and throttled to speeds of up to 256Kbps once customers go beyond their monthly data allotment.

The full breakdown is below:

Buying a new phone

• Unlimited nationwide data plans
  • $65/mo 30GB 5G (250Mbps)
  • $75/mo 60GB 5G (250Mbps)
• Fixed data plans
  • $35/mo unlimited Canada-wide talk and text, pay-per-use 4G LTE data
  • $62/mo 40GB 4G LTE (150Mbps)

Bring your own phone

• Unlimited nationwide data plans
  • $55/mo 30GB 5G (250Mbps) – includes $10/mo credit for 24 months, $65/mo thereafter (promo plan)
  • $65/mo 60GB 5G (250Mbps) – includes $10/mo credit for 24 months, $75/mo thereafter (promo plan)
• Fixed data plans
  • $15/mo 250MB 3G with 100 outgoing minutes and unlimited Canada-wide texting
  • $35/mo 3GB 3G
  • $35/mo unlimited Canada-wide calling and texting with pay-per-use 4G LTE data
  • $37.50/mo 2GB 4G LTE (150Mbps)
  • $39/mo 10GB 4G LTE (150Mbps)
  • $45/mo 30GB 4G LTE (150Mbps) – includes $10/mo credit for 24 months, $55/mo thereafter (promo plan)
  • $50/mo 40GB 4G LTE (150Mbps) – includes $12/mo credit for 24 months, $62/mo thereafter (promo plan)

Unless otherwise specified above, Virgin’s plans include unlimited Canada-wide calling and either unlimited international or unlimited Canada-wide texting. Every plan includes call waiting, three-way calling, call display, and voicemail. Several of the ‘Fixed data’ plans are just the CRTC-mandated starter plans that Virgin previously offered.

Before the change, Virgin had the following plans (not including the starter plans it still offers):

• $35/mo unlimited talk and text
• $39/mo 10GB 4G LTE (150Mbps)
• $45/mo 30GB 4G LTE (150Mbps) – includes $10/mo credit for 24 months
• $50/mo 10GB 4G LTE (150Mbps) – includes $12/mo credit for 24 months

Some other things worth noting about Virign’s new plans include that the provider caps video streaming over data at 480p quality. Moreover, many of the plans are restricted to new activations only. Finally, almost every plan sports a warning that “prices may increase duing subscription.”

Finally, Virgin still charges the $60 connection fee it added earlier this month. You can check out the new website and plans here.