Fido follows Virgin, raises price of most plans by $5/mo

Rogers flanker brand Fido rolled out new, more expensive plans on July 9th. The move isn’t surprising, given that Fido warned that some of its plans would end on the 8th.

Although Fido only warned that its $34/20GB 4G plan would go away, it looks like most of the provider’s plans increased in price by $5/mo, though it still offers a $5/mo discount for customers who use automatic payments. Here’s a list of Fido’s new plans:

• $44/20GB 4G ($39 with autopay) – previously $39 ($34 with autopay)
• $49/40GB 4G ($44 with autopay) – previously $44 ($39 with autopay)
• $54/50GB 4G ($49 with autopay) – previously $49 ($44 with autopay)
• $59/60GB 4G ($54 with autopay)

Interestingly, Fido’s website says that customers can get the 50GB plan for $44/mo for 24 months as a limited-time offer, though the website doesn’t make it clear how the price is reduced, such as through a monthly credit. (Plus, the discount didn’t show up when I tried going through the check-out process, so your mileage may vary on that one).

Notably, some of Fido’s plans and pricing align with Bell’s Virgin Plus, which also recently increased the cost of several plans. However, not all of Fido’s plans match up — for example, Virgin charges $44/mo for its 20GB 4G plan. Fido’s price before the autopay discount matches Virgin’s, but Fido’s plan is cheaper with the discount. Additionally, Fido has a 40GB option, while Virgin doesn’t.

Regardless, it’s tougher than ever to recommend Fido since the new pricing further erodes the provider’s value argument. Koodo (for now) offers a $34/20GB 4G plan, making it a better value option. And Koodo’s isn’t even the current best value option.

That honour goes to Freedom Mobile and Public Mobile, both of which still offer $34/50GB 5G plans with unlimited Canada/U.S. calling, texting and data usage. Koodo’s plans and the more expensive options from Fido and Virgin don’t come close.

If you still want to check out Fido’s plans for some reason, you can do so here.