When the Rogers-Shaw merger officially closed last month, so did the Quebecor deal to acquire Freedom Mobile, a side deal to allow the former to appease regulators.
Quebecor acquiring Shaw’s Freedom Mobile meant the latter would now be run by the former’s Videotron, allowing it to become the fourth wireless player in Canada. Videotron will now build out a 5G network in Alberta, B.C., Ontario and Quebec as part of the deal requirements.
Last month, support documents detailing the transition from Freedom Mobile to Videotron noted a 10% data bonus increase, a requirement of the deal to please the federal government. So if you’re on a 50GB Freedom Mobile plan, that would mean 5GB of extra data per month, for example.
Recently, iPhone in Canada readers have started to see this 10% data bonus being doled out to their accounts. Many checking their online accounts are seeing a 10% data bonus, even those on prepaid data plans. Some said their accounts received more than a 10% data bonus, so it’s worth logging into your account online to see what’s there. It’s worth noting this free data rollout appears to be still happening, as some said they aren’t seeing anything yet.
Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau will also have to drop unlimited data plan prices by 20% at Freedom Mobile, a requirement of the merger. He said in a recent interview the Freedom Mobile name will stay. The company will need to spend $150 million on 5G network upgrades within two years.
Freedom Mobile will take market share from incumbents Rogers, Telus and Bell by offering a “better product and a better price,” he said. Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri previously said the company was ready to respond to any price cuts from Freedom Mobile, noting, “we will not be undersold just because of the price.”
Are you seeing your free 10% data bonus yet in your Freedom Mobile account?
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not yet.
What about people who are on Shaw Mobile? Any word there about the takeover and our sweet $25 per month plans?
I’m interested to see how they handle the legacy Wind plans with “Unlimited” data subject to the fair usage policy. Will they raise the fair usage cap to 5.5GB/mo?
I ended up with a 15% bonus, 3.5 GB on top of my 20 GB plan. We’ll see if this 15% bonus continues into future months.