Bell announced on Wednesday its wireless data plans from its flanker brand, Virgin Plus, are set to drop starting October 5, 2021.
The price drop for data prices comes ahead of the federal government’s price target for plans in the 2GB to 6GB range, emphasizes Bell.
“Our goal at Bell is to advance how all Canadians connect, and these latest mobile data price reductions build on the actions we’re taking every day to make our world-leading networks and services even better,” said Mirko Bibic, President and CEO of BCE and Bell Canada, in a statement.
“By continuing to make more lower-priced options available, and in this case ahead of a timeline set by the Government of Canada, Bell is continuing to deliver unparalleled value to Canadians while also supporting important public policy objectives,” added Bibic.
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada had set a Winter 2020 benchmark price of $50, $55 and $60 for 2GB, 4GB and 6GB data plans.
Bell says it has achieved ISED’s 25% price cut target months in advance, a promise of the Liberal Party’s 2019 election platform (the 2021 election platform didn’t even mention lower wireless pricing or competition).
Virgin Plus prices for 4G/LTE data plans in the 2GB to 6GB range will hit the following as of October 5, 2021.
These prices will apply to postpaid, bring your own phone and plans will include unlimited talk and text Canada-wide.
While these prices are set to drop next week, data overages with Virgin Plus, like Bell, for those not on ‘unlimited’ data plans, are expensive. Bell recently announced data overages and long distance are increasing in price, and they apply to Virgin Plus.
Virgin Plus data overages are billed at $13/100MB up to 800MB and $0.15/MB thereafter. It works out to $137 for 1GB of data overages, if you’re calculating 1024MB in a gigabyte. Should you agree to keep using your data beyond what’s allocated, get ready to open your wallet.
When Rogers and Telus announce their lower wireless pricing for their flanker brands Fido and Koodo Mobile, we have a hunch it will be around the same pricing as what we’re seeing from Virgin Plus.
