The Rogers prepaid brand chatr has announced today new nationwide Talk, Text and Data plans, which now no longer have in-zone limitations.
Previously, chatr plans had ‘zones’, where unlimited local talk would be applicable, but once outside of these zones, pay-per-use charges would apply to talk, text and data. For the new plans, existing chatr customers can change over to them via My chatr or through online self-serve.
Also, chatr customers when they are close to the end of their 3G data bucket, can now keep on using data at throttled speeds at up to 64 kilobits per second for upload/download until their next renewal date—with no overage fees. The fine print reads:
If your data usage in a month exceeds your 3G speed data allotment, you can continue to use data with no overage charge, but managed data speeds will be reduced from up to 3 Mbps to up to 64 kilobits per second (for both download and upload) until your Anniversary Date. Many applications that do not require high bandwidth (such as email and web browsing) should not be significantly affected by this speed reduction. Applications that will likely be affected by this speed reduction are those that demand higher bandwidths (for example video streaming).
Shailendra Gujarati, Vice-President, chatr, told iPhone in Canada in a statement, “We know that our customers want to use their wireless plans wherever their ‘life, work and play’ takes them.”
Current plans on the chatr site include the following 3G data plan with unlimited Canada-wide talk and text (the $50 plan includes unlimited US talk):
“With the introduction of our nationwide plans, customers can use our Talk, Text and Data plans from coast to coast without worrying about overage fees,” added Gujarati.
The throttled data use when you run out looks to be a decent offering, albeit at sloth-like speeds. It’ll be interesting to see if Telus’ Public Mobile matches this. Bell’s Lucky Mobile currently offers unlimited throttled data when you run out when within your zone.
