Telus has a couple changes upcoming next month, set to affect users activating and renewing their wireless lines. The company will debut a new $30 connection fee, starting April 12, while also at the same time eliminating their $20 SIM card fee.
While customers will no longer have to pay for a Telus SIM card, the $30 connection fee will apply. However, there is a way for customers to avoid the fee altogether—they just need to activate or renew their plans online.
When we reached out to Telus for comment on why this was changing, a spokesperson explained to iPhone in Canada in an email, “The way we provide service to our customers continues to evolve and so too does the way we charge for our services.”
The company reiterated customers who activate in-store or over the phone will continue to have “immediate access to exclusive TELUS benefits including TELUS Learning Centre sessions, TELUS’ Device Checkup App introduction, MyAccount set up, first bill explanation and device set-up assistance.”
Rogers currently charges $9.99 for a SIM card, while Bell offers SIM cards for $0, but they come with a “one-time connection charge” of $25. No word if Rogers will follow suit and eliminate their SIM card charge, too.
When it comes to fees for activating or renewing, Bell charges a one-time “connection charge” of $15, applied to a customer’s first invoice. Rogers charges a $25 connection fee per device, but it is waived if customers buy a plan online.
Ever since the CRTC Wireless Code forced wireless companies to unlock smartphones for free, a once steady stream of revenue has since disappeared for the ‘Big 3’. Some have argued these connection fees are there to make up for missed revenue.
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Like I said, one way or another they’ll get their money
Yeah heaven forbid they give their customers a break once in a while.
That’s why you get Koodo and start referring everyone and their grandmother before they get rid of that too.
Koodo is TELUS.
Koodo is Telus and is also bringing in the $30 charge
3 2 1 Rogers and Bell $30 connection fee
Yep. Even “Freedom” mobile has been toying around with thier fees and services. New plans are costing more and giving less, with add ons costing extra, where they they were not in the past.
I don’t know how old you guys are, but back in 2006 I used to pay $75 a month for a flip phone that cost $100 up front and a plan with 100 long distance minutes, 350 local minutes and no data for a phone that retailed for a few hundred. I was also on a 3yr term and had a $35 activation fee.
I just locked into another 2yr with Virgin for $85 per month, 8GB and unlimited nationwide with a $1034 Samsung GS8 that I only had to pay $200 up front for. Price seems pretty similar to me…
We should compare ourselves with our peers in other countries, not with how Rogers and their friends used to screw us.
I mean at this point they might as well call it a $30 FU fee.
I don’t even understand why they would want to put up an obstacle to someone wanting to give them money every month. If I start a business where someone was willing to give me $60/month or whatever, I wouldn’t demand that they pay $30 for the privilege of paying me $60/month. It’s almost as if there isn’t any competition and they can demand whatever they want.
Aleks, it’s called oligopoly.
I call it the CRTC-isn’t-doing-their-job-poly 😉
Like so many government offices and positions, they only go through the motions….I call it optics.
We’re paying some of the largest fees in the world. We should be gathering in front of the CRTC to do their job and regulate these leeches.
Yeah they’re doing more harm to the Canadian economy than people realize – high prices and low caps restrict innovation. Can you imagine YouTube or Netflix getting off the ground in Canada? Crazy high internet fees would make it impossible.
On top of that, together with the banks, they are not hiring local, but outsourcing the jobs in low wage markets. (
Where is their office? I’ll be there with you 🙂
Long gone are the days when it was customary when the carriers would include the SIM card or charge a measly $5. Now they’re nickel and diming us like the airlines for every little thing. There is no point in going to the carriers and asking for a statement, it’ll only infuriate people with their denial they’re simply gouging us.
If a SIM card is going to be charged for, it should be something representative of the cost, like $2 or $5. When it is $9.99 or $20 that is excessive to me.
To be fair that is true to just about anything from medicine to popcorn at the movies.
When cell phone companies charge up to six times more in Canada than the zoo in the states and Atlantic Canada cell phone prices are the highest in the country why in God’s name do we need to have a cell phone company to arrive more revenue on a service they already rip every little comedian off. Why is the crtc not imposing regulations that stop the o’rageous Lehigh cell phone prices in the land of Canada to continue. If these companies continue to overcharge Atlantic Canadians they will find themselves out of business in these provinces.
The SIM card fee still applies for buying a SIM card outright, and customers can also reduce the fee by $5 for signing up for e-billing, and another $5 for signing up for pre-authorized payments.
This is bullshit though and since the fee is waived by ordering online, it almost looks like it’s a bigger attack on the physical outlets and partner dealers.
Telus is a cocaine snorting whore.
Get very far away because you will either end up penniless, diseased, or both.
I actually don’t mind it (like if they have to charge a freaking fee). Read it again. You avoid the fee if you order online.
We’re literally all on a website right now… everyone here probably would order their phones/service online.
Seems like Telus is just putting a premium on activating phones in their retail stores… online is cheaper for them anyways.