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Wind Mobile Launches Cell Phone Service in CanadaDec 16, 2009 Wind Mobile, the company that aims to become Canada's fourth major cell phone provider, has launched service in Toronto, with a Calgary opening slated for Friday. Wind, owned by Globalive Communications, opened its first store in Toronto at noon on Wednesday. The company is opening five other stores, as well as 13 kiosks in Blockbuster video stores, in the Greater Toronto Area and three in Calgary. Chief executive officer Ken Campbell said the company's network in Vancouver, Ottawa and Edmonton is nearly ready to go and will launch in those cities soon. Chairman Anthony Lacavera unveiled the company's pricing plans, which range from $15 to $45. He said the plans represent a normalization with what's found in the rest of the world, where there are no fees for system access, 911 or activation. The plans also offer customers free caller ID, call forward and unlimited Wind-to-Wind calling across the country. "We are different and we will treat you different," Lacavera said. "The big three have set the bar low." The more expensive plans, at $35 and $45, include unlimited local and province-wide calling, with the top-end plan offering unlimited Canada-wide calls. Data plans range between $10 for access to instant messaging, Facebook and MySpace, to $55 for USB laptop sticks. Lacavera said the pricing is "not revolutionary" compared to what Bell, Rogers and Telus are currently charging, but customers would get better value from Wind's offerings. The company is launching with four phones -- the BlackBerry Bold 9700, the HTC Maple, Samsung Gravity 2 and the Huawei U7519, as well as a Huawei E181 data stick. The phones and data stick are capable of speeds up to 7.2 megabits, with a possibility to ramping up to 21 megabits and beyond, Campbell said. Full cost for phones paid up frontUnlike other carriers, Wind wants customers to pay the full cost of the phones up front, ranging from $130 to $450, rather than subsidizing them in exchange for long-term contracts. "Our customers stay with us because they want to, not because they have to," Campbell said. The company said it will welcome other phones onto its network, including the upcoming rumored Google phone, but not all handsets will work on it. Only new phones designed to work on Advanced Wireless Spectrum are compatible, so many current GSM phones -- including Apple's iPhone -- will not work. |
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