Fido, Virgin, Koodo up prices, cut data on wireless plans

Big Three flanker brands Fido, Virgin Plus, and Koodo have changed their wireless plans, cutting data and raising prices after a short-lived promotional period.

Earlier this month, the three flanker brands rolled out $40/60GB plans, but now those deals are gone. Across the board, Fido, Virgin, and Koodo have upped the prices of 60GB plans while cutting or entirely removing CAN/US/MEX options.

Fido

Rogers-owned Fido now offers the following wireless options:

• $39/20GB 5G
• $44/60GB 5G (previously $40/60GB)
• $49/60GB 5G CAN/US/MEX for 12 months (previously $49/80GB with no limit on US/MEX usage)

All three plans include a $5/mo autopay discount, data speeds up to 1Gbps, unlimited Canada-wide talk and text, unlimited international texting, hotspot access, and other standard features like call display and voicemail.

Notably, it seems like Fido may have finally given up on trying to make hotspot access a paid feature, with it now listed as a plan feature on most of Fido’s plans. Fido started charging for hotspot access about a year ago, but then repeatedly offered the hotspot add-on for free as part of promotional deals.

Virgin Plus

Bell’s Virgin Plus rolled out similar changes to Fido:

• $39/20GB 5G
• $44/60GB 5G (previously $40/60GB)
• $49/60GB 5G CAN/US/MEX (previously $49/80GB)

Virgin’s plans include unlimited international calls from Canada to 27 countries, unlimited Canada-wide calling and texting, unlimited international texting, data speeds up to 1Gbps, and other standard features like hotspot, voicemail, and call display. Prices include an autopay discount.

Koodo

Finally, Telus-owned Koodo made the following changes to its plans:

• $40/20GB 5G
• $45/60GB 5G (previously $40/60GB)
• $50/80GB 5G CAN/US/MEX (unchanged)
• $55/100GB (unchanged)

Koodo made fewer changes to its plans compared to Fido and Virgin, mainly bumping up the price of the 60GB plan and adding a new 20GB option. The plans all include an autopay discount (but Koodo requires you do it through your bank), as well as unlimited Canada-wide calling, unlimited international texting, and standard features such as call display and voicemail.

However, there are two major differences between Koodo and the others that are worth taking note of. First, Koodo offers customers a choice of a free perk with each plan. Options vary from plan to plan, but customers can choose things like premium voicemail, rollover data, long-distance packs, and more.

The other major difference is that Koodo caps its 5G speeds at up to 250Mbps (or 500Mbps with one of the carrier’s free perks). So if data speed matters to you, you may want to go with one of the other providers.

Are these the best options?

The short answer is no.

If you’re looking for the cheapest mobile rates, you’ll want to consider Freedom Mobile, Public Mobile (which is also owned by Telus), or Fizz Mobile.

Freedom is the value champ right now in Canada, offering plans like $35/25GB or $40/100GB with 5G, CAN/US/MEX roaming, and additional roaming features for over 120 other destinations. So, if you like paying less and getting more, and especially if you travel a lot, it’s the obvious choice.

Public typically offers plans that are close in price to Freedom, but with fewer roaming options (some plans still offer CAN/US/MEX, though). And Fizz takes a unique approach by allowing customers to customize various aspects of their wireless plan, so you can pick and pay for only the things you need.