For the first time, Canadian mobile carriers are offering unlimited data plans for much less than the price of your arm and leg. Bell Mobility introduced the HTC Touch a few weeks ago with an unlimited data plan for 7 dollars Canadian, or $7.04 US. The plan is also compatible with other wap-based consumer phones, and only allow for wap-access.  Unlike the consumer based unlimited wap plan, the unlimited data covers unlimited HTML based internet browsing (through EV-DO/CDMA 1X) and unlimited email and instant messaging. For PDAs, the HTC Touch is currently the only phone that the $7 plan is compatible on.

Days earlier, Telus Mobility introduced an unlimited instant messaging/e-mail plan for $15 for all PDAs and Blackberrys, but many customers have been given free unlimited data as part of the package to compete with the plan by Bell. Currently there is very little information whether Blackberry devices are compatible or not.

Rogers Wireless introduced an unlimited email and messaging plan for exclusively Blackberry devices for $15, it does not include any web browsing data, nor has Rogers responded to Bell’s $7 unlimited data yet, and they may not until much into the future.

Many believe the unlimited data plans introduced by Bell and Telus are to prepare to combat against the iPhone that is to be released on Rogers sometime in the imminent not-so-distant future.

Two restrictions that the Bell and Telus data plans have is audio/video streaming and tethering to a computer, both carriers forbid customers from doing either on their phones due to the extreme pricing on the plans.

Today I recieved a press release in my inbox, and like always I read them and decided whether they warrant a post or not. Today I received one from a company called Yoober, and in the press release they promise free texting etc.

So I read the press release and visit their website to see what the catch is, and while there really is no catch you do need a data plan to use their supposed free text technology.

Basically you download their software and send messages to friends who are also using their software. They send the messages over the Internet. But you do not incur any texting charges. WOW Free texting!!! Yeah right.

The Yoober software uses your data plan to send the messages and data plans tend to cost just as much if not more than text plans.

The CEO of Yoober claims to be a texting addict who wants to make the Telco’s suffer by offering a free Texting alternative, but I think his software would just bring in more money to telco’s because it uses the more expensive data plans they offer.

Yoober does not offer free Texting, it just piggy backs on a more expensive service. 

We have an update on two acquisitions that either happened in the past or were potentially being planned in the near future.

American CDMA carrier Sprint, which merged with iDen carrier Nextel in 2005, is no longer using the Nextel name as part of Sprint’s new advertising campaign that was released this week. This could potentially be the end of the Nextel name, which was expected at the beginning at the merger by many people two years ago when the merger occurred.

Canadian CDMA carrier Telus will no longer be attempting a merger with another Canadian CDMA carrier, Bell Canada, after rumours of a merger took place last week after Telus and Bell Canada signed a non-disclosure and standstill agreement last week. If the carriers had merged, the company would be the largest wireless and landline carrier in Canada.  Many groups are still interested in purchasing Bell Canada, including the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan along with an American acquisition firm.

Canada’s two largest CDMA carriers Bell Canada and Telus are in talks to possibly merge to allow for Bell Canada to continue to be Canadian owned and operated. In the last few months, Bell Canada has received takeover offers by American investors, however Bell has refused all offers as of presently.

If Bell Canada and Telus were to merge, the company would have 60 percent of the wireless market share in Canada.  At the moment, the only two other national carriers in Canada are GSM carriers Rogers Wireless and Fido, which are both owned by Rogers Communications.

Bell Canada and Telus also have a huge market share in landline phone, television and internet services. Bell currently operates 13 million landlines in Canada, which is just under half of the Canadian population, while Telus has just over 1 million landline subscribers.  Bell Canada also operates one of the largest portfolios of TV stations in Canada with operating The Comedy Network (Canadian equivalent of Comedy Central), CTV (ABC/NBC), TSN (ESPN) and MuchMusic (VH1).

If the merger is approved by the Canadian government, the newly merged company will have a combined total wireless customer base of 10.6 million people on CDMA and iDEN in Canada.

This could possibly be good news for regional based CDMA carrier MTS-Allstream since they are possibly in the works to become the newest nation-wide wireless carrier. They are currently a regional carrier that is made up from a merger between western Canadian based carrier MTS and the former AT&T Canada (Allstream). The carrier currently has over 300,000 subscribers in the Canadian province of Manitoba alone.

Our Canadian Correspondent Cody has again pointed out to us that the MyFaves, Fab5, My5 battle is raging in Canada.

Today a third wireless provider has added a MyFaves program to their plan options and this time it’s Telus Mobility.

Their MyFaves plan allows for their customers to talk and text as much as they want to 5 people, the MyFaves plans start at $25 dollars (CAD) a month.

For more info visit: http://telusmobility.ca/on/plans/pcs/myfaves_all.shtml