Rogers launches mobile plans for low-income Canadians

financialpost.com:

Rogers Communications Inc. in unveiling a new mobile plan for low-income Canadians that it says will make 5G wireless services more accessible for eligible customers, one of several undertakings the company agreed to when it received the federal government’s approval for its acquisition of Shaw Communications Inc. earlier this year.

The program, launched on Nov. 7, offers a no-cost smartphone device with a 5G mobile plan for $25 a month on a two-year agreement, and joins already existing programs of standalone internet and TV bundles for low-income earners.

Cost is a major reason why one in 10 Canadians doesn’t carry a mobile phone, said Phil Hartling, president of Rogers’ wireless division.

“We’re focused on those low-income Canadians who want to be part of the 5G world, but so far haven’t been able to join because of the cost,” Hartling said. “We think this program addresses that.”

The plan includes three gigabytes of 5G data and either a Samsung Galaxy A14 or Motorola G 5G, which cost over $350 by themselves, at no-cost for a 24-month term. At the end of the two-year term, the customer owns the phone.

There will be no overage charges and the program allows for two phones and four mobile plans per recipient family, Rogers said. Customers who already have a 5G-enabled device can use their own phone with the plan, it added.

Hartling said that although Rogers did make a commitment to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, it had already committed to improve affordability for wireless services with or without that undertaking.

The undertaking was part of a string of 21 conditions that Rogers and Quebecor Inc.’s Vidéotron, which bought Shaw’s Freedom Mobile in a side deal, must adhere to as part of the