Fido Solutions

Fido Solutions

"Giving low prices a good home."
Type	subsidiary of Rogers Communications
Industry	Wireless services
Founded	December 1996
Headquarters	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Key people	Fadel Chbihna General Manager for Fido
Products	EDGE, GPRS, GSM, HSDPA, HSUPA, wireless data services, two-way messaging
Parent	Rogers Communications
Website	www.fido.ca

Fido Solutions is a Canadian cellular telephone service provider currently owned by Rogers Communications. It was formerly owned by Microcell Telecommunications. Fido does, however, remain a separate entity from Rogers. Although Fido's parent company Rogers Communications also operates another wireless brand named Rogers Wireless they remain mostly separate as Fido has retained its own retail chain, customer service call centres, network servers and CEO. Fido pioneered the concept of providing unlimited service in select Canadian cities. Fido was the first carrier in Canada to launch a GSM-based network and the first wireless service provider in North America to offer General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) on its network.

History

The original development of Fido was funded in part by Voicestream, now T-Mobile USA. Fido was the first provider in Canada to offer a network with the GSM standard.

Acquisition by Rogers

In November 2004, Microcell was bought out by the other competing GSM carrier, Rogers Communications, for an estimated $1.4 billion. At the time of acquisition, Fido had 1 275 094 customers. The company's name was changed to Fido Solutions shortly thereafter. Fido has retained its data roaming service with T-Mobile. Shortly thereafter, Rogers also bought out Sprint Canada, a telecom services reseller that was an MVNO partner with Microcell.

Network

Main article: Rogers Wireless#Network

Since its inception, the Fido network runs on GSM 1900 and offers coverage in major urban areas in Canada. This network continues to exist today. After Microcell was purchased by Rogers, the Fido network was available to Rogers customers. The Rogers GSM network operates at 850 MHz, and while a fee was previously required for Fido customers to access the Rogers network, this is no longer the case. The end result is that both Fido and Rogers customers can now access and use either network or both with a single account, device and SIM card. Regardless of which network is accessed, Fido customers will see "Fido" as the network name, and Rogers customers will see "Rogers" as the network name.

Similarly, HSPA+ service is available in 850 MHz and 1900 MHz frequencies. The maximum theoretical download speed is of 21 Mbit/s.

Rogers Wireless has launched their LTE network in Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. However, Fido customers do not yet have LTE compatible SIM cards to access the network.

Services

Since the company's inception, Fido offered unique services to differentiate itself from its competitors. Notably, its CityFido plans include either multiple or unlimited local calling minutes in certain zones throughout Canada. Fido was also the country's first mobile service provider to bill airtime by the second while other companies typically rounded up calls to the next minute. The FidoDollars program offers a selection of rewards to loyal customers. Fido also offers several plans and add-ons for mobile Internet access.

Voice plans

Fido's voice plans are similar to those of Koodo Mobile in terms of cost and features included.

On November 4, 2008, Fido announced a re-branding and subsequent relaunch of their services due to competition from Koodo Mobile. This repositioned the company as a discount wireless brand, offering postpaid plans virtually identical to those of Koodo with no system access fee or carrier-charged "911 fee". Clients using legacy plans, however, may keep them only if they continue to pay both fees.

Plans include a limited amount of local minutes. On the $30 plan, calls received in the local calling area do not deduct any minutes. The $15 and $20 plans include 50 SMS to Canadian mobile numbers. The $25 plan includes unlimited SMS to Canadian mobile numbers, while those costing $30 or more include unlimited SMS to Canadian, USA or international mobile numbers.

Unlimited local airtime during evenings and weekends is included with plans costing $20 or more. For the $20 plan, evenings are from 19h to 23h59 and from 0h to 7h every day. Plans costing $25 or more have an earlier 17h requirement instead of 19h, a change Fido did "in response to Koodo's new Canada-wide price plans." Fido also permanently added 50 additional minutes to their $25 and $30 monthly plans.

All plans include the call waiting and conference call features, plus unlimited received standard SMS, at no extra cost. Circle Calling is also included, which allows "free [local] calls between people on the same account", with up to a total of five people per account. They also offer a minute tracker, similar to the one used by Virgin Mobile Canada, to remind customers when they have used 75% and 100% of their monthly minutes.

Value-added services include a $10 value pack which bundles Caller ID with Name Display, an enhanced voicemail, and the WhoCalled feature which was pioneered by Rogers. There is also a $15 value pack, which includes 50 Canadian long distance minutes, unlimited MMS and 2500 local call forwarding minutes plus all the features found in the $10 pack. Both packs include the first month free for new subscribers.

CityFido

The CityFido Unlimited plan costs $35 per month and it is available to customers living in one of eleven select cities throughout Canada. Customers with this plan can make and receive unlimited calls inside any of Fido's eleven city-based coverage zones, but must purchase additional minutes when leaving such zones or making long distance calls without a long distance package. This plan also includes unlimited international text messaging and, for BlackBerry users, unlimited BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service. The unlimited BBM add-on cannot be combined with any other mobile Internet add-on.

For Quebec City and Montreal customers, there is also a $30 per month CityFido plan available. It is identical to the $35 plan, with the only exception being that it offers 2000 minutes billed per second instead of unlimited. Both services are called CitéFido in French.

For prepaid customers, the CityFido Prepaid plan costs $39.75 per month. Unlike CityFido Unlimited, the Prepaid plan only offers 2000 minutes to use for any incoming or local outgoing calls. Additional local minutes cost 40¢ each. Also, text messages sent to a non-Canadian mobile number require an additional fee. Incoming international text messages, however, can be received at no extra cost.

Cities offering CityFido Unlimited and Prepaid plans currently include Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, Gatineau, Toronto, London, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria.

Additionally, one can add a long distance package to the CityFido Unlimited plan. This allows unlimited calling to certain countries:

• $10 per month for unlimited Canadian long distance within CityFido zone
• $20 per month for unlimited international long distance within CityFido zone
• $30 per month for unlimited Canadian and United States long distance within CityFido zone

For the international long distance package, only landline numbers for the 60 listed countries are included. Mobile-to-mobile calls to these countries costs 55¢ per minute. The United States long distance package excludes Puerto Rico and Mexico. However, calls to both mobile and landline numbers are included. This is also true for the Canadian long distance package.

Due to the success of this package, newer entrants such as Wind Mobile, Mobilicity, Public Mobile Vidéotron also introduced plans similar to CityFido featuring the zone concept. Telus Mobility plus its brands Koodo Mobile and Clearnet, as well as Bell Mobility's Virgin Mobile and Solo Mobile brands, all have unlimited local calling plans with concepts very similar to CityFido. Koodo, Solo and Virgin, however, also offer "no zones" postpaid options for unlimited local calling within any served city in Canada.

Mobile Internet

Fido offers several plans and add-ons for customers wishing to access Internet content via its mobile network using a BlackBerry, feature phone, mobile broadband modem, or smartphone.

Unlimited mobile Internet access is only available on feature phones. It is no longer possible to pay per month for such access, as only daily and weekly Internet add-ons are unlimited. Smartphone add-ons, except for those BlackBerry-related, can be used on a feature phone.

Smartphones can browse the Internet with a tiered add-on. This currently includes 100 MB and 500 MB, at prices identical to Rogers. If this allowance is exceeded, usage-based billing begins, costing $5 for an amount equivalent to that initially included with the add-on.

Unique BlackBerry Internet Service options are available for BlackBerry smartphones. Unlimited BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) is included on all plans $35 or more, such as CityFido Unlimited. For all plans, it is also possible to pay an additional fee to add unlimited access to the Facebook, Twitter and MySpace apps, or unlimited use of the email app. Both of these options include unlimited use of select instant messaging applications, including BBM.

Fido has been heavily criticized for discontinuing its unlimited Internet access plans and add-ons for devices other than feature phones. In response, the company occasionally releases a popular add-on, providing 6 GB of data for $30/month. It requires a voice plan and hence cannot be used with an Internet access stick.

Customer service and loyalty program

In 2011, Fido relaunched its phone-based customer service centre by renaming it FidoANSWERS. This service is known as Fido à l'écoute (Fido is listening) in French. The company claims that with this new centre, it is "now easier" for customers "to speak to a real person." This is apparently done by reducing the amount of menus and call transfers. One can obtain this new customer support by calling 6-1-1 from a Fido device or 1-888-481-3436, the toll-free number's last four digits spelling out FIDO. It is also possible to reach Customer Service through the Contact Us page on the website Fido.ca. Existing customers may also use the Fido Live Chat service, accessible through Fido My Account. Alternatively, customers can access the Fido Forums or the Fido support website for technical support.

Fido has a loyalty rewards program known as FidoDollars. For every Fido monthly bill or prepaid top-up, a customers receives 5% of the pre-tax total in FidoDollars. This currency can be used towards the purchase of a new device, such as a mobile phone or an Internet access stick. They can also be used to temporarily try out new plan features, such as additional minutes, unlimited Canadian long distance, or 500 MB of mobile Internet. Prepaid customers can also use their FidoDollars to purchase top-up credits. FidoDollars have no cash value and are non-transferable.

Legacy services

Fido once offered a wide range of services which are no longer available on the market.

The following services were removed after Rogers purchased Microcell:

• Several CityFido plans
• Sprint Canada home phone and Fido Wireless bundles
• Unlimited mobile Internet access in Canada for devices other than feature phones
• Unlimited mobile Internet access in Canada and the United States

Only some legacy CityFido plans were grandfathered, and Fido now has new CityFido offerings. Sprint Canada and Fido bundles were replaced by Better Choice Bundles after Rogers purchased both companies, but all bundles ended after "The New Fido" re-branding. The unlimited mobile Internet access plans were replaced by tiered and rationed Internet access options, except for pay-per-day and pay-per-week options for feature phones.

The following services were removed after "The New Fido" re-branding:

• Better Choice Bundles
• Couples plans
• Danger Hiptop service
• Fax messaging
• FullFido plans
• Mobile TV

Only FullFido was grandfathered. The Better Choices Bundles once offered up to 15% off a pre-tax Fido monthly bill when combined with one or more Rogers services, but Fido is now listed as a "service[] that do[es]n't qualify for the Better Choice Bundles™ Program.". Couples plans were replaced by Circle Calling in 2011; see "The New Fido" above. Fax messaging was discontinued on September 22, 2009, but fax numbers could be ported out until December 22 of that year, and a similar service is still available at competitor Mike. The Mobile TV service offered up to 25 channels, but was discontinued due to a lack of subscribers. Competitors Bell Mobility and its MVNO Virgin Mobile Canada both offer a very similar feature.

Retail presence

Prepaid Fido feature phones and prepaid vouchers are sold at Zellers.

Fido products and services were previously available at Shoppers Drug Mart.

Fido has its own corporate retail stores, and also allows third parties to become exclusive dealers. For example, Best Buy, Costco, Future Shop, Tbooth, Walmart and WirelessWave sell Fido products along with prepaid and postpaid services. Additionally, Loblaw Companies and Zellers stores sell prepaid feature phones and top-up vouchers. Loblaw stores have a special booth, called The Mobile Shop, where the phones are displayed.

Former retailers

While Shoppers Drug Mart carried only Rogers Wireless prepaid phones at one time, the stores temporarily partnered with Rogers. As a result, Shoppers stores added both prepaid and postpaid products and services for Rogers and its two other brands, Fido and Chatr. Customers could also try out the iPhone 4. As of March 2011, however, Shoppers stores ended their partnership. They only sell prepaid top-up vouchers for these providers.

See also

• List of Canadian mobile phone companies

References

• "Fido to ramp up down market push." Toronto Star: http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/530677
• "Ring in the new - Canadian cell phone users big "winners" of wireless spectrum auction." ITbusiness.ca: http://www.itbusiness.ca/IT/client/en/home/News.asp?id=49258&PageMem=3
• "Rogers relaunches Fido without system access fee." CBC.ca: http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/11/04/tech-rogers.html
• Fido Monthly Plans. http://fido.ca/web/page/portal/Fido/MonthlyPlans?forwardTo=monthlyPlans

External links

• Fido Official Website
• Rogers Wireless, Inc. (Fido's Parent Company)