Fido Solutions

Fido Solutions

"Giving low prices a good home."
Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Mobile network operator
Founded	December 1996
Headquarters	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Key people	Fadel Chbihna (general manager)
Products	Feature phones, mobile broadband modems, smartphones (Android, BlackBerry OS, iOS)
Services	GSM (including EDGE and GPRS), HSPA (including HSPA+), LTE, mobile broadband, SMS, telephony
Revenue	CAD$ 1.02 billion
Net income	CAD$ 800 million
Total assets	CAD$ 3.4 billion
Employees	20,000
Parent	Rogers Communications
Website	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 acquired 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. However, Fido customers are unable to access the entire Rogers networks so that Fido service may be unavailable in areas where Rogers service is. This is obvious when carrying a dual-SIM GSM cell phone with one Fido SIM card and another SIM card roaming on the Rogers network.

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

Fido Solutions has launched their LTE network in Halifax, Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Kelowna, London, Hamilton, Sudbury, Windsor, Vancouver, St. John's, Quebec City, Moncton and other urban areas. Telus Mobility, Rogers Wireless, and Bell Mobility, other Canadian network operators, have also launched their LTE networks in most major urban areas.

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 and last mobile service provider to bill postpaid airtime by the second, while other companies currently round up calls to the next minute except for some grandfathered customers. The FidoDOLLARS program offers a selection of rewards to loyal customers. (FidoDOLLARS are equal to 4 percent of a customer's invoice before service charges (NSF, re-activation fee, administrative fees and taxes.) Fido also offers several plans and add-ons for mobile Internet access.

Voice plans

On November 4th, 2008, Fido announced a re-branding and subsequent relaunch of their services due to competition from Koodo Mobile. This re-positioned 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. Current plans feature a limited amount of Canada wide minutes, but the $35 plan features unlimited incoming calls. while the $50 plan includes unlimited incoming and outgoing calls. The latter $50 plan replaces the previously available CityFido plans.

All current plans include the call waiting and conference call features, plus unlimited outgoing and incoming text (SMS) and picture/video (MMS) from the Fido network to Canadian/US/international numbers, at no extra cost. Unlimited evenings and weekends starting at 6 PM are also included. The increase of included calling minutes, was introduced by Fido as a response to competition from Koodo. Circle Calling is also included, which allows "free 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 Caller ID with Name Display, an enhanced voicemail, and the Rogers-pioneered WhoCalled feature. There can either be purchased à la carte or as part of a Value Pack. Additional minutes, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) and call forwarding minutes are also value-added services which can also be purchased individually or in a bundle.

The CityFido Prepaid plan costs slightly more than its postpaid counterpart, but also includes the Caller ID and voicemail features found in all prepaid plans. Text messages, however, can only be sent to any standard Canadian mobile number. All incoming messages are also included. Cities offering this plan currently include Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, Gatineau, Toronto, London, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria.

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 for $10 and 2 GB for $25. 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 100 MB or 2 GB of data. Note that the 100 MB option for BlackBerry devices costs $5 more than the regular smartphone add-on.

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.

Loyalty program

Fido has a loyalty rewards program known as FidoDOLLARS. For every Fido monthly bill or prepaid top-up, a customers receives 4% (previously 5% before September 6, 2012) 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, except when transferring the responsibility of a number/contract from an account with only one line.

Discontinued services

Fido once offered a wide range of services which it no longer offers. These have been discontinued either following the purchase of Fido by Rogers, or during "The New Fido" rebranding era.

Unlimited mobile broadband while in Canada or the United States, older CityFido plans and Sprint Canada bundles were some of the plan options removed after Rogers purchased Microcell. The unlimited mobile Internet access plans were replaced by tiered and rationed Internet access options, although feature phones were still eligible for unlimited access until early 2012. Only some legacy CityFido plans were grandfathered, and Fido now has new CityFido offerings. Sprint Canada bundles with Fido were temporarily replaced by Better Choices Bundles after Rogers purchased both companies.

Better Choices Bundles, couples plans, Danger Hiptop service, fax messaging, FullFido plans and mobile TV were all discontinued after "The New Fido" re-branding. Only some existing FullFido customers were grandfathered. The Better Choices Bundles program 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. 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 called Bell Mobile TV.

Per-second billing on Fido's postpaid monthly plans was discontinued on July 4, 2012. Customers with plans created and activated before that date are kept on per-second billing until they change to a newer plan.

The company changed their plan offerings, now bundling data with their Smart plans, and Max Plans. CityFido plans had a cost of $35 per month and are available in ten select CityFido zones throughout Canada. Unlimited features included incoming calls, outgoing local calls, international SMS text messages and BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service while inside any CityFido zone.

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 Drug Mart stores ended their partnership. They now 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. (Rogers Communications' other wireless provider)