"What do we want? And when do we want it?" WIND Mobile's Toronto launch this morning felt like a mix between a pep rally and a picket line as media, employees, and potential customers gathered to celebrate Canada's fourth national wireless carrier.

Queen's Quay Terminal serves as the home for one of five just-opened WIND Mobile stores in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and that's where the company revealed its 2009 products and, most important, service price plans, to a passionate group.

The focus of the company's plan is on "unlimited", no contracts, and buying phones outright.
Most enticing is the data side of the equation, where customers can surf the ‘Net, instant message, and check e-mails on any smartphone for $35/month (with a voice plan). While unlimited truly does mean unlimited, WIND discloses that if you exceed 5 GB (an unlikely feat unless you download and/or watch tons of movies), speed will be throttled (i.e. slowed down) so that "all customers can better share the network." Fair enough.

On the voice end, $45/month will get you free WIND to WIND calling across Canada, Canada-wide calling from the "Home Zone", which includes, in Toronto, from Stoney Creek to Oshawa and Richmond Hill. What makes the difference, however, is the absence of a System Access Fee (nor any equivalent or variation of it), no 9-1-1 calling fees, and no incoming long distance.

Only the aforementioned $45 plan comes with unlimited text messaging: with others, it's $5/month for unlimited SMS. But the per-sent SMS is cheaper than other carriers: just $0.10 versus $0.15. When you're outside a Home Zone, though, then it's $0.15.

One thing I do find disappointing is voicemail: that's another $5 per month with any plan but the $45 one.

Considering both SMS and voicemail are two almost essential functions with mobile phones today, I'd price every plan ($45 excepted) $10 more than it's actually listed at in order to get a true idea of what a typical customer would be paying.

Still, this means I could get a comparable plan to what I have with my current carrier for $60 per month. This is fairly in line with my current bill, but the clincher is that once the $6.95 System Access Fee (or whatever you want to call it) is subtracted, along with the additional $7/month I now pay for voicemail, and the 9-1-1 charges, less fewer tax on a smaller total amount, chances are my bill would become significantly smaller when all is said and done.

Plans aside (you can see full details at www.windmobile.ca), the most significant part of the WIND equation is the fact that phones sell on their own, without contracts, at what the company calls "cost". For example, the new BlackBerry Bold 9700 sells for $450. Buy it, than just tack on the plan you want. To compare, Rogers and Bell sell this phone on its own for $600 without a contract; Telus for $650. The HTC Maple is $300 at WIND, and the Samsung Gravity 2 is $150.

Does the cost savings in a WIND plan justify spending this much on a phone, versus spending $200 less on the 9700, for example, but having to lock in with Rogers for three years. There's a lot of math required to determine that, along with examining your particular usage patterns, and typical bills. But chances are for some, the answer will be yes. For others, it might not be. "Customers understand that when they pay $0 for a phone, there still paying for it somehow," says Chief Customer Officer Chris Robbins. "So they are willing to pay more."

The major limitation for WIND right now is coverage: the company does have a domestic roaming partner to afford nationwide coverage, but its own service is not yet up and running across Canada. Service is active and ready to go in the GTA, and will debut in Calgary this Friday. There are plans for Ottawa, Edmonton, and Vancouver shortly. But other spots will roll out over the next few years.
Another limitation is the availability of devices. While the carrier does operate on the 3G, HSPA, GSM network, a phone must be compatible with the AWS spectrum before it can be used (sorry, no AWS iPhone just yet.) However, going forward, WIND says it will launch 12-15 new devices in 2010 as more AWS-compatible devices come to market.

Globalive, parent company to WIND, marked this promise with a 20-foot monument erected at Queen's Quay Terminal. It depicts a man with wireless phone in hand, meant to signify the every day person that helped make WIND service plans what they are today.

Anthony Lacavera, Chairman (left) & Ken Campbell, CEO of Globalive/WIND Mobile unveil a 20-foot monument that marks the company's entrance into the Canadian market.

Indeed, plans could change in customers' favour. "The conversation is just beginning," said Robbins.
A total of five stores opened in the GTA today: three in Toronto, one in Brampton, and another in Pickering; and four more will open in Calgary on Friday. This is in addition to 16 store-within-store concepts that opened in Blockbuster stores earlier this week.

While small and kiosk-esque, the Queen's Quay location incorporates an enclosed glass "harvest" table where phones are stored, a Microsoft Surface tablet that customers can use to learn about products, and laptops that can be used by both employees and customers. The laptops also double as the point-of-sale terminal; there is no traditional cash desk. WIND made its first retail transaction today with "Chris" an anxious customer who has been anticipating the launch for the past year; so much so that he set up a Facebook group in support of WIND.

Anyone who attended or heard about the big hoopla when Virgin Mobile launched in Canada might be skeptical about WIND's overall plans: after all, didn't that company promise not to require contracts, and to combat the "Big Three" only to sell itself completely to Bell years later? But WIND claims to be in it for the long haul. "We will never charge a System Access Fee or 9-1-1," declared Ken Campbell, CEO, at the event. "Prepaid and post-paid customers all have the same tariffs, and we will treat them the same. We want customers to be with us because they want to, not because they have to."

WIND signs up its first official customer, Chris (second from right), who bought the HTC Maple. Chris is joined by, from l-r, Ken Campbell, CEO of WIND, the Queen's Quay Store Manager, and Anthony Lacavera, WIND Chairman.

WIND is bringing something really enticing to the table, both for the consumer and the industry as a whole. The Big Three carriers have already been reacting to impending competition from WIND, as well as upcoming players like DAVE Wireless and Public Mobile, by adding unlimited data, getting rid of system access fees, and offering other attractive promotions. The more hype that surrounds WIND, the more ammunition they're likely to come out with. And for customers, that's a great thing. Whether the most appealing dealing is from a new carrier or an old one, the important part is that you're finally being heard.

At top: Chris Robbins, Chief Customer Officer at Globalive, discusses the company's price plan options for both voice and data, which focus on unlimited calling and surfing.

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