Virgin Mobile Internet deal - $20/month for 12 months

[Jason]

Virgin has a deal going on right now for new customers. You can get $20/month for 12 months as long as you get a minimum internet plan of 50 Mbps or faster. The plan for 50 Mbps is normally $60/month. So you can get 50 Mbps internet for $40/month for 12 months. Not sure if there's a sign-up or installation fee. But it's based on Mobile internet so you it doesn't use regular phone lines or cable internet. I think that would mean it's also available wherever Virgin service is.

https://www.virginmobile.ca/en/internet/index.html

[ssfc72]

Thanks for the heads up on this service Jason.  The promotion for 50Mb/s internet service is $40 for 12 months (includes a $20/month discount).
However, the way I read the promotion is that this is Home Internet and it looks to me that you would use the Bell internet service and not cellular service. This makes sense to me since it is a download speed of 50Mb/s( or 100Mb/s). They apparently supply the modems for free, and show the modems further down the page.
In fine print, the 12 month promotion says "prices may increase during subscription". They are pulling the old Cogeco trick of offering $20 off the normal price of the internet service for 12 months, but they can still raise their prices because you are only getting $20 off the normal price.  Very sneaky marketing. Of course Virgin is using the Bell service, so that is to be expected.

[Jason]

Thanks for the heads up on this service Jason.  The promotion for 50Mb/s internet service is $40 for 12 months (includes a $20/month discount).

Isn't that what I wrote? Or did you just mean to quote me? Either way, we agree.

However, the way I read the promotion is that this is Home Internet and it looks to me that you would use the Bell internet service and not cellular service. This makes sense to me since it is a download speed of 50Mb/s( or 100Mb/s). They apparently supply the modems for free, and show the modems further down the page.

Yeah, you're correct. I confirmed it with an agent, too. They just said "cables" but I assume they mean the same lines that Bell uses. That's how they do it, right?

In fine print, the 12 month promotion says "prices may increase during subscription". They are pulling the old Cogeco trick of offering $20 off the normal price of the internet service for 12 months, but they can still raise their prices because you are only getting $20 off the normal price.  Very sneaky marketing. Of course Virgin is using the Bell service, so that is to be expected.

So I talked to an agent and although the price might go up they assured me you're not stuck on a 12-month contract so you could cancel. I know that's a hassle though. I tried to grab a screenshot of the promise but screwed it up. You can't save chats using their tool but they will send you a quote.

As a Virgin customer, they wanted to offer me a better deal, $30 off/month for 12 months so you could probably push for that especially if you're a customer. I said I wasn't really interested in that. Hassle of changing for the same price for a slightly faster speed (I pay $30/month for 40 Mbps plan).

Then the agent offered me a 100 Mbps plan for 12 months for $35/month. It goes up to $70 afterward. He said at that point I could work to get a lower price (who knows, really?). For me, that'd be $10 more for what Carrytel charges for a 120 Mbps plan after the 12 months. However,  I'd only pay $5/month over the year for tripling my speed. I could switch back if I'm willing to go through the hassle and the setup fees. But I'd probably be addicted to the higher speed.

If you're on Start (or Cogeco or Bell), these plans are probably savings, at least for 12 months if you either don't have an installation fee or can justify it with the discounts. I don't think the service would be any worse, it'd be the Bell lines. Hopefully, better customer support than Bell, but who knows? I've never had trouble with Virgin for my mobile plan (for a tablet) but just used their chat for account issues. And obviously, on a different network.