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Is this considered a good deal? 100GB data on SaskTel for $140/month? In the UK you can get that for ~£10/month, $17CAD. And before everyone starts, no, geogra

Is this considered a good deal? 100GB data on SaskTel for $140/month? In the UK you can get that for ~£10/month, $17CAD. And before everyone starts, no, geography doesn't really make a huge difference in cost of providing the service. In remote rural areas you can get away with putting one tower up with LTE800 or another low frequency carrier, which will probably cover 20km in each direction from the cell site. Dense places are much more expensive to serve, requiring cell sites every <1km with a multitude of high and low frequency carriers.

arcticbull 3y ago
I'm not sure I see a 100GB plan on their website, a link might be useful. However SaskTel charges $35/month for a 5GB data-only plan while Rogers charges $60. They also have a $90CAD 60GB plan which Rogers would charge checks notes $180 for. So is it an objectively good deal, no. It is however half the national average.
- martinald 3y ago
  https://www.sasktel.com/store/browse/Personal/Wireless/Rate-plans/_/N-2777 https://www.sasktel.com/store/browse/Personal/Wireless/Rate-... - click 100GB. I don't consider these plans unlimited; after the data allowance of 100GB speeds are shaped to <512kbit/sec which is close to unusable these days (some carriers in the UK offer similar but they consider it 'emergency' data to keep connected for basics, they wouldn't sell it as unlimited).
  - arcticbull 3y ago
    > I don't consider these plans unlimited; I think that's fair criticism. It's how this kind of plan is marketed all over North America. At one point Rogers marketed a 10MB plan as Unlimited like 10 years ago haha.
b112 3y ago
20km in each direction from the cell site. But this is a tiny, tiny distance in Canada... which has more rural roads than probably all of Europe.
- martinald 3y ago
  Firstly, the majority of Canada's geography is not covered by cell service given the population lives in such a small percentage of it. Secondly, you can see how few towers SaskTel has here - https://www.sasktel.com/wps/wcm/connect/content/home/wireless/coverage-and-travel/coverage-travel https://www.sasktel.com/wps/wcm/connect/content/home/wireles... - click Saskatchewan LTE then show the various towers. Look how many towers are required for more "urban" areas in SK than the rural areas. These are pretty low density by european cities standards as well, where you can have small cells every 100m on busy streets.
  - arcticbull 3y ago
    > Firstly, the majority of Canada's geography is not covered by cell service given the population lives in such a small percentage of it. In Saskatchewan and Alberta, it surprisingly is. I'd say about 66% of the land area of Saskatchewan and Alberta has coverage on a mix of Bell, Telus and SaskTel. That's a ton of square footage. Your statement is true of Canada in general, but not the prairies. https://www.cellularmaps.com/regions/canada-coverage.shtml https://www.cellularmaps.com/regions/canada-coverage.shtml
  - b112 3y ago
    Firstly, the majority of Canada's geography is not covered by cell service given the population lives in such a small percentage of it. This shows a lack of understanding, for there are endless towers where no one lives. Recall those roads I mentioned? Towers are there too. Rural roads can go through 100s of km of brush, farmland, tundra, and have towers.
    - martinald 3y ago
      The majority of Canada's landmass does not have cell service[1]. That is a fact. That doesn't mean the same as there is no coverage if people don't live there. 1. https://www.comparecellular.ca/coverage-maps/ https://www.comparecellular.ca/coverage-maps/ - "Less than 30 percent of Canada’s geographic area is covered by Bell, Rogers, or TELUS."

arcticbull 3y ago

I'm not sure I see a 100GB plan on their website, a link might be useful. However SaskTel charges $35/month for a 5GB data-only plan while Rogers charges $60. They also have a $90CAD 60GB plan which Rogers would charge checks notes $180 for. So is it an objectively good deal, no. It is however half the national average.

martinald 3y ago
https://www.sasktel.com/store/browse/Personal/Wireless/Rate-plans/_/N-2777 https://www.sasktel.com/store/browse/Personal/Wireless/Rate-... - click 100GB. I don't consider these plans unlimited; after the data allowance of 100GB speeds are shaped to <512kbit/sec which is close to unusable these days (some carriers in the UK offer similar but they consider it 'emergency' data to keep connected for basics, they wouldn't sell it as unlimited).
- arcticbull 3y ago
  > I don't consider these plans unlimited; I think that's fair criticism. It's how this kind of plan is marketed all over North America. At one point Rogers marketed a 10MB plan as Unlimited like 10 years ago haha.

b112 3y ago

20km in each direction from the cell site. But this is a tiny, tiny distance in Canada... which has more rural roads than probably all of Europe.

martinald 3y ago
Firstly, the majority of Canada's geography is not covered by cell service given the population lives in such a small percentage of it. Secondly, you can see how few towers SaskTel has here - https://www.sasktel.com/wps/wcm/connect/content/home/wireless/coverage-and-travel/coverage-travel https://www.sasktel.com/wps/wcm/connect/content/home/wireles... - click Saskatchewan LTE then show the various towers. Look how many towers are required for more "urban" areas in SK than the rural areas. These are pretty low density by european cities standards as well, where you can have small cells every 100m on busy streets.
- arcticbull 3y ago
  > Firstly, the majority of Canada's geography is not covered by cell service given the population lives in such a small percentage of it. In Saskatchewan and Alberta, it surprisingly is. I'd say about 66% of the land area of Saskatchewan and Alberta has coverage on a mix of Bell, Telus and SaskTel. That's a ton of square footage. Your statement is true of Canada in general, but not the prairies. https://www.cellularmaps.com/regions/canada-coverage.shtml https://www.cellularmaps.com/regions/canada-coverage.shtml
- b112 3y ago
  Firstly, the majority of Canada's geography is not covered by cell service given the population lives in such a small percentage of it. This shows a lack of understanding, for there are endless towers where no one lives. Recall those roads I mentioned? Towers are there too. Rural roads can go through 100s of km of brush, farmland, tundra, and have towers.
  - martinald 3y ago
    The majority of Canada's landmass does not have cell service[1]. That is a fact. That doesn't mean the same as there is no coverage if people don't live there. 1. https://www.comparecellular.ca/coverage-maps/ https://www.comparecellular.ca/coverage-maps/ - "Less than 30 percent of Canada’s geographic area is covered by Bell, Rogers, or TELUS."