Cost Comparison

October 25, 2018 - Reading time: 2 minutes

So, if you change over to a Better Value Phone, how would costs compare to a traditional Canadian Telco ?

This is a simple example to illustrate 'approximately' how it looks.

 

RingRingRing Incumbent Traditional Telco:

• $30 / month for landline service
• $5 / month for 'modest long distance calls and assorted service extra fees'
• Tax-in, 12 months, $483  (assumes 15% HST as your provincial tax regieme)
• Second year, $483
• Third year, $483 (assuming no price increases by then! :-)
• Average cost per month, Taxes in, after 3 years = $40.25

 

Better Value Phone VOIP service:

• $150 New account setup and initial credit
• ($25 1-time porting fee, $50 ATA purchase,$55 service credit, plus 15% HST)
• note $55 credit equal to 6 months x $5/mo phone service plus ~300 minutes of airtime with 6-second billing increments
• For the rest of the year: 6 months x $5/mo phone service plus $15 for 300 minutes (5 hours) airtime = ~$52 HST included
• First Year Grand total = $150 + ~$52= ~$202
• Second year, $104 (12 months service and 600 minutes airtime plus HST)
• Third year, $104 (... same ...)
• Average cost per month, Taxes in, after 3 years = ~$11.39
• Your savings for this 3-year period, compared to RingRingRingTelco = $1449 - $410 = $1039

 

So, if you talk a LOT on your landline, maybe a better value phone is not for you. But if you talk a modest amount (5 hours every 3 months, the example shown above) - your savings are over $1000 for a 3-year term.  Since your 'pre-paid account' has just a modest fixed monthly fee ($5 plus tax) and very granular airtime billing increments, you will get 'more months' of service for the same $cost$ if you talk less / and your 'airtime burn rate' is lower.