Fido or Koodo –Plans for Bring Your Own Phone

October 15, 2015October 7, 2016 David Tremblay

As a Canadian you have known that Koodo and Fido the two telecom carriers almost have similar plan as far as prices is concerned. So which one among them is the better? Let us find the differences and the similarities in both the carriers so as to find the best one.

Koodo and Fido both use different network technologies.
The two different technologies are called GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) used by Fido and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) used by Koodo. These standards are generally known as “2G” technologies and are only used for voice and text these days and when 3G signals are poor. You should choose the kind of network for which your phone is designed.
Try looking up your phone model online to see if it’s compatible with GSM or CDMA. Few phones do both.
On comparison every single Fido and Koodo plan across every province are all but similar in one way or other. The only notable differences are in Quebec (QC), where Fido’s 5GB plan is hugely cheaper, and in Yukon (YT), in which Fido does not offer any plans. Neither carrier sells plans online for folks in the Northwest Territories or Nunavut.
In comparison one of these two carriers are cheaper than the other.
Koodo has a 100MB plan with 200 call minutes; Fido’s products start at 300MB.
Fido updates its plans fairly regularly and you can check online according to your province where you live.
Bringing your own phone in Canada then you need to make sure it will even support service.

Phone Plans without Phone Subsidies or Tabs

Both Fido and Koodo have a large range of plans attracting the customer with the large plans than small ones. These are bring-your-own-phone (BYOP) plans.

Standard Plans

Across the provinces; Alberta (AB), British Columbia (BC), New Brunswick (NB), Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), Nova Scotia (NS), Ontario (ON), Prince Edward Island (PE), and Yukon (YT) all have identical plan pricing for Fido and Koodo – with the one exception where Fido does not offer plans in YT. Let’s refer to these as the ‘Standard Plans’ for each carrier.

	1 GB Unlimited Mins	2 GB Unlimited Mins	3 GB Unlimited Mins	5 GB Unlimited Mins
Fido (No Contract Plans	$55	$65	$75	$90
Koodo (No Contract Plans)	$55	$65	$75	$90

Identical prices with identical basic inclusions. The 300MB with 300 mins, 500MB with 500 mins and 750MB with 750 mins plans for both carriers paint the same picture.

Plans at Manitoba (MB) and Saskatchewan (SK)

Both the carriers have the same pricing as each other, but differ when compared to the Standard Plans. Neither of the carriers offers a 1GB, 2GB or 3GB plan in MB or SK. Instead, they jump straight from 750MB to 5GB. Also, the lower-tier plans cost the same as their ‘Standard Plan’ counterparts in the rest of Canada.
What you really want to be looking at is the 5GB plan. In both cases, it is a significantly better deal than you’ll get elsewhere in the country, and way cheaper per-MB than the smaller plans.

	300 MB 300 mins	500MB 500 mins	750MB 750 mins	5GB Unlimited mins
Fido (No Contract Plans	$35	$40	$45	$48
Koodo (No Contract Plans)	$35	$40	$45	$48

The huge gap in monthly inclusions between the 750MB and 5GB plans is pretty odd. For only $3 more you get more than 5x as much data from either carrier.

Plans for Quebec

As far as QC is concerned it is the only province in which Fido and Koodo differ in BYOP plan pricing. Like MB and SK plans, Quebec plans have a more-limited scope. This time around there is no option for a 1GB plan from Koodo, and no 3GB plan from Fido.

	1GB Unlimited mins	2GB Unlimited mins	3GB Unlimited mins	5GB Unlimited mins
Fido (No Contract Plans	$43	$53	NA	$65
Koodo (No Contract Plans)	NA	$53	$75	$90

There is a massive $25 per month price difference in the 5GB category, placing the Fido plan well under Koodo’s. Over the course of a traditional 2-year contract, that would come to a minimum of $600. Of course, neither of these plans come with a lock-in commitment, but it’s still a good measure of how much money you really talking about.

Smaller plans in Quebec

These feature the only two other discrepancies in price between Fido and Koodo. Interestingly, they swap places in terms of who comes out better, even if it is only by a tiny amount in each instance.

	300 MB 300 mins	500MB 500 mins	750MB 750 mins
Fido (No Contract Plans	$35	$40	$38
Koodo (No Contract Plans)	$35	$38	$40

The 500MB plan listed as being $2 more expensive per month than the 750MB on Fido’s website. It is better to check their websites for the latest plans and offers for all the provinces before making a decision.