This is a topic of conversations a lot, and just last night I was saying how I missed being on Verizon back in the states. Sure, it’s a CDMA[wiki] network, but living in Iowa, GSM[wiki] isn’t your best option unless you never travel outside of major population centers or venture away from the interstate highways that crisscross the state.
For me, it was that last point that made Verizon a good deal. The coverage reached where I needed it to, the cost of the package deals were friendly to my income, and the data plans of their “In” network were pretty sweet. There was never hesitation to chat for a long time with friends who were also on Verizon, plus I could send photos to the same people at no charge. They also had a super nice online presence that I could track my account on, all the way down to the last call I received being updated on their website within minutes.
Plans like that simply do not exist here, at least where all of this is included for just $60 a month. In fact, it still boggles my mind that you have to play extra for caller I.D. or voice mail. In fact, I think it’s rare to find the two packaged together. And data plans? It gets worse. Text messaging is just the start.
Below is a chart that Boris made regarding the cost of moving 1 GB of data through the various competitors in the country. This includes things like sending pictures, videos, emails, files, and and anything else you can zip through your wireless phone. Granted that all the data is valid, and I have a lot of faith in Boris that it is, the results are eye opening.
I hate playing the grumpy American role, but the costs for using a cellphone in Canada should hardly be this expensive. I’ve heard someone tell me before that some of the highest costs in the world of owning and operating a cellphone exists in this country, and this certainly rings true now. I thought I was just being picky.
Let me be completely and totally honest. Getting a high priced cellphone for free is freakin’ sweet. When this offer came my way, I fought over the legitimacy of such an offer, and 
There is some follow up that comes with the deal though. I made it very clear to Matchstick that I wanted all forms of contact to come through email, and if they needed to speak with me directly, then I would call them. In fact, I talked to them today upon receiving an email from them last week. The conversation was just to see if I had any questions about the phone and stories about using the phone itself. I did have a handful of technical questions for them, but they’re just a marketing company. I’ll hit those details in another post later.
I really do like this concept of “buzz marketing”. Word of mouth. That’s what this is. It’s not over paid actors telling you that they use this phone, it’s the best, and you should, too. I’m just a guy who blogs among the community of other bloggers with connections to the city of Vancouver.