Solo Mobile is a discontinued
mobile virtual network operator
A mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) is a wireless communications services provider that does not own the wireless network infrastructure over which it provides services to its customers. An MVNO enters into a business agreement with a mobil ...
in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
started by
Bell Mobility
Bell Mobility Inc. is a Canadian mobile network operator, wireless network operator and the division of Bell Canada which offers wireless services across Canada. It operates networks using LTE (telecommunication), LTE and Evolved HSPA, HSPA+ on i ...
in 2000. Historically, Solo was considered a discount wireless brand, offering low price monthly plans with some unlimited options in certain cities. Its products and services were only sold in
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
and
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
. The brand ceased advertising towards new customers since November 2011, and new activations were officially discontinued on May 17, 2012.
Solo Mobile began migrating its prepaid customers to Bell Mobility effective July 31, 2017.
History
Early years (early 2000s)
Solo Prepaid was launched in the summer of 2000 as Bell Mobility's prepaid brand in
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
and
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
.
The company boasted a 1¢/minute rate. Postpaid services were later added as well. In 2003, the company offered a free prepaid phone and up to $45 in credits to
Fido customers who traded their Fido phone and prepaid credits and switched to Solo. A unique "Lunchtime & After School" prepaid feature was available, which offered unlimited local calling from 12h to 13h and 15h to 17h. The brand was temporarily withdrawn from the market after the launch of Bell Mobility prepaid services. The SoloMobile.ca domain name was registered by Bell on December 17, 2004, with the
Canadian Internet Registration Authority
The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) (french: Autorité canadienne pour les enregistrements Internet ACEI) is the organization that manages the .ca country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Canada. Its offices are located at 979 ...
. It would not feature content until the following year.
Renaissance and decline (mid to late 2000s)
On June 13, 2005, content was put on the SoloMobile.ca website, but Bell waited until July 25 of that year to announce the brand via a press release.
The carrier would launch the following week, on August 1, and organized a Solo Mobile / Eckored tour that began in the middle of that month to promote its brand across the four provinces it served. Admission was free, and the tour featured four female solo singers including
Keshia Chanté
Keshia Chanté Harper (born June 16, 1988) is a Canadian singer, television host, actress, songwriter and philanthropist. As a teenager, Chanté gained recognition with the release of her singles "Unpredictable", "Bad Boy" and "Does He Love Me" " ...
.
At launch, Solo Mobile offered a very simple lineup, consisting of only one phone with two choices of plans. The phone was the Sanyo 2300, with a flip design available in pink, blue, silver or graphite. Customers could activate it on a monthly plan or on prepaid, pay-per-use rates. In both cases,
SMS
Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...
,
mobile broadband
Mobile broadband is the marketing term for Wireless broadband, wireless Internet access via mobile networks. Access to the network can be made through a portable modem, wireless modem, or a Tablet computer, tablet/smartphone (possibly Tetherin ...
,
Caller ID
Caller identification (Caller ID) is a telephone service, available in analog and digital telephone systems, including voice over IP (VoIP), that transmits a caller's telephone number to the called party's telephone equipment when the call is ...
and one
ringtone
A ringtone, ring tone or ring is the sound made by a telephone to indicate an incoming call. Originally referring to and made by the electromechanical striking of bells, the term now refers to any sound on any device alerting of a new incoming ...
per month were all complimentary features offered at no additional charge to Solo customers.
Over time, Solo began to imitate its competitors instead of offering unique, innovative options for wireless services. Similarly to its competitor
Fido, Solo offered per-second billing after the first minute of every month for postpaid customers starting in 2008. Prepaid clients, however, receive per-minute billing. The monthly plans for both prepaid and postpaid customers were practically identical to those of
Koodo Mobile
Koodo Mobile is a Canadian mobile flanker brand started by Telus in 2008 and mostly oriented toward younger customers. Koodo differs from its parent Telus by not requiring a fixed term contract. Koodo currently provides postpaid, prepaid, and w ...
.
After Bell Canada acquired
Virgin Mobile Canada (now Virgin Plus) on May 7, 2009, the Solo brand was given much less priority. For example, Solo's former
Rideau Centre
The Rideau Centre (french: Centre Rideau) (corporately styled as CF Rideau Centre) is a three-level shopping centre on Rideau Street in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It borders on Rideau Street, the ByWard Market, the Rideau Canal, the Mackenzie Ki ...
store in
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
was replaced by a Virgin store. Almost all of Bell's advertisements promote the Bell Mobility and Virgin Mobile brands, while Solo is promoted at the bare minimum. On July 2 of that year, Mobile Syrup editor Kate O'Brien told readers to "start counting down the days
eforeSolo Mobile is put to bed". Solo only released a total of four feature phones throughout that year.
Gradual discontinuation (2010s-present)
Solo released the Samsung r100 feature phone on February 24, 2010. Later, the LG 230 was launched by Solo on May 6 of that year. This surprised Mobile Syrup editor Ian Hardy: "I thought Bell would have kicked Solo Mobile to the curb by now…
ut theysomehow have kept Solo alive." Similarly, an editor from HowardChui noted: "The discount carrier
olo Mobilehas basically been kept out of the spot light since Bell assumed full control over Virgin Mobile Canada." Solo's first HSPA+ device, the LG Flick, was released on November 11, 2010. In total, only five feature phones were released by Solo in 2010.
Little effort was made in 2011 to promote the Solo brand, because its retail presence would be completely discontinued by Bell that year. The carrier added the Samsung Gravity 3 to its lineup on March 16, more than seven months after the same device was released by
Virgin Mobile Canada
Virgin Plus is a provider of Postpaid mobile phone, postpaid and Prepaid mobile phone, prepaid wireless voice, text and data communications services throughout Canada. They also offer home Internet and TV services in select areas of Ontario and ...
. This meant that Solo now had nine different devices in its lineup.
Solo's main focus that year was to retain existing customers, not to gain new ones. As such, they launched various offers available only to current customers, such as a one-time bonus of 100 minutes, a recurrent bonus of 50 minutes, or removing limits to local talk and international
SMS
Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...
. On May 6, Solo permanently lowered the price on their two unlimited prepaid plans, matching
Chatr
Chatr Mobile (stylized as chatr) is a Canadian mobile virtual network operator owned by Rogers Communications Canada targeting entry-level customers. It is one of three wireless brands owned by Rogers Communications, including Rogers Wireless, ...
's offering. However, both plans would remain only available in the same cities as Chatr for Solo's limited selection of legacy CDMA devices, which was reduced to just the LG 230 by the end of the year.
During the summer season of that year, Solo discontinued sales of its products at
Loblaw Companies
Loblaw Companies Limited is a Canadian retailer encompassing corporate and franchise supermarkets operating under 22 regional and market-segment banners (including Loblaws), as well as pharmacies, banking and apparel. Loblaw operates a private ...
and
Zellers
Zellers was a Canadian discount department retail chain and is currently a brand name owned by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). Founded in 1931 in London, Ontario, in later decades it was based in Brampton, Ontario. Zellers was acquired by HBC i ...
stores. The MySolo customer portal was updated in the month of August in conjunction with a similar upgrade to its parent Bell Mobility's portal. Solo has made no offers for that year's
back-to-school season to gain new customers.
The brand's first
Android-powered
smartphone
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
, the
Samsung Galaxy Gio
Samsung Galaxy Gio (GT-S5660) is a smartphone manufactured by Samsung and running the Android operating system.
It was announced at the 2011 Mobile World Congress as one of four low-end Samsung smartphones, along with '' Galaxy Ace'', '' Gala ...
, was launched after that period of time on October 13. Solo was excluded from the
iPhone 4S
The iPhone 4S (originally styled as iPhone 4 S, retroactively stylized with a lowercase 's' as iPhone 4s as of September 2013) is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the List of iOS devices, fifth generation o ...
launch the following day, contrary to its parent
Bell Mobility
Bell Mobility Inc. is a Canadian mobile network operator, wireless network operator and the division of Bell Canada which offers wireless services across Canada. It operates networks using LTE (telecommunication), LTE and Evolved HSPA, HSPA+ on i ...
and Bell's brand
Virgin Mobile Canada
Virgin Plus is a provider of Postpaid mobile phone, postpaid and Prepaid mobile phone, prepaid wireless voice, text and data communications services throughout Canada. They also offer home Internet and TV services in select areas of Ontario and ...
.
[The Source store visit and discussion with an employee there.] By the end of that month, Bell requested that stores ship back all unsold Solo Mobile
feature phone
A feature phone (also spelled featurephone) is a type or class of mobile phone that retains the form factor of earlier generations of mobile telephones, typically with press-button based inputs and a small non-touch display. They tend to use an ...
s, which were then flashed and rebranded to be sold by the Bell and Virgin brands during the
Christmas and holiday season
The Christmas season or the festive season (also known in some countries as the holiday season or the holidays) is an annually recurring period recognized in many Western and other countries that is generally considered to run from late November ...
of that year. Solo also missed out on the
Galaxy Nexus
The Galaxy Nexus (GT-I9250) is a touchscreen Android smartphone co-developed by Google and Samsung Electronics. It is the third smartphone in the Google Nexus series, a family of Android consumer devices built by an original equipment manufactu ...
, which Bell and Virgin both released on December 8. Although nine devices were part of the lineup in March 2011, Solo Mobile ended the year with only three devices, all which cost much less when purchased from Bell or Virgin.
In March 2012, Solo Mobile quietly discontinued the Samsung Gravity 3. This left the carrier with only one feature phone and one smartphone in its lineup. The brand ceased providing new activations in May 2012.
Networks
In the past, Solo Mobile only used Bell Mobility's
CDMA
Code-division multiple access (CDMA) is a channel access method used by various radio communication technologies. CDMA is an example of multiple access, where several transmitters can send information simultaneously over a single communication ...
network for both prepaid and postpaid customers. , the LG 230 is the last and only device sold by Solo which supports this network.
On November 11, 2010, Solo adopted Bell's
HSPA+
Evolved High Speed Packet Access, HSPA+, HSPA (Plus) or HSPAP, is a technical standard for wireless broadband telecommunication. It is the second phase of HSPA which has been introduced in 3GPP release 7 and being further improved in later 3GPP ...
network. On that day, the now-discontinued LG Flick was launched as the first Solo device compatible with this network. HSPA+ services, however, cannot be used by prepaid customers. The LG Flick, the Samsung Gravity 3, plus the
Samsung Galaxy
Samsung Galaxy (, stylised as SΛMSUNG Galaxy since 2015 (except Japan where it omits the Samsung branding), previously stylised as Samsung GALAXY; abbreviated as SG) is a series of computing and mobile computing devices that are designed, ...
551,
Gio and
W are the only devices sold by Solo can access this network, although the operator previously sold SIM cards which allow any compatible HSPA+ handset to be used on the network. On May 17, 2012, Solo allowed prepaid services on the HSPA+ network for existing customers.
Solo Mobile never used Bell's LTE network.
Products
![Samsung C414](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Samsung_C414.jpg)
Now that its third party retail presence has officially ended, Solo Mobile only carries one
feature phone
A feature phone (also spelled featurephone) is a type or class of mobile phone that retains the form factor of earlier generations of mobile telephones, typically with press-button based inputs and a small non-touch display. They tend to use an ...
and two
smartphone
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
s for existing customers. These same devices are available at a significantly lower price with
Bell Mobility
Bell Mobility Inc. is a Canadian mobile network operator, wireless network operator and the division of Bell Canada which offers wireless services across Canada. It operates networks using LTE (telecommunication), LTE and Evolved HSPA, HSPA+ on i ...
's newer mobile brand,
Virgin Mobile Canada
Virgin Plus is a provider of Postpaid mobile phone, postpaid and Prepaid mobile phone, prepaid wireless voice, text and data communications services throughout Canada. They also offer home Internet and TV services in select areas of Ontario and ...
.
Over the years,
Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (, sometimes shortened to SEC and stylized as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean multinational corporation, multinational electronics corporation headquartered in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, South Korea. It is the pinnacle of ...
was the main manufacturer for Solo Mobile's devices, and is currently the exclusive supplier of Solo feature phones and smartphones. They have manufactured twenty Solo devices: seventeen feature phones in the past, plus three
Android smartphones, two which are currently available. Another notable manufacturer is
Motorola Mobility
Motorola Mobility LLC, marketed as Motorola, is an American consumer electronics manufacturer primarily producing smartphones and other mobile devices running Android OS, Android. It is a subsidiary of the Chinese multinational technology company ...
, who has manufactured fourteen types of feature phones prior to Solo's renaissance.
Feature phones
Solo Mobile currently only has one HSPA+ feature phone in its lineup: th
LG F4NR
Smartphones
One
Android smartphone is available at Solo Mobile. It is th
Moto G (3rd Gen)
Legacy products
Released on March 16, 2011, the Samsung Gravity 3 is the only new feature phone Solo released in 2011.
It is one of only two HSPA+ feature phones offered by Solo, the other one being the LG Flick. Both are now discontinued.
The
BlackBerry Pearl 8130 is a
legacy
In law, a legacy is something held and transferred to someone as their inheritance, as by will and testament. Personal effects, family property, marriage property or collective property gained by will of real property.
Legacy or legacies may refer ...
CDMA device which Solo carried until December 2011. In comparison, Bell and Virgin cleared out all remaining stock of the 8130, plus the upgraded HSPA+ 9100, months before. The 8130 can be upgraded to
BlackBerry OS
BlackBerry OS is a discontinued proprietary mobile operating system developed by Canadian company BlackBerry Limited for its BlackBerry line of smartphone handheld devices. The operating system provides multitasking and supports specialized i ...
4.5.0.101
[BlackBerry OS 4.5.0.101 upgrade for BlackBerry Pearl](_blank)
/ref> and it also allows users to install compatible BlackBerry App World
BlackBerry World (previously known as BlackBerry App World) is an application distribution service, aka an 'app store', and application by BlackBerry Limited; for BlackBerry 10 devices, the BlackBerry PlayBook, and a majority of BlackBerry OS devi ...
applications including BlackBerry Messenger
BBM, also known by its full name BlackBerry Messenger, was a proprietary mobile instant messenger and videotelephony application included on BlackBerry devices that allows messaging and voice calls between BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 10, iOS, Andr ...
(BBM).[BlackBerry Pearl supports App World](_blank)
Some apps, such as those for Canadian Tire
Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited is a Canadian retail company which operates in the automotive, hardware, sports, leisure and housewares sectors. Its Canadian operations include: Canadian Tire (including Canadian Tire Petroleum gas stations a ...
and Shazam, require newer versions of the BlackBerry OS and are therefore incompatible with Solo's BlackBerry Pearl.
Services
Voice plans
Currently, Solo's voice plans resemble those offered by Koodo Mobile
Koodo Mobile is a Canadian mobile flanker brand started by Telus in 2008 and mostly oriented toward younger customers. Koodo differs from its parent Telus by not requiring a fixed term contract. Koodo currently provides postpaid, prepaid, and w ...
and Virgin Mobile Canada
Virgin Plus is a provider of Postpaid mobile phone, postpaid and Prepaid mobile phone, prepaid wireless voice, text and data communications services throughout Canada. They also offer home Internet and TV services in select areas of Ontario and ...
, but with a few improvements. All postpaid plans except for the one at $35/month have Canadian long-distance calling
In telecommunications, a long-distance call (U.S.) or trunk call (also known as a toll call in the U.K. ) is a telephone call made to a location outside a defined local calling area. Long-distance calls are typically charged a higher billing rate ...
, while the $35/month postpaid plans and all prepaid plans only include local call In telephony, the term local call has the following meanings:
# Any call using a single switching center; that is, not traveling to another telephone network;
# A call made within a local calling area as defined by the local exchange carrier;
# A ...
s. These plans are only available to existing customers as means of customer retention
Customer retention refers to the ability of a company or product to retain its customers over some specified period. High customer retention means customers of the product or business tend to return to, continue to buy or in some other way not defe ...
.
Legacy services
Solo Mobile offered a 10-4 walkie-talkie service during the company's renaissance, from 2005 until mid-2009. This was heavily promoted with the slogan "Cell Phone. Walkie talkie. Spread The Word."
Blabble is a Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
application launched by Solo Mobile in September 2008. A photo tagging application, users could add quotes through speech bubbles onto photos within their existing Facebook albums. As of August 2011, the application has been completely removed.
There previously were promotional rebates offered to customers who purchased a prepaid phone in store but activated it on a two-year postpaid contract. With the end of Solo's third-party retail presence, such rebates are only available at the time of purchase, either on Solo's official website or in participating Bell stores.
To compete against Rogers Wireless
Rogers Wireless Inc. is a Canadian mobile network operator, wireless telephone company headquartered in Toronto, providing service nationally throughout Canada. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The company had revenues of ...
' Chatr
Chatr Mobile (stylized as chatr) is a Canadian mobile virtual network operator owned by Rogers Communications Canada targeting entry-level customers. It is one of three wireless brands owned by Rogers Communications, including Rogers Wireless, ...
brand, Solo Mobile previously offered unlimited, prepaid, zone-based plans. They were identical to Chatr's $25 and $35 plans, and availability was limited to CDMA devices activated in the same cities where Chatr is available. No add-ons except for voicemail
A voicemail system (also known as voice message or voice bank) is a computer-based system that allows users and subscribers to exchange personal voice messages; to select and deliver voice information; and to process transactions relating to ind ...
were available. The plans are no longer available to new or existing customers, although current postpaid clients may subscribe to similar unlimited talk and text plans.
Criticism
Solo Mobile has been criticized for charging a system access fee
The system access fee is a non-governmental surcharge imposed by most Canadian telephone companies on their customers' monthly bills. Although it is normally charged for wireless services, Rogers Communications and the now-defunct Sprint Canada a ...
on older plans. They also charge a $3 fee for customer service via phone.
Advertising
Since 2003, Rethink Communications is Solo Mobile's advertising agency
An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally ...
. From 2005 until 2008, Solo Mobile advertised its Walkie talkie
A walkie-talkie, more formally known as a handheld transceiver (HT), is a hand-held, portable, two-way radio transceiver. Its development during the Second World War has been variously credited to Donald Hings, radio engineer Alfred J. Gross, ...
service. Starting in 2007, Solo claimed to have the lowest rates in Canada. Advertisements for this brand have been drastically reduced after Bell Canada purchased Virgin Mobile Canada
Virgin Plus is a provider of Postpaid mobile phone, postpaid and Prepaid mobile phone, prepaid wireless voice, text and data communications services throughout Canada. They also offer home Internet and TV services in select areas of Ontario and ...
on May 7, 2009. Solo mainly depended on word of mouth
Word of mouth, or ''viva voce'', is the passing of information from person to person using oral communication, which could be as simple as telling someone the time of day. Storytelling is a common form of word-of-mouth communication where one pe ...
, its own website and third-party retailers to promote its products. The end of Solo Mobile's retail presence in October 2011 also meant that the brand would no longer advertise to new customers.
Solo Mobile was subject to criticism because one of its advertisements featured an antisemitic
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
message.
Logo
The current logo, introduced on August 1, 2005, consists of the name Solo in orange written using dashed lines.
Slogans
* 2005 : "Phone. Walkie talkie
A walkie-talkie, more formally known as a handheld transceiver (HT), is a hand-held, portable, two-way radio transceiver. Its development during the Second World War has been variously credited to Donald Hings, radio engineer Alfred J. Gross, ...
. Menace to society."
* 2006 : "Cell phone. Walkie talkie. Spread the word."
* 2007 : "Keep talking."
* 2007-2010 : "Canada's most affordable rates."
Retail presence
Solo Mobile products and services were only available in British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
and Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, because Bell has a smaller presence in other provinces and all three territories. The brand no longer has its own corporate retail stores, given its decline, so products and services are sold in Bell Canada
Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in t ...
corporate stores instead. Stores slowly decided to exclusively showcase the Bell Mobility
Bell Mobility Inc. is a Canadian mobile network operator, wireless network operator and the division of Bell Canada which offers wireless services across Canada. It operates networks using LTE (telecommunication), LTE and Evolved HSPA, HSPA+ on i ...
brand, displaying nothing Solo-related. At any Bell store, however, existing customers can still purchase a Solo SIM card, feature phone or smartphone as long as there is remaining stock. The representatives at these stores also provide renewal and support for Solo Mobile.
Former retailers
Although Solo Mobile products and prepaid vouchers were previously available at some The Source
''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the ma ...
locations, no postpaid
The postpaid mobile phone is a mobile phone for which service is provided by a prior arrangement with a mobile network operator. The user in this situation is billed after the fact according to their use of mobile services at the end of each mon ...
activations were done, so customers had to purchase feature phones at its full retail price and then activate a postpaid month-to-month or prepaid service on their own. This has led to store representatives comparing Solo to IKEA
IKEA (; ) is a Dutch multinational conglomerate based in the Netherlands that designs and sells , kitchen appliances, decoration, home accessories, and various other goods and home services. Started in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA has been t ...
's ready-to-assemble furniture
Ready-to-assemble furniture (RTA), also known as knock-down furniture (KD), flat pack furniture, or kit furniture, is a form of furniture that requires customer assembly. The separate components are packed for sale in cartons which also contain ...
. Additionally, only one-eighth of the mobile phones section displayed Solo products, while three-eighths were devoted to Virgin Mobile products and the remaining half were for Bell Mobility products. Finally, store employees discouraged customers from choosing prepaid products, especially those offered by Solo Mobile, recommending postpaid service with the Bell and Virgin brands instead. , Solo Mobile products are no longer available at The Source stores. Remaining phones were shipped back to Bell's warehouse as per an order by this company. The section that was previously reserved for Solo products has now been transformed to accommodate Virgin products instead.
In addition to Bell corporate stores, third-party Canadian dealers were also able to sell Solo prepaid feature phones. , however, this is no longer the case, because Bell asked the retailers to ship back all Solo merchandise. Previous retailers included Best Buy
Best Buy Co. Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was rebra ...
, Future Shop
Future Shop was a Canadian electronics store chain. It was established in 1982 by Hassan Khosrowshahi. By 1990, the chain had become the country's largest retailer of computer and consumer electronics. In January 2013, the company operated 139 l ...
, Glentel
Glentel is a Canadian retail firm. Based in Burnaby, the company deals primarily as a retailer of mobile phone services.
In Canada, the company operates over 350 wireless outlets under the Tbooth Wireless (La cabine T sans-fil in Quebec, formerly ...
, Loblaw
Loblaw Companies Limited is a Canadian retailer encompassing corporate and franchise supermarkets operating under 22 regional and market-segment banners (including Loblaws), as well as pharmacies, banking and apparel. Loblaw operates a private ...
-branded, Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
and Zellers
Zellers was a Canadian discount department retail chain and is currently a brand name owned by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). Founded in 1931 in London, Ontario, in later decades it was based in Brampton, Ontario. Zellers was acquired by HBC i ...
stores. Only prepaid airtime for Solo can be purchased at these retailers.
See also
* Bell Mobility
Bell Mobility Inc. is a Canadian mobile network operator, wireless network operator and the division of Bell Canada which offers wireless services across Canada. It operates networks using LTE (telecommunication), LTE and Evolved HSPA, HSPA+ on i ...
** Virgin Plus
Virgin Plus is a provider of postpaid and prepaid wireless voice, text and data communications services throughout Canada. They also offer home Internet and TV services in select areas of Ontario and Quebec. Launched as Virgin Mobile Canada on ...
** Lucky Mobile
Lucky Mobile is a Canadian prepaid mobile virtual network operator and a subsidiary of Bell Canada. Founded in December 2017, Lucky Mobile operates on the Bell Mobility network alongside fellow subsidiary Virgin Plus. It targets the same market ...
* List of Canadian mobile phone companies
As of March 2021, there are over 33 million wireless subscriptions in Canada. Approximately 90% of Canadian mobile phone users subscribe to one of the four largest national telecommunication companies (Rogers Wireless, Bell Mobility, Freedom Mob ...
References
External links
Official Solo Mobile website
{{Bell Canada Enterprises
Mobile phone companies of Canada
Mobile virtual network operators
Bell Canada
Telecommunications companies established in 2000
2000 establishments in Canada