Bell to offer unlimited wireless data
With the iPhone expected to land in the lap of a key rival, Bell Canada Inc. is hoping to make its own splash by offering a competing touch-screen device with what appears to be the country's first unlimited wireless data plan.
Context & Ripple Effects
Bell Canada has confirmed two moves at once: launching a competing touch-screen device and what appears to be the country's first unlimited wireless data plan. The trigger is an unconfirmed expectation that the iPhone will land with a key rival rather than with Bell, which would leave Bell facing the marquee smartphone of 2007 without exclusive hardware.
First-order effects
- Bell's flat-rate data pricing removes the usage-cap variable from its touch-screen launch, making plan structure — not device exclusivity — its differentiator against the rival expected to carry the iPhone.
Second-order effects
- If the iPhone does arrive on a rival Canadian network, that carrier's tiered data pricing gets shelved next to Bell's unlimited offer, forcing a pricing-structure response regardless of how strong the device is.
Third-order effects
- If unlimited data spreads as a defensive tool among carriers without the flagship handset, mobile data pricing shifts from metered revenue capture toward flat-rate commodity economics across the Canadian market.
The trend: Carriers on the wrong side of smartphone exclusivity deals are turning to unlimited data pricing as their competitive weapon.