Freedom Mobile

Wind Mobile

Company type	Private (subsidiary of Globalive)
Industry	Wireless Services
Founded	Toronto, Ontario (2009)
Headquarters	Toronto, Ontario
Key people	Tony Lacavera - Chairman and CEO
Products	BlackBerry and other smartphones
Services	HSPA, voice, SMS, mobile broadband
Number of employees	800+ (2009)
Website	www.WindMobile.ca

File:Wind launch tony speaks.jpg

Tony Lacavera speaks at Wind's Toronto launch event

Wind Mobile (styled as WIND) is a Canadian wireless telecommunications provider operated by Globalive Communications Corporation. The company initially launched mobile data and voice services in Toronto on December 16, 2009 and two days later in Calgary. Wind expanded their network to include Edmonton on February 26, 2010, Ottawa on March 27, 2010, metropolitan Vancouver on June 3, 2010, and the Kitchener-Waterloo area on August 16, 2011. As of June 2011, Wind Mobile has 317,000 active subscribers Canada-wide.

History

Globalive, a Canadian company which also runs "Yak Communications", is primarily owned by an Egyptian corporation, Orascom Telecom Holding, managed by Wind Telecom S.p.A., which owns a number of other "Wind" brand telecommunications companies. Globalive bid $442-million (CAD) in 2008 to secure the wireless spectrum required for the launch of the network. The launch of the company was delayed due to a public ownership review by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. The regulatory body stated that Globalive did not meet Canadian ownership requirements. The most prominent issue was Globalive's reliance on Orascom for its debt, which stands at $508-million (CAD).

Globalive completed its first test call on the network in June 2009.

On December 11, 2009, the Governor in Council (acting on suggestion of Tony Clement, Industry Minister of Canada) issued a final decision deeming that Globalive does meet ownership requirements, allowing Globalive to enter the Canadian market immediately.

On December 14, 2009, Wind announced an alliance with Blockbuster Inc. in Canada to offer Wind kiosks within Blockbuster stores at 16 locations, 13 in Ontario, 3 in Calgary.

On December 16, 2009, Wind Mobile officially launched their service in Toronto. A launch event was hosted at their Queens Quay location in downtown Toronto.

Chris Robbins, chief customer officer and the second highest-ranked, resigned from Wind Mobile on March 4, 2010. Both Robbins and Wind Mobile said that the departure was due to strategic changes and the former wanting to pursue other business opportunities. Analysts assessed the change negatively speculating that an executive departure so early reflected disappointing market penetration.

On March 27, 2010, Wind Mobile officially launched their service in Ottawa. A launch event was hosted at the Rideau St location. WIND has 4 Ottawa locations: three are located in Blockbuster retail stores, one downtown on Rideau St, one on Carling Ave, one on Hazeldean Rd in Kanata as well as a kiosk at Carlingwood shopping centre.

On August 13, 2010, Wind Mobile announced that in early July, they had reached "the 100,000 mark in terms of new wireless subscribers". Orascom's third-quarter financial report, released in November 2010, listed Wind's subscriber base as 139,681.

On February 4, 2011, the Federal Court ruled in a suit brought by competitor Public Mobile and Telus that The Governor in Council's decision overriding the CRTC's determination that Wind Mobile did not meet Canadian ownership requirements was improper. Wind was granted a 45-day stay of the decision to file arguments.

The Federal Court of Appeal has set May 18, 2011 as the date it will hear arguments by Wind and the federal government as to why a recent federal court decision should be quashed.

On March 17, the shareholders of Russian mobile telephone operator VimpelCom voted in support of a $6 billion deal to acquire WIND Telecom, whose assets include Orascom Telecom, a significant shareholder in WIND Mobile. The parties are now moving to close the deal, likely sometime in the first half of 2011. This transaction would create the world’s fifth largest mobile operator by subscribers - more than 173 million subscribers.

On August 16, the Kitchener-Waterloo WIND home zone was launched.

Network

Wind Mobile provides UMTS wireless services with High Speed Packet Access for data, using its license on the UMTS IV frequency band, also known as Advanced Wireless Services (AWS). Using this band, user equipment transmits at 1710–1755 MHz, and receives at 2110–2155 MHz.

Wind Mobile is the first Canadian wireless service provider to make use of the AWS spectrum for its network. In North America, T-Mobile USA is the largest provider to use this spectrum. Wind's use of AWS requires that customers use an AWS-capable handset, which are less common than band II and V handsets, which predate band IV by more than 10 years.

Since Wind's launch in Canada, other service providers have begun operations using AWS. As of 2010, this includes Mobilicity and Vidéotron. Although Rogers Wireless also has an AWS network since 2011, it is currently only available in Ottawa for use with a LTE mobile broadband modem.

Coverage

As of current, Wind's network coverage includes Toronto and the surrounding Greater Toronto Area, Ottawa, Gatineau, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Whistler, Kitchener, Waterloo and their suburbs. Wind calls their coverage areas home zones; customers travelling outside of these zones automatically roam on a national GSM partner network. Wind's plans are to expand the edges of their current home zones, and increase the density within each zone.

Products

File:Blackberry bold 9700 front.jpg

A Wind branded BlackBerry Bold 9700

Wind Mobile offers various devices for use on their network. These include feature phones, smartphones and mobile broadband modems.

Feature phones

Although most of Wind's feature phones are manufactured by Huawei, some are also manufactured by Samsung or LG. The six following feature phones are offered by Wind Mobile:

• Huawei U1250
• Huawei U3200
• Huawei U6150
• LG dLite
• Samsung C414
• Samsung Gravity 2

Smartphones

Nine smartphones are currently available from Wind Mobile. These include BlackBerry and Nokia as well as Android-powered devices:

• Alcatel Tribe
• BlackBerry Curve 9300
• Google Nexus S
• Huawei U8100
• LG Optimus 2X
• Motorola XT720
• Nokia 5230
• Nokia C5-04
• Nokia C7

Internet access devices

Currently, Wind Mobile sells two devices that are exclusively designed for mobile broadband:

• Huawei E1691
• Huawei E583

The E1691 is a USB device that officially only works with computers using the Windows, Mac OS X 10.4 or higher, or Linux operating systems. The E583 is a portable device, similar to the MiFi, that allows any Wi-Fi device to connect to mobile Internet.

SIM cards

For those who already own a compatible phone, SIM cards cost $25 each. These can be used with any unlocked UMTS hardware supporting AWS (UMTS band IV), such as the Nokia N900, or the Google Nexus One, to access the Wind Mobile network. When the SIM is inserted into a device supporting older GSM (2G) technology, one can access the Rogers Wireless network, regardless of whether or not AWS frequencies are supported by the device. Roaming fees, however, will be charged, so a payment method is required to pay these fees.

WINDmagazine

File:WINDmagazine.png

WINDmagazine is a promotional magazine available at Wind Mobile stores.

WINDmagazine is an advertising publication created by St. Joseph Media. It is available at Wind Mobile stores for customers and non-customers alike. Issues are themed after a certain word. For example, the words "heroes", "nice", and "change" were used as themes for the company's publications. Although there are 15 centre pages showcasing WIND's products and services, the rest of the magazine consists of articles related to the magazine's theme word.

Services

Voice plans

Wind entered the Canadian market offering three mobile voice plans at $15, $35, and $45 monthly. These include a low-cost plan with limited minutes and two plans with unlimited province-wide and nation-wide calling respectively. Various promotional $25 monthly plans were added to this lineup over time, before settling for a regular retail plan. Wind Mobile also offers Pay Your Way Prepaid Service.

Current plans are named after intelligence levels. They are similar to those offered by competitor Mobilicity:

Plan cost and name	Local minutes	Province-wide minutes	Canada-wide minutes	SMS/MMS to Canada/USA	SMS sent worldwide	Voicemail
$15 Clever	100 roll-over		N	50 SMS	N	N
$25 Smart	Y	N	N	Y	N	N
$35 Brilliant	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y
$45 Genius	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y

Features listed in the above table can only be used within a Wind Home zone.

On December 10, 2010, the company began offering a promotional plan for the holiday season to new and existing subscribers. The plan provides unlimited incoming and outgoing North American calls, global SMS, MMS, and data services from Wind home zones, along with voicemail. This plan is no longer available. A variation of this plan known as "My Unstoppable Plan" was later released before being discontinued as well. Only standard voice plans are currently available.

All Wind Mobile voice plans include the following four features: Caller ID, Call forwarding, Conference calling, and Missed call notifications. Also included are incoming text and picture messages. When a Wind customer customer calls another Wind customer, and when both are in any Wind zone, there are no charges or minutes deducted for that call.

Wind does not charge system access fees or carrier 911 fees. There is also no activation fee for new subscriptions. In a departure from the other providers' core offerings, Wind also does not require customers to sign contracts for service. In exchange, the company does not heavily subsidize hardware purchases, requiring customers to pay close to full value for handsets.

Data plans

The Huawei E1691 is a USB modem providing a mobile broadband connexion.

For mobile phones, mobile Internet access plans include:

• $5 for Social Mobile which includes 50 MB of data
• $10 for Infinite Mobile or Infinite BlackBerry
• $10 for Data Tethering (requires Infinite Mobile or Infinite BlackBerry)

Customers with the Social Mobile add-on who use more than 50 megabytes will be charged 20¢/MB for the additional data. If any of the 50 megabytes are unused, they cannot be carried over to the next month.

The Social BlackBerry add-on offers the unlimited use of certain social networking sites and instant messaging applications when accessed within Canada on a BlackBerry smartphone in locations served by Wind Mobile. Social networks include Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, while messaging programs include BlackBerry Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, AIM, ICQ, Yahoo! Messenger and Google Talk. Other Internet applications and sites can only be accessed via Wi-Fi. BlackBerry Social can be added for $5/month to any other plan.

For mobile Internet data sticks and Pocket Hotspot devices, Wind offers several monthly plans:

• Social Laptop for $25/month and 1 GB/month
• Charged Laptop for $35/month and 3 GB/month
• Infinite Laptop for $45/month and unlimited data

Customers with the Social Mobile plan who use more than 1 GB will be charged 4¢/MB for the additional data. Those with the Charged Mobile plan who use more than 3 GB will be charged 2¢/MB for the additional data. If any included gigabytes are unused, they cannot be carried over to the next month.

Additionally, there is currently a promotional plan equivalent to Infinite Laptop but costing only $29/month. By purchasing two prepaid months of this plan at once, customers can receive a complimentary Huawei E1691 USB modem at no extra charge. They may obtain a portable wireless modem instead if they prepay two months and purchase the discounted modem at $62.

All data plans, however, are subject to a "Fair Usage Policy". Only personal use by an individual is allowed. If more than 5 GB of data is used, Wind Mobile may implement a "soft-cap" to slow or "throttle" data speed in certain cases to share the network with other customers. Should this happen, the download speed will be no higher than 256 kilobits per second, while the upload speed will be no higher than 128 kilobits per second. This policy still provides faster speeds than dial-up Internet access while allowing reliable service to all customers.

Long distance

Many of the voice plans offered by Wind Mobile already include province-wide or Canada-wide long distance. Those wishing to call other countries, however, can add one of several long distance plans for low or unlimited calling rates.

Unlimited calling to Canada or USA can be added for $10/month per country. If a customer makes a call to either country without its respective add-on, they will be charged 15¢/minute when calling from a Wind Home zone. These long distance options can be added to the Smart, Brilliant or Genius monthly plans. The only exception is that unlimited Canada-wide long distance is already included at no extra cost in the Genius plan.

Unlimited calling to Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India, Singapore or South Korea can be added for $20/month per country. The long distance options can be added to the Brilliant or Genius monthly plans. Another option, called "My Country", costs $5/month and can be added to any Wind Mobile plan. It allows pay-per-minute calling to one of the of the countries listed below, except for Bangladesh, at 5¢/minute.

Customers with a Clever plan can add unlimited sent SMS and MMS to Canada and USA for $5/month. Those with a Clever, Smart or Brilliant plan can add unlimited sent SMS worldwide for $5/month.

All these long distance add-ons and rates apply only in Wind Home zones to personal individual calls made to regular landline and mobile phone numbers.

Roaming

Wind has dubbed its calling zones "Wind Home" and "Wind Away", its own network and its roaming networks respectively. This is normally clearly indicated on the phone, and the user normally has the option of disabling either or both types of network by using the network or flight mode settings.

In Canada, Wind Mobile has negotiated with Rogers Wireless to provide roaming services at these rates:

• 25¢ per minute for incoming and outgoing calls to Canada and the USA
• 15¢ per sent SMS to Canada and the USA
• 10¢ per 25KB of mobile broadband (equivalent to $4.096/MB or $4194.30/GB)

Wind roaming in the United States is done with T-Mobile USA as of February 12, 2010, at these same rates. Except for Mobilicity, this is the cheapest US roaming rate available to Canadian subscribers.

There is also a "Canada/U.S. Preferred Roaming Rates" add-on available. It costs $10/month and provides lower roaming rates for Canada and USA:

• 16¢ per minute for incoming and outgoing calls to Canada and the USA
• 10¢ per sent SMS to Canada and the USA
• $1 per MB of mobile broadband (equivalent to $1024/GB)

Whether or not the customer has a roaming plan, received text messages are free throughout the world. For comparison of voice rates, Rogers, Bell, and Telus all charge $1.45 per minute (as of May 2010) at their regular rates for voice calls when roaming in the U.S.

Unlocking

Handsets sold by Wind Mobile are locked initially, but a free unlock code can be requested after three consecutive months of service, the only provider in Canada to currently offer such a service for free.

Get Satisfaction

Wind Mobile also operated a webpage where users can interact with each other and with Wind moderators to discuss issues related to the service. It is similar to the Fido Forums available from Fido. In 2011, Wind stopped hosting the service on their own servers. The company now hosts its online community on Get Satisfaction.

See also

• Globalive Communications Corporation, the Canadian telecommunications provider that operates Wind Mobile (Canada).
• Wind Telecomunicazioni S.p.A., the third largest mobile operator in Italy.
• Wind Hellas (formerly TIM Hellas), the third largest mobile operator in Greece.

External links

• Official website
• Wind Mobile on YouTube