MONTREAL – Today, wireless phone brand Fido is celebrating its 10th year of service.
With its award-winning, pooch-focused TV commercials and simple pricing, Fido "changed the Canadian wireless landscape and continues to do so 10 years later by providing Canadians with innovative pricing, per-second billing, and friendly and accessible customer service," says the press release. (According to accepted wisdom, one human year is approximately seven dog years.)
Fido, which began as a Montreal-based independent but is now owned by Rogers after a $1.4 billion purchase in 2004, is unique for a number of reasons, says the release, "namely a combination of an ad campaign that quickly contributed to Fido becoming one of the most recognizable brands in Canada; Fido’s strong emphasis on customer advocacy with programs such as Fido Rewards; and Fido’s commitment to making wireless a mass market product with solid value through such features as per-second billing."
"It’s amazing how quickly those seconds have flown by," said senior vice-president and Fido general manager, Sylvain Roy, in the release. "At the time Fido launched, only 12% of Canadians had access to wireless service. Fido was instrumental in making it easy for more Canadians to own a wireless handset, and now 54% of the Canadian population – 17.8 million people – own one of these devices. Fido truly democratized wireless for Canadians."
Fido launched with the Nortel 1911, the first Canadian wireless device with a smart card. The stamp-sized computer chip meant that customers could upgrade to their next handset or test drive a new one simply by removing the smart card and putting it into a new Fido(R) handset. The services, phone book and phone number all "live" on the smart card, not the phone, so upgrading to a new handset is easy, adds the release.
"Fido hit the one million customer mark faster than any other Canadian wireless brand, focusing on providing reliable and affordable service in Canada’s main metropolitan areas. Today, Fido offers customers a significantly expanded network (the nationwide Rogers network), and with the recent launch of the Urban package, the brand has once again established itself as the wireless service of choice for the young, urban crowd," it reads.
"We are dedicated and loyal… just as the name implies," added Roy.
