TORONTO – Rogers Communications will announce today that its low-cost, pre-paid wireless brand chatr mobile is now available across Canada, and with new plans for customers.
Plans of $25 and up will now include international calling starting at 1 cent per minute to more than 200 countries, which reflects the target demographic of the chatr mobile brand. The bulk of the brand’s customer base are what Rogers calls “life transitioners,” chief chatr head Raj Doshi told Cartt.ca in an interview.
Many of the customers are new Canadians, or new visitors who need connectivity as soon as they get here in order to keep in touch with loved ones back home. They normally bring their own devices with them, too. “They’re coming from markets where they are very used to pre-paid, used to having their own devices, used to an easy and accessible solution,” added Doshi. Chatr offers just 10 devices for purchase, including flip phones from Motorola and ZTE – with the highest priced smartphone option the $150 Nokia Lumia 520.
Plus, newcomers often don’t have a credit history needed for post-paid contracts and so they prefer a pre-paid, no contract solution like chatr. As well, with the new 1-cent-a-minute long distance plan, “customers can call or text around the world without purchasing a calling card,” added Doshi.
Chatr was previously sold in just seven markets (Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Southwest Ontario, Toronto and Vancouver), but as of today will be available in 200 cities across Canada. Customers will be able to shop chatr at 1,100 local stores and retailers, including Walmart, Best Buy, Wireless Wave, Tbooth wireless, Wireless etc, WOW! mobile boutique and others.
(This expansion of chatr is the latest in a wave of wireless announcements from Rogers, from its main brand’s Roam Like Home and GameCentre Plus to Fido’s exclusive Spotify offer.)
Doshi added that while they want to be able to serve the chatr customer anywhere, the company will likely concentrate its initial efforts in more urban areas at first.
Chatr is also offering new data buckets so customers can connect online with their phones. Customers on the $35 and $40 prepaid plans can add 500 MB for $10, 1 GB for $15, or the new 2 GB add-on for $25.
“The primary needs of this customer segment are talk, text and some data,” said Doshi. And, if customers feel as though they want more, such as a subsidized phone or more stable monthly pricing with post-paid plans, the company’s road maps envision chatr customers migrating to the Fido or Rogers brands. “As their needs change, we’ll be able to move them to Fido or Rogers,” he explained.
