Do You Use a Voice Plan? Voice vs Data Costs in Canada

The question

With Google Voice a possible future arrival in Canada, plus Dell Voice and other VoIP apps such as Fring, the author wondered how many people still rely on voice plans.

The author’s comparison

• Dell Voice charged 2 cents a minute for long distance in areas it did not cover. That is cheap, though not the best rate out there.
• The author’s carrier’s lowest voice plan was $30 for 100 minutes, or 30 cents a minute. Even its top plan was just over 8 cents a minute.
• The author had a 200 minute voice plan. Using a figure of 1MB per minute for VoIP, that would be about 200MB of data.
• The author’s data plan was 500MB for $25 a month, or about 5 cents per MB. That puts VoIP calling near $10 a month, cheaper than the voice minutes.

The author used a little over 300MB of data per month, so a data-only plan might work for them.

The drawbacks

The author would lose caller ID, and the VoIP service did not work in their area, so they would only get a long distance number. A local number and a data-only plan would make the switch worthwhile. Time spent on Wi-Fi at home or work would also reduce data use.

The poll

The author asked readers whether they use voice plans, and how what they pay for voice compares with their data plan. The poll result is not part of this record.