One of the local carriers, Wind Mobile, added a plan in December that includes a lot of goodies - unlimited calling in home areas, unlimited text, unlimited data, etc. - for $40/mo.
http://shop.windmobile.ca/ProductCatalog/VoicePlans/PlanDeta...
This is miles ahead of the competition - the catch is that Wind coverage isn't great, but not an issue if you rarely leave the metro area.
At least 3 of my friends have told me they would love to switch, but don't want to pay the cancellation fees for their current providers.
That alone is reason enough for me to avoid multi-year contracts - even if I don't end up ahead financially by switching to better deals, I have almost a philosophical objection to this kind of coercion.
The "Even More Plus" from T-Mobile are contract-free and $20/month cheaper than their on-contract equivalents. You save $480 over 2 years, well above the difference in purchase price, and have no ETF issues if you need to cancel.
if I choose not to use T-Mobile, won't I be stuck with edge?
Unfortunately yes.
I haven't seen anything else yet (though I might just have missed it) in western Europe. There are even countries (e.g. Belgium) where you don't get pack-ins (so the phone is full price) and the contract price's as expensive as in subsidized countries.
On the other hand, buying your own phone means you're not forced to remain with your carriers for the standard 24 months (that probably is more of an advantage in europe, where all carriers are on the same GSM bands, so the pain of switching amounts to getting a new SIM and telling your old carrier to shut down your account)
Actually, it's very common in Europe. They're called "SIM only" plans. They don't include a phone, but are way cheaper.
Example: http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/shop/sim-only-plans/all-sim-plans
"There are even countries (e.g. Belgium) where you don't get pack-ins (so the phone is full price) and the contract price's as expensive as in subsidized countries."
In Belgium, operators are prohibited from selling subsidized phones. Instead, consumers buy their phones full price and sign up for a SIM-only plan.
Example: An iPhone 4 16GB costs Euro 640 ($850) at Mobistar Belgium. Their iPhone plan costs Euro 45 a month ($60). The plan includes 6 hours of outgoing calls (incoming calls are free), 600 text messages and 500MB 3G data. Spread over 2 years, that would be the same as paying $95 a month for a plan with a subsidized phone. That's about the same as it would cost in Belgium's neighboring country, The Netherlands, where phone subsidies are allowed.
They're not "way" cheaper. They provide more service at the same price and no phone. Here is the full grid: http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/shop/mobile-price-plans/all-plans...
> In Belgium, operators are prohibited from selling subsidized phones. Instead, consumers buy their phones full price and sign up for a SIM-only plan.
No, that's the point, you can't get subsidized phones and it still isn't cheaper.
> Example: An iPhone 4 16GB costs Euro 640 ($850) at Mobistar Belgium. Their iPhone plan costs Euro 45 a month ($60).
Which is the price of a plan with subsidized phone in France with Mobistar's parent company (orange) [0]
Origami Star starts at 39€ giving access to a 16GB iPhone 4 for 229€ [1]. Though for the same price you do get more voice in Belgium.
[0] http://iphone.orange.fr/forfaits.php
[1] http://www.orange.fr/bin/frame.cgi?u=http%3A//sites.orange.f...