Public Mobile

Public Mobile is a self-serve, prepaid Canadian mobile brand launched on March 18, 2010 and acquired by Telus in October 2013. Public Mobile was one of several new cellphone providers, such as Mobilicity (later acquired by Rogers Communications) and Wind Mobile, which launched in Canada after a government initiative to encourage competition in the wireless sector. As of August 8, 2014, Public Mobile now operates as a mobile virtual network operator on the Telus Mobility network. On August 31, 2015, Public Mobile "relaunched" to the public under a beta program providing free SIM cards and 3 tiers of BYOD plans starting with a 10-day, 30 day or a 90-day period, all of which have the options of Talk, Text and Data respectively.

The service is not charged by minute, as with other prepaid providers, and instead customers buy service for a 30-day period and have unlimited talk time during the prepaid period. You can also opt in for 10 day and 90 day periods as of August 31, 2015. Public Mobile's original CDMA network (now shut down), prior to its takeover by Telus, operated independently without the use of another carrier's network (with the exception of Telus as a roaming provider). Their legacy coverage network centered on Toronto, small parts of the GTA, and Montreal, but now operates across Canada on the Telus 4G/LTE network, allowing customers with nationwide-calling features to roam freely within Telus's coverage area.