Bell Plans & Add-ons in Ontario

Bell is one of the largest phone carriers in Canada, and offers a wide variety of plans and add-ons in Ontario. The nation’s oldest telecommunications brand continues to evolve by offering fast and reliable service across Canada. Bell offers a large selection of tiered plans and add-ons to ensure subscribers have lots of options when it comes to choosing a plan that’s right for them. Exclusive features include Bell SmartPay, Travel Passes, extended weekday calling, and the Bell Message Centre.

Bell Ontario Postpaid Plans 

Bell’s postpaid plans include an assortment of talk, text, and data configurations that you pay for at the end of each month. Bell offers three types:

• Basic Phone Plans
• Shareable Plans
• Unlimited Plans

Bell Basic Phone Plans

Bell’s Basic Phone Plans give users a certain amount of talk, text, and sometimes data. They are ideal for people who want easy, affordable plans and use their phones predominately for talking and texting. Plans usually cost around $25 to $40/month.

Shareable Plans

Shareable plans allow family members to allocate voice and data between their devices. Adding your family members to a shareable plan means that you’ll save more than you would if every individual family member purchased their own unlimited plan. Each person is allowed to add more than one device to their name, and you save more for every device you connect—whether it’s a phone, tablet, or smartwatch. The number of devices you can connect to your account is limitless.

While data speeds are slower after you’ve exceeded your data limit on Unlimited Plans, you’ll have to pay overage charges when your limit is exceeded on a Shareable Plan.

Bell Unlimited Plans

Bell offers two types of unlimited data plans—Bring Your Own Phone plans and Smartphone plans. As the names suggest, BYO phone plans are for customers who are switching to Bell and bringing their device with them, while Smartphone plans are for customers interested in buying a new device.

Customers have the option of choosing Unlimited 10GB, Unlimited, or Unlimited 50GB at each tier. While Bell does offer unlimited data, high-speed data is only available at 10GB and under.

Smartphone Plans

Starting at $95/month, Bell’s smartphone plans feature unlimited talk and text, and anywhere from 10 to 50GB of data.

Bell has five different tiers (also known as tabs) of Smartphone plans. While selecting a plan from a lower tier means that you’ll pay more for your phone upfront, you’ll be paying less on your monthly bills than you would on a higher tier. Those who opt for a higher tier spend less for their phones upfront, but pay more for their phones through their bills.

• Lower tier: Higher upfront cost, lower monthly bill
• Higher tier: Lower upfront cost, higher monthly bill

Premium phones are sold at all tabs except for the Smartphone tier, where only previous generation premium devices and mid-tier phones can be purchased.

The price ranges for each tier are:

• Smartphone: $95 – $145/month
• Premium: $105 – $155/month
• Premium Plus: $115– $165/month
• Premium Ultra: $125 – $175/month

BYO Phone Plans

Bring Your Own Phone plans are the cheapest unlimited talk and text plans offered by Bell, since you’ll only be paying the price of your plan. BYOP plans begin at around $75/month with 10GB of data.

Bell SmartPay

 Bell SmartPay is an affordable way to finance your new smartphone. Here’s how it works:

• Buy an eligible phone and pay $0 down when you commit to a qualifying two-year plan.
• Pay off the phone in 24 monthly installments with 0% APR.

If you want an even cheaper monthly bill, you can combine Bell’s SmartPay with the Device Return Option. At the end of your two-year term, you can either return the device (it must be in good working condition), upgrade, or keep it and pay a lump sum in order to own the phone.

SmartPay is an excellent option for people who want to save money and aren’t intimidated by a two-year contract (early cancellation requires you to pay your remaining device balance). While SmartPay is exclusive to Bell, Rogers’ Edge Financing and TELUS’ Easy Payment are the equivalents from their respective competitors.

Bell Ontario Postpaid Add-Ons 

Of the top-tier carriers, Bell offers the most add-ons for postpaid plans. Bell has add-ons for call features and applications, messaging, talk time and long distance, email and internet, and roaming.

Bell Ontario Prepaid Plans

Bell prepaid plans require monthly renewal and expire every 30 days. Unlike postpaid plans, the customer pays for service at the beginning of each billing cycle. Prepaid plans are a great way to benefit from Bell’s top network coverage while avoiding a pesky credit check. Bell offers two types of prepaid plans:

• Voice Plans
• Voice and Data Plans

Voice Plans are less expensive than Voice and Data Plans, and they give users anywhere from 10 to 500 minutes of talk. Prices for prepaid Voice Plans range from $5/month to $35/month. Most Voice and Data Plans include unlimited talk and text, and the data allowances max out at 2GB. Prepaid Voice and Data Plans can are significantly more expensive than the voice only plans and can cost up to $65/month.

Bell allows subscribers on Voice and Voice and Data Plans the option of “topping up” their account. By adding more funds before or several days after the expiry date, your account remains active and unused funds from the previous month are restored. Bell prepaid plans are best for people who predominately use their phones for talk and text, since the highest prepaid data plan includes just 2GB of data.

Bell Ontario Prepaid Add-Ons

Bell offers add-ons for data and long-distance minutes. Data add-ons start at 100MB for $10/month and top out at 2GB for $50/month. Unlimited Canada-wide long-distance minutes are $10/month, while unlimited calls from Canada to the United States cost $20/month.

Bell’s prepaid add-ons are helpful for those who need extra data, but the costs can add up quickly. If you find yourself regularly adding on 2GB of data to your prepaid plan, you may want to consider switching to a postpaid plan that comes with more monthly data. Likewise, the prepaid calling add-ons are ideal for those looking to make frequent calls to the United States.

Bell Coverage Map

Bell Mobility Coverage in Ontario

Southern Ontario
Bell’s coverage is consistent throughout Southern Ontario, nearly blanketing the entire region. From Ottawa to Windsor and Toronto to Tobermory, access to Bell’s network is steady in and around remote areas and sprawling cities.

Northern Ontario
 Bell’s coverage in Northern Ontario is sporadic, extending only to the most populated areas, such as metropolitan centres and their surrounding areas. Bell’s network covers cities, such as Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Timmins, Sudbury, North Bay, and Moosonee.

Bell Postpaid Plans: How do they Compare with Rogers and TELUS?

Bell Unlimited Plans

Bell, Rogers, and TELUS offer unlimited plans with 10GB, 20GB, and 50GB. All provide high-speed data up until this limit is hit, then speeds are throttled (slowed down). Bell and Rogers organise their plans in tiers, which gives users the option of choosing how much they pay upfront versus how much they pay monthly. TELUS does not offer their plans in tiers, and as a result, their plans usually cost less per month.

All three carriers have plans that include unlimited Canada-wide calling, but Rogers is the only carrier that allows for unlimited Canada and U.S. calling for an additional fee. Rogers’ unlimited plans all include an exclusive feature called Roam Like Home, which allows you to access their monthly talk, text, and data from other countries.

Shareable Plans

Bell has the most data variety in their plans, as families can choose to share anywhere from 5 to 50GB of data. Check the chart below for a comparison of shareable phone plans by carrier.

Basic Plans

Bell and Rogers offer the cheapest basic phone plans. Customers with either carrier can choose between 50 minutes of calling and 100 text messages with 100MB of data or 150 minutes of calling and 50 text messages for $25/month.

Bell’s $40/month unlimited talk and text basic plan is the most expensive offered by any carrier. Rogers and TELUS both offer cheaper unlimited talk and text plans that cost $35/month.

If you use your phone very little or only during emergencies, you should consider one of Bell’s basic starter plans. People who want the freedom to talk and text as much as they please, however, can save an additional $5/month by subscribing to Bell or TELUS.

Bell Prepaid Plans: How Do They Compare with Rogers and TELUS?

Bell, Rogers, and TELUS all offer similar prepaid plans. The cheapest plans provide users with talk and text, while more expensive plans include data.

Bell offers a cheaper starter plan than Rogers and TELUS. Beginning at $5/month, you’ll get up to 10 minutes of local calls. Text messaging is also available at pay-per-use rates.  This simple plan ensures you have just enough talk time to make contact with the people you care about. Rogers and TELUS’ cheapest plans are slightly more expensive but still very affordable, giving you up to 50 minutes of talk and 50 text messages.

Bell also offers the cheapest unlimited talk, text, and data plans compared to the other carriers.

Pros and Cons of Choosing a Plan from Bell