Fido launches home internet service in Southern Ontario with heavy discounts for mobile customers

Fido, the Rogers flanker brand that recently went through a brand overhaul to focus on Millennials, announced today that it now offers high-speed home internet in some parts of Southern Ontario.

The company is carefully rolling out the new service to select markets, aiming at the kind of customer it says wants its transparent and unique mobile phone service, which features content tie-ins from Spotify and Vice.

To that end, Fido is offering significant discounts to its postpaid mobile customers. The one available plan offers 30 megabits of download speeds and five megabits of upload speeds, which equates to a fast, but certainly not top-of-the-line, connection in the home internet space today.

For existing Fido postpaid wireless customers — account holders, not just subsequent names on a shared account — the price of the 30 megabit connection is $50 per month for 300 gigabytes of bandwidth. An unlimited plan rises to $65 per month. Tack on $20 more for non-Fido postpaid account holders, so $70 and $85 respectively, which puts the prices more in line with the equivalent plan from Rogers. Fido is also throwing in what is calls an Easy Connect modem/router hybrid, which can be set up using a smartphone.

Fido is quick to point out that the internet service has no hidden fees, contracts or cancellation penalties — though the fine print does note that an installation fee of $50 may be required, depending on the location. For those on the 300 gigabyte plan, a $1 per gigabyte overage fee applies, up to a maximum of $50 per month.

Compared to parent company Rogers, the 30/5 Fido plan is considerably cheaper; Rogers charges $64.99 per month for the same speeds and 125 gigabytes of bandwidth, along with a $1.50 per gigabyte overage. Teksavvy, another well-known provider of cable in Southern Ontario, offers a 30/5 package that costs $47.95 per month for 150 gigabytes of usage (unlimited between 2AM and 8AM, however), or $57.95 for 400 gigabytes — plus the cost of a modem.

The bundling aspect of Fido’s new internet deal is certainly going to attract existing users, many of whom are likely paying more for the same service from Rogers.