The Best Cell Phone Plans for Students

Being a student means making budget your middle name. What better place to start than with your cell phone plan? You want enough minutes, lots of texting, and a data plan that won’t quit.

When you’re on the hunt for student savings, your cell phone plan is a good place to start. Here are my four favourite cell phone plans for students:

Wind Mobile: My Favourite

Wind Mobile is newer to the wireless scene but it’s definitely the winner for price, value and coverage. Since its inception in 2009, Wind has grown exponentially and coverage is now better than ever. While they don’t have all the bells and whistles that the big three mobile companies have, like cutting edge iPhone technology, they are the place to look for a student cell on a budget.

Here’s a plan that can give you everything you’re looking for:

Plan name: Smartphone Plan 35
Rate: $35/month
Day Minutes: Unlimited
Evening Minutes: Unlimited
Text Messages: Unlimited
Data Plan: 2 GB
Activation Fee: $0

Mobilicity: Pretty Cool

Mobilicity is another newer player to the telecommunications playing field and like Wind Mobile, it’s a good discount alternative to Rogers, Telus and Bell. They still have a few kinks to work out with network dead spots and coverage but you’ll get big bang for your buck when you sign with them. As long as you can live with some of the little glitches, this student friendly option will have you talking and saving in no time:

Here’s the down and dirty:

Plan name: Unlimited Plus
Rate: $35/month (plus $5 light data fee)
Day Minutes: Unlimited (Province/Canada wide)
Evening Minutes: Unlimited (Province/Canada wide)
Text Messages: Unlimited (North America)
Data Plan: Light Data (Email, Social apps, IM apps)
Activation Fee: $0

Fido: Not Too Bad

Cell phone plan for students start to see perks seriously drop off once you leave the realm of discount mobile providers. Fido Solutions is owned by Rogers Communications and offers great coverage, but is only so-so deals on their phones and plans.

Here is an example:

Plan name: Fido Pulse Plan 300
Rate: $50 month/$35 if you bring your own phone
Day Minutes: 300 Canada-wide minutes
Evening Minutes: Unlimited after 5pm and on weekends.
Text Messages: Unlimited
Data Plan: 300 MB
Activation Fee: $35

Koodo: It’s Got the Goods

Koodo is another company that offers cheaper alternatives to the big guys but they’ve gotten pretty big in their own right. They are owned by Telus and still offer some pretty good deals on cell phone plans for students.

They offer a comparable plan to Fido:

Plan name: Canada-wide 35
Rate: $35/month
Day Minutes: 300 Canada-wide unlimited minutes
Evening Minutes: Unlimited after 5pm and on weekends
Text Messages: Unlimited
Data Plan: 300 MB
Activation Fee: $35

If you’re not that fussed about the occasional dropped calls or coverage that spans the planet, these discount options should serve you well. If you need a little more talk time and data, do your research online and compare mobile phone plans. There are a lot of resources out there that can help you out.