This move may be a smart one for everyone as well.
In an effort to increase competition in the Canadian cell phone industry, an auction for new wireless spectrum was conducted and the major carriers (Rogers, Bell and Telus) were barred from bidding on these to ensure that there are new entrants in the market. Once that was said and done, we had Wind Mobile and Mobilicity enter as new plan providers. They had much cheaper plans than what was normal for Canada, but there was a catch - only specific phones would be compatible. Because of this, their phone selection was sub-par, along with coverage for customers.
Fast forward a few years, and both of those companies have been acquired. Wind Mobile was acquired by Shaw, but the company remained pretty much unchanged. With Mobilicity, a deal was struck between them and Rogers which put Mobilicity under Rogers, along with Fido and Chatr, Rogers' other subsidiaries.
This deal was a bit different, though. Rogers announced that it would pretty much be absorbing the Mobilicity name and customers into their Chatr brand. The advantage to this for customers was that Mobilicity customers were no longer forced to use the AWS network that they previously had to.
iPhones and Mobilicity
Perhaps the greatest advantage to come with this change is that you can now use pretty much any iPhone with Mobilicity. Since all iPhones that have been released are compatible with Rogers' network, that means they will be compatible with Mobilicity as well, up to and until the moment that Mobilicity subscribers are forced to switch over to Chatr, which is Rogers' end goal with the deal.
Previously, you could only use an iPhone as long as it was at least an iPhone 5s with Mobilicity, along with some units of the iPhone 5. This has now changed - everything is compatible. You are now able to get a used iPhone 4s and use it on Mobilicity's network, as long as it's unlocked. This is because you would be taking advantage of the new Rogers deal.
If you're planning on jumping on a device that's older than an iPhone 5, you'll be using just Rogers' network. However, if you're jumping onto a 5s or newer, you'll have compatibility with Mobilicity's current network, along with the new Rogers one that you'll now have access to, which maximizes your coverage.
Androids and Mobilicity
Just like the iPhone situation, now that Mobilicity customers are free to take advantage of the stronger network that Rogers has, Mobilicity customers are now able to use pretty much any Android phone. This is great for those who have been looking to jump on the Android ship but were previously constrained with basic models made specifically to be compatible with AWS networks. Newly-released Android models usually had compatibility with all carriers, including AWS carriers, but these phones were very expensive to get into.
Now that the floor has really opened up for Mobilicity, it's a great time for Mobilicity customers to jump on getting a different smartphone (whether it be an iPhone or something else), but it's always a good idea to get in touch with Mobilicity to confirm that compatibility will be all good. The Mobile Base carries a wide variety of used smartphones that are ready to be used.