Canada’s Freedom Mobile discounts LG V20 amid troubled launch of LTE

The story of this CA$200 (US$151) discount for the LG V20 is quite a bumpy one. And it’s ongoing.

Freedom Mobile, formerly known as WIND, promised to launch its first LTE towers by November 27. It did not.

In its seven-year history, the independent network startup amassed more than a million subscribers with its HSPA network through unconventional (at least in Canada) consumer promotion initiatives. After Shaw Communications acquired the company earlier this year, an infusion of money was put towards fresh, long overdue 4G spectrum.

But Freedom has faced consumer blowback since it revealed that availability would be limited to metropolitan Toronto and Vancouver and that only two phones would be supporting its Band 66-only spectrum: the ZTE Grand X 4 and the LG V20. And then there was word that the handsets needed final tuning, a process that would delay the network’s launch by around a week.

It has already offered service concessions to its existing customers to make up for the blunder. Now comes the other shoe: a CA$200 discount off the price of a V20. At full retail pricing, that takes the cost down to $799. With Freedom’s MyTab financing program, upfront costs can be taken further on to $649 (standard MyTab), $499 ($5 per month for two years), $299 ($10 per month) or $99 ($15 per month).

If you’re wondering about the Grand X 4, fully priced at $299, a $5 MyTab Boost makes it free upfront and just $99 on the standard MyTab plan — an automatic discount for customers on Freedom service plans at $35 per month or more.

The post Canada’s Freedom Mobile discounts LG V20 amid troubled launch of LTE appeared first on Pocketnow.

from Pocketnow http://pocketnow.com/2016/12/06/canadas-freedom-mobile-discounts-lg-v20