Pardon my ignorance of all things cellphone related, but do I understand that you're using the Nexus One without a data plan right now? Do you just rely on WiFi access to use the web features of the phone?

Dude.. you should totally switch to Wind. Unless you plan on going outside of Ontario, their 3G network is great. I don't see me leaving Ontario anytime soon so I got the plan.

Mark: Yeah, I'm almost always near WiFi (home, office), so I don't really need data. I use APNdroid to make sure my phone isn't racking up data charges in the background. I've never paid a cent for data using this phone. =)

I do keep track of when I get the urge to use data, but I simply don't feel it often enough to go for the additional expense. We hardly ever eat out, so it's not like I'm looking up restaurants or reviews. We check out movie listings before leaving home, so we don't need data for that too. Comparison-shopping? I hardly ever buy things on impulse, and I usually check the Net at home before I buy stuff. I'm not addicted to e-mail, Facebook, or Twitter, and I don't mind batch-uploading pictures when I get home. So yeah, I don't mind getting along without the extra data charge for now.

Mazin: If I find myself with more productive uses for data, I might consider going for something similar to the WIND promo I was looking at, which was $40 for unlimited voice/text/data.

As it stands, though, their regular voice plans are about the same (or slightly more expensive after the six-month discount period) than the Fido plan I'm switching to, at least for my usage. I don't actually need unlimited outgoing as long as I have unlimited incoming (we have a landline at home, and I'm not much of a phone person). WIND seems to do better for US roaming, but I plan to not travel that often anyway. =) I'd probably consider their Always Talk plan because of unlimited incoming, which doesn't appear to be available as an add-on for their cheaper plan, but I could be mistaken.

Aside from a six-month 50% discount and free international add-ons, the WIND plan is regularly $35 and I'd probably want to get the Canada/US/International texting bundles ($5-$10) to make it a mostly apples-to-apples comparison with the Fido plan (at least for the features I want to experiment with). The WIND plan works out cheaper for the first 17 months (or more if they're doing the first-month-free promo). After that cross-over point, the Fido plan becomes cheaper, although the difference isn't very much. ($75 after two years?) This doesn't take into account any new plans that might be offered, and it's highly likely that both companies will offer better plans between now and then.

Fortunately, as I'm not locked into a Fido contract, I can pretty much shift if I happen to really like a promo. Besides, the texting will be an experiment, so I might not need the texting bundles for the entire span - making WIND even cheaper. So yeah, I'll keep an eye out for interesting promos, like the ones they ran over the holiday.

My reasoning is probably funny in places. I won't sign a Fido contract for a $5 discount per month, but I don't mind waiting or planning for a potential benefit ~18 months ahead, knowing that I can easily switch if a more compelling offer comes along. =) I think that for me the triggers are:

- an unlimited incoming + worldwide text plan that works out, on paper, to be less per month than my current plan (on a month-by-month basis)
- an unlimited voice/data/worldwide text plan that works out to be the same price or within $5 of my current plan; so basically, whenever they re-offer that holiday plan, if I feel more confident about WIND's prospects

Logically speaking, since there's a high probability that WIND will offer a similar promo, I should switch to their cheaper voice plan now, then upgrade to that plan when the promo is offered. On the other hand, the Internet opinions of coverage / customer service / company longevity are a mixed bag, so I don't mind waiting as well. Particularly if they do another $150-credit-for-porting plan sometime in between... ;)

I'm veering dangerously into maximizing territory here (versus satisficing, which is how I usually make decisions, so here I am deciding to not over-think it (at least any more than I already have ;) ) and just hang on until the decision is clearer. =)

There's a blog post in here somewhere...