Rogers launches Chatr, Mobilicity pursuing legal action

Rogers officially launched their new discount mobile brand Chatr yesterday, after delaying the planned mid-July launch for unspecified reasons. Chatr, like the new Canadian wireless entrants (Mobilicity, Public Mobile and Wind Mobile), is a zone based unlimited cellphone service. The service will be available in in Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Vancouver, and will be expanding to Montreal in the fall.

Rogers originally announced Chatr on June 30th, as a new brand to cater to customers looking for unlimited plans, with no contracts — the very same market that the new entrants are targeting. While Rogers have claimed that they are ‘puzzled‘ by the accusations from Mobilicity and others, that Chatr is simply designed to try and put them out of business, it is clear from every aspect of the brand that Rogers has their sights aimed directly at the new carriers. Whether this could be considered anti-competitive, or simply a smart business decision, is up for debate. Mobilicity, though, seems to think the former, and stated that if Chatr launched they would take legal action, and now they have said that they intend to follow through with that threat.

“We served them with a letter last week that basically said if it launches in a manner as was revealed then we would take some certain legal action. Among those things were civil litigation, complaint to the competition tribunal, complaint to the regulatory authorities… and since it did launch in that manner we will be pursuing those avenues.”

Chatr is launching with two plans, $35 a month for unlimited province-wide talk, and $45 for unlimited Canada-wide talk and text. Just like Wind and Mobilicity, Chatr’s unlimited plans only work within their Chatr zones, and when you are out of the zone you are charged a 25c per minute roaming charge. Both plans include call display and voicemail, but there is a 25c charge per minute to access your messages on the $35 plan. Chatr’s slogan is ‘no worries-talk happy’, and to back up that they have their ‘no worries Network’ that means

With chatr, you’ll have fewer dropped calls than new wireless carriers. Talk and text happy, whether you’re in or out of a chatr unlimited zone – we have you covered with great coverage and a super trusty network.

If the above doesn’t clearly state their intentions in regards to the new carriers, then I don’t know what does!

However there is one BIG difference between Chatr and Wind/Mobilicity. Like Public Mobile, there are absolutely NO DATA options (not even pay per use), and this is reflected in their handset line-up. It even looks like the phones capable of WAP web access will not be able to use this feature on Chatr. However there are some confusing messages in their FAQ, since they state “chatr wireless does not have data service” yet they also claim that “HSPA means super-fast Internet access”. Maybe they are planning to offer data in the future?

The four phones are the Nokia 1661 candy bar for $60, LG GB125R Flip for $75, Nokia 2680 slider for $95, and Samsung Gravity QWERTY for $130.

Chatr has two ways to pay, ‘auto-pay’ that pre-pays you plan with your credit card every month, and ‘self-pay’ where you have to remember to top up your account with Chatr pre-paid vouchers. They are also offering their first promo, a $30 credit if you sign-up for the ‘auto-pay’ option.

Chatr is current available at mall kiosks, and at stores like Future Shop, Best Buy, Wireless Wave, Telephone Booth and Zellers.

I know that by comparing Chatr to the Empire means that I am implying that the Rebel Alliance (the new carriers) will eventually ‘win’, but unlike Star Wars, the Canadian Mobile Universe has three Darth Vaders. If Bell and Telus make good on their rumoured promises to re-tool their existing budget brands, Koodo and Solo, to go after the new guys like Chatr is, the Rebels could be in some serious trouble. They’ll need more than just the force of legal action to win that battle. Maybe the federal government will step in and be their Luke, as they did once before for Wind.

For more details on Chatr Wireless you can visit there site here.

[via Chatr and MobileSyrup]