Chatr

Chatr Mobile

Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Mobile network operator
Founded	July 28, 2010
Headquarters	Toronto, Ontario
Key people	Garrick Tiplady, Senior Vice President
Products	Android smartphone and feature phones
Services	GSM, HSPA (including HSPA+), mobile broadband, SMS, telephony
Parent	Rogers Communications
Website	ChatrWireless.com

Chatr Mobile is a Canadian wireless service provider a budget brand targeting entry-level customers. It is the third wireless service network owned by Rogers Communications, after Rogers Wireless and Fido Solutions. The provider launched their network in Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Quebec and Montreal, later expanding to more markets. Chatr launched its service on July 28, 2010. The carrier initially launched by limiting plan features to only specific regions of Rogers' network, dubbed "chatr zones". The company now refers to these as "Chatr local talk zones", which only applies to plans without long distance.

Network

See also: Rogers Wireless § Networks

The Chatr network was based on zones, dubbed "chatr zones", where customers are offered specific services that function only within a certain coverage area. When a Chatr customer left their designated zone, services, such as voice minutes and outgoing texts, were available on a pay-per-use basis. Chatr provided only two ways for a customer to find out whether or not they were in a Chatr zone: to check the coverage map, or to check their account balance after making a call. Mobilicity, Solo Mobile, and Wind Mobile, by contrast, offer more ways for customers to tell if they are in one of their carrier's zones.

In 2015, following competitor Public Mobile's nationwide launch, Chatr eliminated its zone concept on all plans that feature provincial or Canadian long distance. Zones are now referred to as "Chatr local talk zones", which only applies to plans without long distance.

Products

Chatr mostly sells feature phones, but also carries smartphones. Additionally, Chatr SIM cards allow other GSM-based handsets to be used. Currently available devices are made by LG, Motorola, Nokia, and Sony. Each has a nickname given by Chatr.

Feature phones

• LG C195 "The Messenger"
• LG F4NR "The Essential"
• Motorola MOTOGO! Flip "The Flip"
• Nokia C2-02 "The Appeal"
• Sony Ericsson txt pro "The Speedster"
• ZTE Z222 "The Compact"
• ZTE Z432 "The Snap"

Smartphones

Chatr offers Android smartphones from the LG Optimus series: a variant of the LG Optimus One (LG P505) nicknamed "The Social", the LG Optimus L3 nicknamed "The Touch" (both since discontinued), and currently the LG Optimus L1 II "The Steal".

In addition to this, Chatr's has two Windows Phones, the Nokia Lumia 520 nicknamed "The Performer" and the Nokia Lumia 635 nicknamed "The Lightning".

SIM cards

SIM cards from Chatr are compatible with any GSM or HSPA+ device, such as those designed to be used with Rogers Wireless. This includes devices from Rogers itself, plus its mobile virtual network operators such as 7-Eleven Speak Out Wireless.

Services

Chatr offers four monthly plans, purchasable either with prepaid credits, a credit card or a debit card. There is also an option for automatic credit card payments (auto-pay). Unlimited calling features can only be used when a phone call is placed in a "Chatr zone", while SMS text messages and mobile broadband can be used throughout the Rogers network. Except for Chatr's customer service, additional charges apply for any call made or received outside of Chatr's coverage; there is no charge for calls and SMS messages received within a Chatr zone. There is also SMS short code support for messaging via the Facebook and Twitter services, which does not require or use mobile broadband.

All Chatr plans include unlimited incoming calls and texts and the Call display, Call waiting, Call forwarding and Group calling features. Features specific to each plan are listed below:

• The base $20/month "Unlimited Local Talk" plan includes unlimited local outgoing calls. Outgoing SMS cost 20¢ per message.
• The midrange $25/month "Unlimited Province-Wide Talk" adds unlimited province-wide outgoing calls and 100 sent SMS to Canada and the USA. Additional SMS cost 20¢ per message.
• The high-end plans, the $35/month "Unlimited Canada-wide Talk & Text" which now includes unlimited international texting. They also offer a $40/month "Unlimited Canada-wide Talk & International Text", add unlimited Canada-wide calling and unlimited sent SMS to Canada and the USA. The latter also includes unlimited sent international texts compared to the previous plan.

A ten-message voicemail is available with any plan. The $25 and $30 plans have a 25¢ per minute retrieval charge, while the $35 and $40 plans waive the voicemail retrieval charge.

For an additional fee, one can add mobile broadband to the $35 and $40 plans, in denominations of 200 MB for $10, 500 MB for $15, and 1 GB for $25. Additional data usage cost 10¢ per MB.

Controversy

Several controversies regarding Chatr received mainstream media coverage. The company received two accusations of breaching the Competition Act in Canada.

Fighter brand

Chatr has been accused of violating the Competition Act because it is a fighter brand created by Rogers. Chatr's pricing policy closely reflects that of Wind Mobile and Mobilicity. Mobilicity's chairman, John Bitove, said that "[Rogers is] leveraging the other parts of their business to kill the competition […] If they succeed in killing us off there's no question they'd kill the Chatr brand off".

Advertising claims

Shortly after its launch, Chatr published many advertisements claiming that their network has “fewer dropped calls than new wireless carriers”. Following a complaint by wireless carriers Wind Mobile and Mobilicity, the Federal Competition Bureau has asked the Ontario Superior Court of Justice under the Misleading Advertising Provisions of the Competition Act to order Rogers to:

1. Stop Chatr's advertising campaign
2. Pay a 10-million dollar penalty
3. Pay restitution to any customers affected by the misleading claim
4. Send out a corrective notice to inform the public about the issue

The Bureau has accused Rogers of:

1. using misleading advertising to promote its talk-and-text service Chatr..."
2. having "...no evidence support[ing] Chatr's claim that their customers will experience fewer dropped calls than they would with new rival wireless carriers..."
3. directly breaching Section 78 of Misleading Advertising Provisions relating to "False or Misleading Representations and Deceptive Marketing Practices"

According to the Court documents from the preceding, the bureau found that the on average there is no significant difference between the number of dropped calls on Chatr and new carriers. Furthermore, in the cases of Ottawa and Toronto, new carriers experienced slightly fewer dropped calls than did Chatr.

On August 19, 2013 it was announced that the court confirmed that Chatr's advertising of fewer dropped calls, in connection with its 2010 launch, was fair and accurate.

Advertising

Chatr Wireless' slogan is "No worries, talk happy." During the Christmas and holiday season, the slogan used instead was "No worries, gift happy." Both resemble the name of the song Don't Worry, Be Happy, and a whistled version of this song is used in Chatr commercials. Since Chatr started offering mobile broadband, the "Now data happy" tagline accompanies any promotional material concerning such services.

The company also gives out various promotional merchandise, including pens, highlighters, mousepads, water bottles, planting seeds and Chatr-branded orange M&M's. Merchandise is given away both to customers and to non-customers as a way to spread the word about the operator.

Previously, Chatr claimed to have "fewer dropped calls than new wireless carriers." However, the company's parent, Rogers, was subject to controversy for this claim. To promote its network, provided by Rogers Wireless, Chatr now claims that they have "great coverage thanks to tons of network sites."

Retail presence

A sign of Rogers, Fido and Chatr at Shoppers Drug Mart.

Chatr has its own retail stores. Additionally, Best Buy, Costco, London Drugs, Tbooth, Walmart, WirelessWave and Wireless Etc - Costco sell Chatr prepaid products and top-up cards.

Former retailers

While Shoppers Drug Mart carried only Rogers Wireless prepaid phones at one time, the stores temporarily partnered with the network operator to carry both prepaid and postpaid products and services for Rogers and its two other brands, Fido and Chatr. There was an in-store display, showcasing many of the phones available. As of March 2011, however, Shoppers stores ended their partnership. They only sell prepaid top-up vouchers for these providers.

All seven Chatr kiosks in Montreal were converted to Fido kiosks in May 2012. This does not affect third-party retail presence of Chatr in Montreal.

See also

• List of Canadian mobile phone companies
• Rogers Wireless

External links

• Official website