Because I found it so difficult to get information about the so-called “PEI Plan” from Bell Aliant, here’s a brief synopsis of what you need to know if you’re interested in taking advantage of it yourself. I wish Bell Aliant or the Province of PEI documented the details themselves somewhere; for now, apparently, the details are in an internal Bell Aliant document that employees cannot release to the public.
- The plan is in place as a “stop-gap” measure for rural Islanders who live at addresses not yet served by Bell Aliant’s wired Internet. So, to be eligible, you need to establish that your address isn’t eligible for wired Internet. You should be able to find this out on the High Speed Availability Check page on the Bell Aliant website, but there might be an additional “check with engineering” when you request the service to double-check this.
- There’s no cost for the hardware: Bell Aliant provides a Novatel MiFi 2732 as part of the plan (you must return the device if you cancel service).
- No long-term contract is required. You must give 30 days notice to cancel service.
- There’s a $35 one-time sign-up fee.
- If you’re not already a Bell Aliant customer for other services, they’ll do a credit check before approving you for service. You’ll be asked to provide your date of birth and one of your SIN number or a credit card number. The credit check happens quite quickly.
- There’s a monthly fee of $49.95 for the service.
- There’s no usage cap, and no usage-based billing: you pay $49.95/month no matter how much Internet you use.
- You can connect up to 5 devices to the MiFi unit via wifi. Range of the signal, in my testing, is sufficient to reach all corners of a large house.
This service is a good deal compared to the equivalent Bell Mobility service (which is, in effective, what you’re being resold a version of by Bell Aliant): with no contact you’d need to spend $199.95 for a wireless MiFi-like device, and the mobile Internet plans increase in price as you increase usage (I exceeded the 100MB entry-level $22/month cap simply by testing the device and in the 18 hours since I dropped the device off for my cousin usage has been 500MB).
To order this service do NOT call Bell Aliant’s regular customer service or support numbers, as it’s likely that the people you talk to will not know about this PEI-specific plan. And do NOT go to the Bell Aliant-branded kiosk in the Charlottetown Mall, as they are not able to provision the service there.
Instead, call the Bell Aliant Charlottetown “mobility” office at 902-566-0117 and ask about the “PEI wireless rural Internet plan,” or go and visit the office in person: it’s located in the old Island Tel maintenance building at the corner of Queen and Belvedere; park between the large headquarters building and go inside the marked entrance, then through the first door on your left and ring the bell on the desk. A (in my experience, helpful and friendly) representative will come out to assist you.
If, for some reason, you are told that the service is no longer available, or that there’s a long waiting list for hardware, point them to my experience, and mention to them that the official position of Bell Aliant, as communicated to the media after I raised the issue, is that there is no waiting list or delay in providing service to eligible customers.
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Comments
Looks like the person who
Looks like the person who answers the phone at the Bell Mobility Office was instructed on Friday to tell everyone who calls about this plan to call the 800 number (866 425 4268). When I called that number, I gave them my address and they looked it up an concluded that I can not get regular Bell High Speed. The agent told me that he sees a note that tells him to get my contact info and that a 3rd party provider that they work with in PEI will call me in 24-48 hours with information on getting internet. The agent would not tell me anything about pricing but assured me that the ‘3rd Party Provider’ will call me and give me all of that information.
so, when I called they said
so, when I called they said this does not exist.
Curious to know what the
Curious to know what the speed is like?
Thanks so much , I was on the
Thanks so much , I was on the verge of crying today on the phone with bell mobility trying to find a local who understands but all I got was some guys out of mombai I’m sure ready and eager to sell me a plan…so when I goofled pei bell you’re article came up.
Hello Peter,I went through
Hello Peter,
I went through the same ordeal as you with Bell Aliant and had to fight like hell to get a Bell Turbo Stick with Cradlepoint wireless modem. They had actually got my download speed to as high as 10mb per second. I was absolutely ecstatic as I work from home and use the internet for everything!
I received the attached letter in the mail a few days ago to inform me that “high speed” is now available in my area. The highest they can give me is 1.5mb per second. Not only that, they want to charge me double!! They attempted to call me to set up an appointment to collect their turbo stick and modem…I will barricade the doors and hold on to this turbo stick…. They will have pry it from my cold lifeless fingers!!!!
Lol But seriously, do I have a legal recourse? Can bell do this based on my current contract? Not sure I have the contract….
Hi...what happened? do you
Hi...what happened? do you still have your stick?
I am currently getting so
I am currently getting so called High Speed internet (1.5mb/second). I would not call the high speed what so ever as can not have more that on device surfacing the internet at a time. Is there still a way that I can get the PEI plan that would give us better speed?
Thanks
Is the PEI plan still
Is the PEI plan still available in rural areas .. we will be living just outside Kensington and like most everyone else, 1.5mbps is not acceptable for a family internet plan .. what other options are available if you happen to know .. thanks
I posted some options.
I posted some options.
I also get the measly 1.5 for
I also get the measly 1.5 for a family of four.
BellAlliant has an ultra package of 7mbps for $91.45 unlimited data.
Xplornet (I have an email in to them to find out if it is available here) at 10mbps for $99.99 /100gb data.
Wickedeh? is 5mbps for $98.75 unlimited data.
Hello.. thanks for sharing.
Hello.. thanks for sharing. We are moving to Bay Fortune / Eglington area and looking for recommendations for tv and high speed internet companies. Thoughts and feedback appreciated in advance.
I went to Bell Aliant to get
I went to Bell Aliant to get wireless hi speed internet as I am putting a cottage at Richards Point in Augustine Cove and need to work from there. I was told by Bell there is absolutely no access at all.
Hello Sylvia,
Hello Sylvia,
Please get in touch. I think it will be possible to arrange service for you there.
Thanks
Is this available in the
Is this available in the Murray River Area? if so how does one go about getting this installed? And what is the current cost per Month?
We live on Murray Harbour Rd
We live on Murray Harbour Rd which unfortunately has an old telephone line that carries our intermittent internet. We tried Xplornet which was even worse than Bell. Our fastest speeds are 1.5Mbps when it works. We have had four technicians try to fix it in the past month but they tell us the line needs replacing and Bell will not do that. Going to try to sign up for the PEI Plan.
Has anyone in cavendish area
Has anyone in cavendish area found good internet? I have cottages out there and can only seem to get 1mbps-3mbps which is absolutely ridiculous and essentially useless. You can’t even simply google search without waiting 10 minutes then seeing the cannot connect to internet sign. Being able to get internet out there would solve so many of my problems as I work from home and have to rent an apartment in Summerside just to get wifi if I could only get it in cavendish i could live rent free. This has been an ongoing issue in cavendish as well I’m not sure why it’s so hard to get good wifi in pei!
Hi there, I am on this plan
Hi there, I am on this plan for 49.95 a month unlimited internet plan, and I just received a bill dated June 9, 2021 for this amount $8,676.75 and someone else in my area, received a bill dated June 9, 2021 for $1865.00.
Does anyone else have any issues?
FYI the month of my June 9, 2021 billing I used half the data than usual.
How can this be?
Patti
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