A Koodo Customer Was Paying $65/Mo for Data He Never Used. Millions of Canadians Are in the Same Situation.
May 8, 2026 · Cellulo Team
A Koodo (Owned by TELUS) customer in Vancouver, BC came to Cellulo in April 2026 with a bill he had barely looked at in years. He was on the $65/mo 100GB Canada-US plan. His actual monthly usage: 10 to 20GB.
He was paying for 80GB he never touched, every single month. And he was not alone.
Statistics Canada estimates over 34 million Canadians have active wireless subscriptions. Industry analysts consistently find that the majority of postpaid customers use less than half their plan's included data. Millions of Canadians are in exactly this situation right now -- on plans they outgrew in reverse, paying for data that resets to zero every billing cycle unused.
Two Problems on One Bill
His situation had two separate layers of overpaying compounding simultaneously.
First, the wrong plan tier. 100GB for a customer averaging 10-20GB per month means paying for roughly 80GB that disappears every month without being used. At current Koodo pricing, the difference between a 100GB plan and a 60GB plan is $10/mo. For a customer consistently under 20GB, even 60GB is more than double what he actually needs.
Second, the autopay discount was sitting unclaimed. Koodo offers a $10/mo discount for customers on automatic payments. He was not enrolled. That is $120/year paid for no reason other than not knowing the discount existed. It was available to him the entire time.
Neither of these problems required him to switch carriers. Both were fixable on the same network, with the same number, in five minutes.
The $25 Plan He Never Knew About
When Cellulo showed him what had been available at the end of March 2026, he was frustrated.
During Koodo's end-of-quarter flash sale, an 80GB Canada-US-Mexico plan was available for $25/mo -- $40/mo less than what he was paying at the time. That window lasted roughly two weeks and closed March 31. He was still on his $65/mo plan the entire time it was open, completely unaware.
Had he been comparing in March, he could have locked in $25/mo for an 80GB plan with North American roaming -- saving $40/mo or $480/year. That is not a rounding error. That is a flight, a weekend trip, or four months of groceries.
He did not miss it because he was not paying attention. He missed it because Koodo was never going to call him to offer it. Carriers make more money from customers who do not compare. The flash sale was designed for new activations and switchers -- not for loyal customers quietly paying full price.
This is how the Canadian wireless industry works. The best prices go to people who are actively looking. Everyone else subsidises them.
What He Switched To
His ideal plan based on actual usage is a 20GB plan -- he was averaging 10-20GB per month with no regular US travel. But the 60GB Canada-only plan at $45/mo with autopay is the safer right-size, giving him three times his average usage as a buffer without the US roaming feature he was paying for but not using.
| Before | After | |
|---|---|---|
| Plan | 100GB CAN-US | 60GB Canada-only |
| Autopay | No | Yes |
| Monthly cost | $65/mo | $45/mo |
| Monthly saving | -- | $20/mo |
| Annual saving | -- | $240/year |
| Data used monthly | 10-20GB | 10-20GB |
| Data included | 100GB | 60GB |
He switched. His next bill will be $45/mo. And he asked Cellulo to notify him when the next flash sale appears.
How Many Canadians Are in the Same Situation
This is not a niche edge case. It is the default outcome for anyone who signed up for a plan a few years ago and has not revisited it since.
Rogers reported in its Q1 2026 earnings that average revenue per user was $55.60 -- up from lower figures in prior years, reflecting years of customers sitting on plans without comparing. Koodo, Fido, and Virgin Plus all have significant bases of customers on plans that predate the current pricing environment by two or three years. Those customers are paying 2022 prices in a 2026 market.
The gap is real. A Koodo customer on a legacy $65/mo plan who switches to the current $45/mo equivalent saves $240/year. A customer who times that switch during a Q2 flash sale and locks in $25-35/mo saves $360-480/year. Multiply that across the millions of Canadians on legacy plans and the aggregate overpayment is staggering.
Carriers are not going to fix this voluntarily. The CRTC is removing barriers to switching -- fees gone by June 12, self-service cancellation coming by April 2027 -- but none of that tells you what the market looks like today or when the next window opens.
Check Your Own Bill Right Now
If you are on a Koodo, Fido, or Virgin Plus plan and have not compared recently, do two things:
Open your carrier app and check your actual data usage for the past three months. If you are consistently using less than half your plan's included data, you are on the wrong tier.
Check whether you are enrolled in autopay. Koodo's $10/mo discount and Fido's $5/mo discount apply to all eligible plans. If you are not enrolled, you are paying more than you need to for the plan you already have.
The Q2 window opens in late June -- historically the second-best flash sale period of the year. Compare your current plan now so you have a baseline, and check back at cellulo.ca when the June window opens. That is exactly what this customer asked us to do for him.