Hello Tkane,
Firstly, you should note that Fido generally does not price match phones or plans and services on an individual basis. However, there have been occasions where they have offered special promotional plans in response to promotional plans offered by other providers.
To which other companies do you refer? As far as I am aware, the other flanker brand providers have similar device financing offerings on that phone as Fido. On the other hand, if you're referring to the advertised offers from the Big 3 providers, you should note that those offers might not be directly comparable. Those providers have introduced their own financing models (ie Rogers' Upfront Edge). Those models are akin to a lease model. Yes, the upfront costs and monthly fees are less costly, however, you don't actually own the phone at the end of the contract. Once the contract has ended, you would be required to return the phone (assuming its in adequate condition) or pay out the balance of the device. Fido does not offer a lease model for obtaining devices.
On the other hand Fido offers their devices using a financed model. At the end of the contract, you do own the phone. It's true those providers also offer a financed option which does not require an upfront cost. However, their monthly fees in that situation are usually more than that of Fido's option with upfront costs. Both financed options tend to result in similar total costs for the phone.
The exception would be Freedom. They appear to utilise both a Tab and subsidy model for their device offerings. However, their service offerings are not directly comparable since they are a regional provider.
The different providers offer different options for providing customers new high-cost devices. When comparing the different offers, it's important to make sure you're comparing similar offers. It's very unlikely that any mobile provider will offer a particular device at a significantly different cost than the other providers. It would be personal preference as to which option (ie financed, tab, lease, etc) suits them best.
Hope this helps 😀
Cheers
