[pydry]

>there’s no such thing as “$0 phone on 3 year term” in Canada anymore.

Why is that a bad thing?

When carriers subsidize phones the price is inevitably higher overall. It's little different to those $1100 now or "$100 per month for 12 months" ads.

[bennybob]

Of course it is, they are financing your phone which costs money. You are paying extra for the risk, inflation and interest.

[pydry]

Except it doesn't cost that much. It's mostly profit margin. You're paying extra for the illusion of free.

[cameronh90]

My Pixel 2 was actually cheaper through EE in the UK than it was to buy it SIM free.

It's never happened before or since.

[pydry]

When I worked in the travel industry some luxury hotels would agree to do deals where heavily discounted hotels would be bundled with flights.

They wanted to sell at < £X without the appearance of having sold a premium product so cheaply. Bundling with the flight hid the cost.

It's possible this happens occasionally for phones but I doubt it's common.