The first new cellular phone service to hit Metro Vancouver in 10 years is up and running. Wind Mobile promises rock bottom rates and top notch service. So, should you switch?

Kieran Bullen has been waiting since October for Wind Mobile to blow into Vancouver and bring lower prices with it.

"I could get unlimited nationwide calling for the price I am paying for 100 just-Vancouver minutes," Bullen said.

Wind's CEO Ken Campbell says Wind is offering local residents 50 per cent off their monthly fees for the first six months.

That means the $15 plan for 100 minutes costs you $7.50 for the first six months. The province-wide Unlimited $35 plan costs just $17.50. Unlimited Cross Canada calling, which is normally $45 dollars a month, is $22.50 until the end of the year.

"We believe we have (more) value in our plans than any provider in the market," Campbell said.

But you do have to buy a phone to use the plans.

The free coverage area included in the 100-minute plan starts out rather small. It stretches from Richmond to Horseshoe Bay and as far east as New Westminster. Call from outside the zone and you pay 25 cents per minute.

By the end of the year, the Vancouver zone will extend as far east as Langley and Maple Ridge and as far south as the border. But until that happens you'll pay 25 cents a minute to call from Surrey to Vancouver. .

The question now is will Wind's lower prices make other companies drop prices too?

Cellular expert Al Kilburn says Wind is just too small to effect that kind of change.

"The incumbents aren't running out worried and dropping their prices. I haven't seen that yet," Kilburn said.

The big companies have the advantage in product selection, coverage and service. And Wind admits it's had some growing pains, like dropped calls.

"I think people recognize it's not going to be perfect out of the gate, so it's about being responsive," Wind's chairman, Tony Lacavera said.

Wind says it consulted the public for more than a year on what they wanted and what they didn't want. But it may not have thought of everything. For the really cheap plan, Wind's competitors bill by the second, which makes your minutes last longer: Wind bills by the minute. Extra minutes are cheaper on Wind: just 10 cents. Its competitors are 35 cents.

Wind's parent company is Globalive. Its best known brand is Yak long distance. And if you've stayed in a hotel and noticed some company called Canopco has charged you for long distance on your phone bill, that's the same company too.

Bullen says he's getting the cheapest phone and plan to try out the coverage while he waits for his current plan with another carrier to expire

"I don't want to dive completely in with Wind if there are a few slight issues with the network and I'll see if those are smoothed out for the next few months," Bullen said.

With no contracts , Wind customers can flee to other cell phone companies if service is not what they expected, which puts pressure on Wind to deliver on its promises.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen