Cellular phone service in Canada

[tim_miami]

I'll be in Canada for about a week in September during my three week tour. Does anyone have any advice on how I can get cell service and preferably data service? Is it best to get a temporary/pre-paid SIM card? Does this exist? I have a Gen 1 iPhone with AT&T. I have done some research on the AT&T website but not much concrete info. AT&T is no longer in Canada. I'm looking for your experiences. I'll likely be entering Canada near Duluth and hopefully reenter in Maine.

 

[Pierre]

I am pretty sure you could buy a package from AT & T when coming to Canada. I am doing this with Bell Mobility ( biggest cellular company here) every time I am traveling to the US

 

[canucklehead-biker]

You'll get hit for some pretty significant roaming charges if you do data across the border... doesn't really matter whether itsa Canuck going south or an American coming north. You can most likely buy a minutes of airtime package from your regular provider before you cross over to avoid the roaming charges.

Depending on where in the country you are planning on being, cell coverage is either great, or virtually non-existant. If you're staying within a couple hundred miles of the US border or along major transprt routes further north (read SLAB) you should be ok for cell coverage. Check with AT&T for who they have their roaming agreements with for the area you plan on visiting.

Hope this helps, have fun up here in the Great White North

Griff

 

[MCML]

You might want to contact Rogers (roger.com, I think) who provides cell service in Canada. If you are roaming then "Rogers" will probably appear on your screen. I was just up that way and I, too, use AT&T. Service patterns were odd. My phone woked in Banff but I could not dial my voicemail. In Jasper something else odd was going on but I don't remember now what it was. I have not seen the bill yet so I cannot tell you what the $/minute was.

 

[Pierre]

Package from Bell Mobility to use a Cnd phone in the US, $ 40.00 Cnd for 100 minutes, good for 2 months.

 

[Silent]

I was in Calgary about a year ago and it was $.38 a min to use my cell phone. My minutes didn't apply. On the plus side, the coverage seemd good.

 

[tim_miami]

Thanks for the info all. Keep it coming.

 

[boogahboogah]

Just got back from a ride around Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, then back down the coast province of New Brunswick.

Verizon service was just fine, as long as I was close to a town of 3000+ people. Had to call my number to check for voicemail, data didn't flow automatically to the cell as it would've when in the US.

Haven't seen the bill for charges yet, but it shouldn't be too bad.

 

[FastJoyRide]

AT&T is the sister to Rogers so your coverage should be seamless when in Canada. The coverage in the Rockies is spotty as we have so little population base there (see comments re: Banff, Jasper above).

If you'll be near any major population centers your voice and data coverage should be excellent.

PM me if you need anything more specific - my Blackberry is a world machine and handles both data and voice everywhere I travel without need for add-ons.

 

[ahchiu]

I have Verizion, and they have a North America Plan that covers Canada I can change to that plan for the trip.

 

[Ignacio]

Also sometimes dependent on the phone...or the age of the phone. Last year my 3 year old Nokia wouldn't work even though I had pre-called AT&T to make sure it would work. Turns out they had locked the model when I had bought it new and would to have to follow an arcane sequence of unlocking it over the phone with a tech.....and naturally in an area with service....which I couldn't to until after I returned from Canada.

I lost that phone a month ago and now have a new one. I specifically asked AT&T as I had the phone setup if my account and the phone were unlocked for Canada. This time around I'm marginally more assured it's true, but will carry a phone card just in case the next time I ride in Canada.

 

[Bungie]

Good advice here. When I went south of the border for EOM I got dinged pretty good buy Rogers partners in the States. Something on the order of about $1.50 or so a minute. Naturally one night the gf got chatty. That call cost me like $40.

But, it did work everywhere I needed it too, and gave me piece of mind calling home to make sure Mom was okay (Shut In/Cancer).

 

[Rls]

My Alltel phone did not work in Canada, but the friend I was with did not have trouble with his ATT phone in Prince George last year. I am wondering with the Alltel/Verizen merger if my phone will work this summer?

 

[rickcorwn]

My Alltel phone did not work in Canada, but the friend I was with did not have trouble with his ATT phone in Prince George last year. I am wondering with the Alltel/Verizen merger if my phone will work this summer?

It's a good possibility but... it's hard to say right now. I work for the local phone Co. and was talking to one of the Verzion wireless techs the other day. They've got a lot of work to do the upgrade and convert the Alltel equipment to the Verizion network. That said the Verizion network works through several "partners" in Canada so that change could go faster than the local changes. I'd wait a month or two until your converted to Verizion and check with them then. I've got Verizion myself and just checked and I should be able to use my phone in Canada but there is a slight difference in dialing, I'll need to dial a 1 before the area code and number when calling back to the States or my voice mail.

 

[HIGHLANDER]

On my journey last year my Nextel ( sprint ) worked in Anchorage and Prince George only. Otherwise it was worthless. It picked up again as I reached the border.

 

[eg23232]

Your att phone will work fine without any changes. But if you plan on making lots of calls you should call att and get an international calling plan. You'll pay a one-time charge for the plan addition but the per minute rates will be much less. Then when you get back home you can call att and have the plan removed. I think the only issue is whether your phone is GSM, which is the network I believe is in Canada.

 

[FastJoyRide]

AT&T owns Rogers in Canada and they run GSM, gprs, GPRS, and "EDGE" (don't know what that is exactly but it will let any worldphone work on their network).

Some of us have already installed indoor plumbing too!

Your att phone will work fine without any changes. But if you plan on making lots of calls you should call att and get an international calling plan. You'll pay a one-time charge for the plan addition but the per minute rates will be much less. Then when you get back home you can call att and have the plan removed. I think the only issue is whether your phone is GSM, which is the network I believe is in Canada.

 

[Bungie]

Some of us have already installed indoor plumbing too!

Saaweeeeet!

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

FYI: this thread made me wonder about my (throwaway) Tracfone cellphone. Although Tracfone has an international plan to make/receive calls while the phone is in the US, they DO NOT work outside US borders. Confirmed by email to customer service.