Travel to Vancouver Island

We will be spending two weeks on Vancouver Island in the Nanaimo,
Victoria and Ucluelet areas of BC. As a current Cingular subscriber
unless I change my plan it will cost me $0.79/minute to use our two
phones there. Cingular CS said they will unlock the phones and we could
get Sim cards there.

Has anyone done this? With what company? Any problems? Coverage?

We only travel there every couple of years and something permanent
doesn't seem to pencil out.

---

› See More: Travel to Vancouver Island

George H-S wrote:
> We will be spending two weeks on Vancouver Island in the Nanaimo,
> Victoria and Ucluelet areas of BC. As a current Cingular subscriber
> unless I change my plan it will cost me $0.79/minute to use our two
> phones there. Cingular CS said they will unlock the phones and we
> could get Sim cards there.
>
> Has anyone done this? With what company? Any problems? Coverage?
>
> We only travel there every couple of years and something permanent
> doesn't seem to pencil out.

There were two GSM service providers in Canada, Fido and Rogers. Roger
bought Fido last year, but they each seem to be using their own names.
At the URL below, you can chose BC, and then Victoria/Vancouver to see a
detailed coverage map. Fido has the dense urban coverage, and Rogers has
the suburban coverage. You get to use both.
http://www.fido.ca/portal/en/packages/canadaCover.shtml
Buy the one that's the better value, or more readily available, when you
arrive in Victoria.
http://www.fido.ca/portal/en/packages/prepaid.shtml You need only the
activation kit, with your unlocked Cingular phone. CA$25 You'll find
locations or buy by Canada Post here. One FIDO store and nineteen other
locations in Victoria.
http://www.fido.ca/portal/en/product/howtobuy.shtml

For Rogers, start here--and I'll let you do the legwork.
http://www.shoprogers.com/store/wire...er&Language=En

John C.

>>We will be spending two weeks on Vancouver Island in the Nanaimo,
>>Victoria and Ucluelet areas of BC. As a current Cingular subscriber
>>unless I change my plan it will cost me $0.79/minute to use our two
>>phones there. Cingular CS said they will unlock the phones and we could
>>get Sim cards there.
>>
>>Has anyone done this? With what company? Any problems? Coverage?

Coverage should be good in this area, as it's one of the more populous
areas of Canada. However, wireless in Canada is significantly more
expensive than it is in the United States, even with exchange rates
factored in. As of right now, 16/03/2005 at 1858 EST the exchange rate
is $1 USD = $1.2035 CAD, or $1 CAD = $0.8309 USD. If you might not use
it much, you might be better off using the occasional roaming minutes,
or switching to the North American plan (not publicized, but available)
which would give you anytime minutes, but no MTM or N/W minutes.

> As long as your phone is unlocked you can use either Rogers or Fido
> prepaid. I believe to buy the SIM is $25 and you just add minute
> vouchers which are commonly available at many convenience stores and
> the like.

Fido and Rogers are the same company...actually Microcell Connexions
(Fido) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rogers Wireless. Most likely in
the area you mentioned it will be the same coverage from either brand.

>
>>We only travel there every couple of years and something permanent
>>doesn't seem to pencil out.

Thank you all for the links and insights.

Thank you all for your links and insights.