Motoring southern Canada, do U.S. Cingular plans include this?

We live in the States and have the Nationwide plan with mobile to mobile --
the wife and myself.
We plan to motor through southern Canada soon and wonder if you have any
suggestions to keep in touch at home -- buy one of those cell phones
by-the-minute at Walmart, once we get there? Buy minute usage cards that can
be used with the phones we already have?

I just looked at the Cingular coverage map for my plan and it's pretty clear
that nothing outside U.S. borders is covered with exception of Puerto Rico.
I wish I were wrong about this.

Len Miller

---

› See More: Motoring southern Canada, do U.S. Cingular plans include this?

On Wed, 11 Apr 2007 21:14:33 -0500, "Fatfreek"
<[email protected]> wrote in
<[email protected]>:

>We live in the States and have the Nationwide plan with mobile to mobile --
>the wife and myself.
>We plan to motor through southern Canada soon and wonder if you have any
>suggestions to keep in touch at home -- buy one of those cell phones
>by-the-minute at Walmart, once we get there? Buy minute usage cards that can
>be used with the phones we already have?
>
>I just looked at the Cingular coverage map for my plan and it's pretty clear
>that nothing outside U.S. borders is covered with exception of Puerto Rico.
>I wish I were wrong about this.

Cingular Canada $3.99 per month
59¢ per minute while roaming in Canada
19¢ per minute when calling from the U.S.

--
Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS:
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>

Fatfreek wrote:
> We live in the States and have the Nationwide plan with mobile to mobile --
> the wife and myself.
> We plan to motor through southern Canada soon and wonder if you have any
> suggestions to keep in touch at home -- buy one of those cell phones
> by-the-minute at Walmart, once we get there? Buy minute usage cards that can
> be used with the phones we already have?
>
> I just looked at the Cingular coverage map for my plan and it's pretty clear
> that nothing outside U.S. borders is covered with exception of Puerto Rico.
> I wish I were wrong about this.

What are the roaming rates? I see that they offer a plan where you pay
$3.99 per month and 59¢/minute. That seems very high. I was in Canada in
February on Verizon, and it was 69¢/minute roaming with no extra fee, or
they would have added Canada to my plan for $10/month unlimited.

Be careful about choosing a prepaid carrier because coverage is not
equal among all prepaid carriers, especially in Saskatchewan where you
really want CDMA/AMPS and not GSM. Alberta, BC, Ontario, and Quebec
havve good GSM coverage, though in some parts of western Alberta,
heading over from Lake Louise into BC, it was only AMPS.

This does not answer your quesstion. But I believe US Virgin Island is
also covered by Cinguilar if you have a nation wide plan.




--
mrcamp

On 2007-04-12, SMS <[email protected]> wrote:
> Fatfreek wrote:
>> We live in the States and have the Nationwide plan with mobile to mobile --
>> the wife and myself.
>> We plan to motor through southern Canada soon and wonder if you have any
>> suggestions to keep in touch at home -- buy one of those cell phones
>> by-the-minute at Walmart, once we get there? Buy minute usage cards that can
>> be used with the phones we already have?
>>
>> I just looked at the Cingular coverage map for my plan and it's pretty clear
>> that nothing outside U.S. borders is covered with exception of Puerto Rico.
>> I wish I were wrong about this.
>
> What are the roaming rates? I see that they offer a plan where you pay
> $3.99 per month and 59¢/minute. That seems very high. I was in Canada in
> February on Verizon, and it was 69¢/minute roaming with no extra fee, or
> they would have added Canada to my plan for $10/month unlimited.

The $10/month at Verizon required a contract extension, right? I'm pretty
sure you can add the $3.99 plan for a month and then drop it with no
other damage, so the Cingular rates are to your advantage if you spend
more than 40 minutes on the phone. Verizon does have good deals for
Canada and Mexico, but only if you travel frequently.

> Be careful about choosing a prepaid carrier because coverage is not
> equal among all prepaid carriers, especially in Saskatchewan where you
> really want CDMA/AMPS and not GSM. Alberta, BC, Ontario, and Quebec
> havve good GSM coverage, though in some parts of western Alberta,
> heading over from Lake Louise into BC, it was only AMPS.

?? I wouldn't be too concerned about visiting Saskatchewan with a GSM
phone, you can drive through on the main highways and visit the bigger
cities with continuous GSM coverage. The biggest problem for GSM is in
Ontario, in particular the 700 miles from the Manitoba border to
Sault Ste Marie where, as far as I know, there is no GSM at all outside
Thunder Bay and its suburbs (I have a relative in Marathon, Ontario, on
the north shore of Lake Superior. They only got cell phone service in 2000,
and it was AMPS-only until a couple of years ago).

In any case, for the original poster, the GSM operator in Canada is
Rogers, here:

http://www.shoprogers.com/store/wireless/overview.asp

I see their shops all over the place, you can drop into one when you
get to Canada and buy a SIM if you want one. Rogers' rates for US calls
are quite awful, but you can buy calling cards for US calls that are
a penny or so per minute if you can stand to type all the numbers to
make calls.

Dennis Ferguson

Thanks for those tips, Dennis.

"Dennis Ferguson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On 2007-04-12, SMS <[email protected]> wrote:
> > Fatfreek wrote:
> >> We live in the States and have the Nationwide plan with mobile to
mobile --
> >> the wife and myself.
> >> We plan to motor through southern Canada soon and wonder if you have
any
> >> suggestions to keep in touch at home -- buy one of those cell phones
> >> by-the-minute at Walmart, once we get there? Buy minute usage cards
that can
> >> be used with the phones we already have?
> >>
> >> I just looked at the Cingular coverage map for my plan and it's pretty
clear
> >> that nothing outside U.S. borders is covered with exception of Puerto
Rico.
> >> I wish I were wrong about this.
> >
> > What are the roaming rates? I see that they offer a plan where you pay
> > $3.99 per month and 59¢/minute. That seems very high. I was in Canada in
> > February on Verizon, and it was 69¢/minute roaming with no extra fee, or
> > they would have added Canada to my plan for $10/month unlimited.
>
> The $10/month at Verizon required a contract extension, right? I'm pretty
> sure you can add the $3.99 plan for a month and then drop it with no
> other damage, so the Cingular rates are to your advantage if you spend
> more than 40 minutes on the phone. Verizon does have good deals for
> Canada and Mexico, but only if you travel frequently.
>
> > Be careful about choosing a prepaid carrier because coverage is not
> > equal among all prepaid carriers, especially in Saskatchewan where you
> > really want CDMA/AMPS and not GSM. Alberta, BC, Ontario, and Quebec
> > havve good GSM coverage, though in some parts of western Alberta,
> > heading over from Lake Louise into BC, it was only AMPS.
>
> ?? I wouldn't be too concerned about visiting Saskatchewan with a GSM
> phone, you can drive through on the main highways and visit the bigger
> cities with continuous GSM coverage. The biggest problem for GSM is in
> Ontario, in particular the 700 miles from the Manitoba border to
> Sault Ste Marie where, as far as I know, there is no GSM at all outside
> Thunder Bay and its suburbs (I have a relative in Marathon, Ontario, on
> the north shore of Lake Superior. They only got cell phone service in
2000,
> and it was AMPS-only until a couple of years ago).
>
> In any case, for the original poster, the GSM operator in Canada is
> Rogers, here:
>
> http://www.shoprogers.com/store/wireless/overview.asp
>
> I see their shops all over the place, you can drop into one when you
> get to Canada and buy a SIM if you want one. Rogers' rates for US calls
> are quite awful, but you can buy calling cards for US calls that are
> a penny or so per minute if you can stand to type all the numbers to
> make calls.
>
> Dennis Ferguson

Can someone tell me more about the "$10 unlimited plan" at Verizon? I would consider switching if it's still available.

On 2007-06-05, breakaway <[email protected]> wrote:
> Can someone tell me more about the "$10 unlimited plan" at Verizon? I
> would consider switching if it's still available.

You'll need to phone Verizon customer service to ask about it, they have
never advertised that plan. They did advertise the North America's Choice
plan offering free calls to and roaming in Canada and Mexico for $20/month
more than a more-or-less equivalent US-only plan, but they stopped offering
this a couple of weeks ago.

If you needed it the NAC plan was the one really great bargain on the
Verizon price list. Now that it is gone there are no bargains on the
advertised Verizon price list, though I don't know if an unadvertised
Canada-only plan is still available. You need to phone and ask.

Dennis Ferguson

Originally Posted by Dennis Ferguson

On 2007-06-05, breakaway <[email protected]> wrote:
> Can someone tell me more about the "$10 unlimited plan" at Verizon? I
> would consider switching if it's still available.

You'll need to phone Verizon customer service to ask about it, they have
never advertised that plan. They did advertise the North America's Choice
plan offering free calls to and roaming in Canada and Mexico for $20/month
more than a more-or-less equivalent US-only plan, but they stopped offering
this a couple of weeks ago.

If you needed it the NAC plan was the one really great bargain on the
Verizon price list. Now that it is gone there are no bargains on the
advertised Verizon price list, though I don't know if an unadvertised
Canada-only plan is still available. You need to phone and ask.

Dennis Ferguson

I called Verizon Customer Service and there is no plan for calls to and from Canada.

breakaway wrote:
> Can someone tell me more about the "$10 unlimited plan" at Verizon? I
> would consider switching if it's still available.

It was recently discontinued. Too bad.