- 09-18-2007, 04:03 AM #1Junior Member
- Location
- New Zealand
- Posts
- 17
I was in Canada in 2005. I had an unlocked Nokia that was NA compatible.
I bought a SIM card (via e-bay) and put it in the phone and I was away . . .
In 2007, I lent the phone to a fellow New Zealander, travelling to Canada.
I said that he should buy a SIM card from a Roger's shop and he'd be away.
It didn't work like that.
He was told there was a re-activation fee of over $CA100. He flagged the idea
and walked away.
The way GSM phones work in New Zealand is that any (local) GSM phone can
be 'activated' simply by putting a valid SIM card into it. Is that quite different
to NA/Canada? It seems so. Or was he unlucky and strike a klutz at the shop?
I don't want to lend the phone to any other compatriots who are NA-bound,
if it's just a waste of time and effort.
› See More: GSM - SIM - Phone - Rogers Query
- 09-18-2007, 01:38 PM #2Junior Member
- Location
- Canada
- Posts
- 8
Re: GSM - SIM - Phone - Rogers Query
as far as I know Perry, I'm in Canada with Rogers Wireless and I have had 2 cell phones now and all I have done is switched the sim cards between the two phones..no problems.
Too bad your friend ran into the 'klutz' at the Rogers store. You know he/she was just trying to spew the company line about the reactivation. Hope this helps.Last edited by everyman; 09-18-2007 at 01:45 PM.
- 09-18-2007, 02:49 PM #3Junior Member
- Location
- New Zealand
- Posts
- 17
Re: GSM - SIM - Phone - Rogers Query
OK - so that's much the same as over here.
If/when I get back, I bring the phone, call
into a Roger's store, buy a SIM card, put it
in the phone and away I go - right?
I presume the SIM card will have a 'local'
number? In NZ, there's no local/long distance
call differentiation. Calling in the same town
costs the same as calling anywhere else in
the country.
What's really odd is that when I needed
service from a Roger's store, the folk were
so helpful, it was almost embarrassing. (In
Kamloops). I wonder if there's quite a difference
between a Rogers Rogers shop and an agency/?
that's a semi-independent accredited retailer,
or the like?
All very odd.
Thanks for the insights.
- 09-21-2007, 03:25 AM #4
Re: GSM - SIM - Phone - Rogers Query
dun worry its happened to me before, sometimes those guys dont have a clue what they're talking about
- 09-21-2007, 08:55 AM #5Junior Member
- Location
- Canada
- Posts
- 8
Re: GSM - SIM - Phone - Rogers Query
Perry...
If you still have your SIM card from Rogers when you were in Canada last all you need to do to use it in your current Rogers locked/unlocked phone is just drop it in....there should be no calling Rogers, no activation, nothing!
But yes, if you have to buy a SIM card then you will have that added cost plus any costs associated with activation. The new SIM card comes with a local number. Long distance depends if you have have phone contract or not (pay-as-you-go).
Example...
I am a pay-as-you-go user, so if I call LD during the day it's 31 cents/min. + LD charges.
My paygo plan is 1 cent/min evenings (after 8pm) /weekends (8pm Friday till 8am Monday morning). You understand that LD charges are still on top of the 1 cent/min phone charges. So with me I make the majority of my calls weeknights and weekends.
Contract plans I have not looked into at all. Don't like the hassel of a bill every month.
Cheers.Last edited by everyman; 09-21-2007 at 09:21 AM.
- 09-22-2007, 02:35 AM #6Junior Member
- Location
- New Zealand
- Posts
- 17
Re: GSM - SIM - Phone - Rogers Query
OK - now I'm confused. I thought one's SIM card (and its associated
telephone number) 'died' after a period of inactivity. You seem to be
saying that's not the case. That the phone I have will still work with
it's [now] 2005-era SIM card. (Yes, it's still in the phone.)
Is it possible that any remaining credit expired, way back then, rather
than the number becoming obsolete and de-registered from Roger's
system? And, therefore, all one has to do (to make the phone and SIM
work) is buy a top-up card?
- 09-22-2007, 01:43 PM #7Junior Member
- Location
- Canada
- Posts
- 8
Re: GSM - SIM - Phone - Rogers Query
Perry...
"I thought one's SIM card (and its associated telephone number) 'died' after a period of inactivity." You are probably correct on this one Perry. When I replied last I forgot that your phone had not been used since 2005, and for me always keeping myself current, I had not ever run into this kind of problem before.
Any talk time/credits that you had on that phone in 2005 are definitely gone now. And because of the length of time that you have gone without using your phone it is probably deactivated by now as well. You might not have to buy a new SIM card tho...
My advise is, that if you are planning to return to Canada, buy some talk time first through a card or voucher. If the phone works your 'GOLDEN' right? :-). If they (Rogers) say that you have to activate again, then that's what you have to do. Hopefully it won't include having to buy another SIM card.
CheersLast edited by everyman; 09-22-2007 at 01:49 PM.
- 09-22-2007, 04:09 PM #8Junior Member
- Location
- New Zealand
- Posts
- 17
Re: GSM - SIM - Phone - Rogers Query
So it's the phone that gets de-activated, as well
as the unused SIM and its associated number?
How the hell do they do that? Via the ESN?
GSM in New Zealand seems to be independent of
the phone. Any GSM phone of any age will work
just fine, if one drops a valid SIM into it. An annual
minimum top-up of $NZ20 is all that's required to
keep the SIM and number valid.
If it becomes invalidated, the phone will be 'resurrected'
at any time, simply by purchasing a new SIM card (and
its associated number), pop it in the phone and away
one goes.
The competitors have a different system. The number
remains permanent. No top-up or use requirements
to maintain validity and the 'connection,' ever.
But they both screw us in other ways, of course.
E.g. no call charge difference between local and long-
distance. Every call is LD!
Which is probably the main reason that texting is so
prevalent and popular in NZ.
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