New Prepaid Gsm Canada

[PhotoJim]

Originally Posted by adam917

Does anyone know if SIMple Calling will roam on Bell or Telus when in Canada now that their network is live? Last time I was there (mid-September, Montreal) it could sometimes find 302-880 (Bell/Telus shared) during a scan but never register. This was before the new network(s) launched. If it can roam on the new network, that could mean great news if the coverage mirrors or betters existing CDMA coverage, where Rogers never got around to covering (such as all 3 territories, all of Newfoundland outside the St. John's area, all of Labrador, virtually all of rural Canada, etc.).

It took me three hours to drive from St. John's to Clarenville and I still had Rogers coverage, so this is a little inaccurate.

Now, mind, 10 minutes north of Clarenville I did lose signal. But Rogers covers the Avalon Peninsula quite well and then west and north to Clarenville. More is needed, I agree.

[adam917]

Originally Posted by PhotoJim

It took me three hours to drive from St. John's to Clarenville and I still had Rogers coverage, so this is a little inaccurate.

Now, mind, 10 minutes north of Clarenville I did lose signal. But Rogers covers the Avalon Peninsula quite well and then west and north to Clarenville. More is needed, I agree.

Oh I didn't know Clarenville was that far from St. John's. I did see the place on a Canadian tower map a while ago and based what I wrote earlier on the drivable distance from the North Sydney ferry that runs year-round. The majority of that distance (905 km, plus the ferry ride from North Sydney, Nova Scotia) Rogers users are without service. Most of the Newfoundland still doesn't have Rogers coverage.

[BLC]

In the space of 2 months Canada has gone from 1 GSM provider to 4 and another in the wings. Let's see what it does to prices in the next couple of months.

[PhotoJim]

Originally Posted by BLC

In the space of 2 months Canada has gone from 1 GSM provider to 4 and another in the wings. Let's see what it does to prices in the next couple of months.

I don't expect Bell and Telus having adopted 3G GSM will make much of a difference. Most customers don't care what technology the network uses as long as it does what they want. EvDO or HSPA, they generally don't care (unless they are on the former network and go to London and discover they have no service).

Now Wind/Globalive and DAVE Wireless will change things very much over time. Wind could be online this week.

[Effendi]

I updated the Canadian pages here:
PrePaidGSM: Canada
please let me know any corrections and/or updates, thanks.

[bylo]

Re 7-11 SpeakOut, some recent changes:

1. Outgoing SMS is 10¢. There doesn`t seem to be a surcharge for foreign SMS, but I haven`t confirmed it.

2. "you always pay incoming SMS too at the same rate as outgoing ones" Incoming SMS is now free.

3. "When you refill with CA$ 75 or 100 you get lower per minute rates at CA$ 0.20/min - € 0.13/min." This offer ends 31Dec09.

4. Data (not 3G!) is now available at $10/mon, ($7 until 31Jan10.)

5. "On the first day of each month, a CA$ 0.99 fee will be deducted..." Actually this happens on the anniversary of when the SIM was first used, e.g. if you started in 12Feb06 then the 911 fee is deducted on the 12th of each month.

Also, local calls on Petro-Canada are 25¢/min plus 20¢/min extra for LD.

Also, it`s not yet clear if the new entrants, DAVE and Wind, will offer prepaid service, at least initially. They seem to want to target mid and high-end users, e.g. those with BlackBerrys and iPhones with data plans. Neither has yet made any official announcements about their rates.

Thanks for doing a fine job with the thankless task of keeping all these minute (sorry for the pun) details up to date.

[Effendi]

Thanks to you for your precious help.
I updated the 2 MVNO pages. So today I didn't change just Rogers and Fido pages: are they still up to date?
If that's all let's wait to see if Wind and DAVE will offer something interesting for prepaid users too...

[VladS]

Originally Posted by Effendi

I updated the Canadian pages here:
PrePaidGSM: Canada
please let me know any corrections and/or updates, thanks.

Telus prepaid HSPA activation is C$59.99 ($9.99 for the SIM card and $50 for the prepaid activation kit). The initial credit is $50. There also a $35 activation fee (deducted from the intial credit) for phone or in-store activations. Online activations are free.

Telus coverage can be found at: Our new network*|* network*|* TELUS Mobility

Bell HSPA coverage map can be found at: Coverage and Travel- bell.ca Select HSPA/HSPA+ under coverage type.

The first Bell HSPA MVNO is Solo Mobile. The activation cost is $35 plus tax with no included credit. Prepaid plans are identical to the post paid ones.
Solo prepaid plans: http://www.solomobile.ca/Plans_Rates...ble/Rates.aspx
Solo prepaid: http://www.solomobile.ca/Plans_Rates...ute/Rates.aspx

Virgin Mobile Canada, another Bell MVNO is scheduled to start offering HSPA services Q1 2010.

[Effendi]

Originally Posted by VladS

The first Bell HSPA MVNO is Solo Mobile. The activation cost is $35 plus tax with no included credit.

on their website they write:

Originally Posted by Solo Mobile

When you sign up with a prepaid account we’ll start your account off with $25 - now you just have to decide how you want to top-up your account. Whether you have the Unbeatable Prepaid plan or the Prepaid by the Minute or Day plan, we know you’ll find a simple and convenient payment method that works for you.

Who is right?

[VladS]

Originally Posted by Effendi

on their website they write:

Who is right?

The Solo SIM card is $35 with no credit included. I take it they also ask for an initial $25 credit for prepaid activations.