Canada: US person w/TMobile Blackberry visiting Canada looking for good SHORT TERM
 

Hello All! Thanks for the great posts throughout... i couldn't really find a solution after reading the various posts so i'm posting a new thread. thank you in advance for helping me out!

I'm a US person who will visit Canada for roughly 10 days and i'm using a US TMobile Blackberry Pearl 8100 on a US Tmobile plan with Blackberry service added on (obviously).

when i arrive in Canada for my vacation (vancouver, calgary, lake louise, banff, jasper), i expect and would like to be able to make many phone calls to the US, very few calls within Canada, and would prefer to have uninterrupted Blackberry service (but i can give up Blackberry service if i have to, if the long distance charges to the US is much lower).

as far as i can see, for Fido and Rogers, the per minute rates are both VERY HIGH to call from Canada to the US at roughly $0.30 per minute! ouch! it also doesn't mention Blackberry service on their "pre paid" part of their sites.

as a fallback, Plan "B" option, i can bring another Quad Band phone (HTC phone) and only use the Blackberry for emails but NO voicemails, but i have not figured out how to do that either. (PS: i did that in London where i did not accept any calls on my Blackberry Pearl, only used the Blackberry International service, and used my Quad band HTC phone for all outgoing calls)

Any advice on how / where to buy a SIM card and what plans to go for? Much appreciated!

btw, my first stop will be center of town Vancouver, so anywhere that is very close/convenient to that area for getting a SIM card would be most appreciated! (in Vancouver, we'll be near the Burrard and Georgia Streets area, fyi)

thank you all very much in advance!

While this site does not list the many GSM MVNOs in Canada, Wikepeida does have a pretty good discussion of the various offerings. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...hone_companies

Also, you can use a dial-around service like www.onesuite.com to call the U.S. fm. Canada for 2.5¢/min. (Use a local access number not the 800 number which would be 3.5¢)
The cost would be whatever you pay for airtime on your Canadian SIM plus 2.5¢.

...mike

thx! a couple of follow up questions for this newbie please:

1) what does "MVNO" mean?

2) what is the sound quality, connection reliability of onesuite.com? i don't mean like absolute reliability, but i don't want something like 1 out of 4 times, you don't get connected and/or the sound quality is so poor that it is distracting to the conversation.

thx in advance!

Mobile Virtual Network Operator: Someone who rebrands and sells someone else's product. Like Virgin Mobile, who actually sells Sprint service.

ok, i'm very fine with Onesuite.com now. i've tried it at "home" (usa) on both my land and cell and it works like a charm - probably the best discounted international long distance "calling card" i've ever used. high tech and easy to use once you set it up.

BIG PROBLEM: i've looked at Fido to get a Canadian SIM and a plan (there are 2 options: Pre paid and Monthly). the pre paid is VERY expensive on a per min basis so that's not good. the monthly is better, BUT THEY TOLD ME ON THE PHONE THAT THEY REQUIRE PROOF OF CANADIAN RESIDENCY and various other types of Canadian ID cards that i obviously don't have. please note that there is NOTHING at all devious going on here!! i'm a traveler going with my family from the USA to Canada to see the great outdoors and the mountains and water!

i can't get an international student card because i'm not a student.

i CAN opt for the online billing but it only is an option AFTER you get your monthly account.

ugh. how do i get a monthly plan then? btw, since i'll only be in Canada for 12 days, the cancellation period is 15 days so i can cancel before i leave.

any advice would be most appreciated!

thank you in advance.

PS: thx "Mike" aka Snidely for the advice on Onesuite.com. it is good. that solves the international long distance part of the equation but now, i have to have a SIM card and a plan!! i'll bring my own 2 phones: tmobile blackberry pearl 8100, and an unlocked quad band HTC phone. i'll only use the blackberry for the emails. the HTC quad band phone will be for voice.