[PhotoJim]

I'm actually not that familiar with calling cards, but they are available at just about every little convenience store here, plus Wal-Mart and other department stores. Getting a rate below 5 cents a minute to call the UK should be easy.

You'll be okay enough with GSM 1900. If you really want to be a geek, get an unlocked dual- or quad-band phone that supports 850 and 1900 (or more). You can get them here really cheaply. The Nokia 6590i is a nice little candybar phone that people more or less give away used now, and it's dual band. Just make sure it's unlocked, or locked to Rogers so that you can use a Rogers or SpeakOut Wireless SIM.

SpeakOut seems to be the best prepaid GSM plan here right now. It's 20 cents Canadian a minute and has (I think) a one-year expiry (it's at least 180 days). Long distance is additional.

As an aside, I just want to make sure you know that inbound calling is different here than in the UK. Mobile phone numbers are regional numbers just like landline numbers are, and in fact are basicaly indistinguishable. The mobile phone owner pays for inbound calls (unless he has an unlimited plan). This also means that your friends in the UK can call you in Canada for the same rate they can call a landline, since the call is processed the same way. So depending on how you want to do your calling back home, it may be most efficient to have them call you. (You could send an SMS or make a one-minute call there to tell them to call.)