[bylo]

Good to hear about your positive experiences with Fido. They're owned by Rogers, Canada's largest cell carrier, so they tend to have good coverage, especially in the "Golden Horseshoe" part of Ontario that you visited.

The reason why roaming is so expensive here is because Rogers/Fido is the only GSM carrier in Canada. They know that anyone who arrives here with a 850/1900 GSM phone is going to get their signal or nothing, so they charge whatever they like. It's only when you get back home and see your phone bill that you'd realize how badly they'd raped you. And what would you do then?

P.S. I was in Wales last summer with a 900/1900 phone. My experience in Pembrokeshire was that 900 coverage was very spotty along the coast. There were many areas even in St Davids or Fishguard when there was no signal. That's why I now have a quadband KRZR.