this is tough, however it will depend on the use you give to your phone. If you are a light user, you may be fine with a prepaid service by Fido (because it has per second billing)
However, it varies greately.
Recently VIRGIN MOBILE came to Canada and I have heard that it works for some people.
I hope this helps
I was with Fido for many years and recently changed to Bell because of a family pack in which you share the minutes with others who reside in the same address and billing account.
I definitely recommend you to read the fine print of all the carriers because the promotions and packages change quite frequently.
It depends on the coverage, how much are you willing to pay for it, the flexibility to reload your account, the frequency, the system (GPRS/GSM vs. CDMA), etc.
Rogers offer a great selection of phones. Perhaps the best in Canada. they are pricey and they want you to sign a 2 year agreement (not prepaid). Buying prepaid you have to pay a lot of money on the handset. If you come from Europe and have a GSM phone, it may actually work in the Rogers/Fido network (only if it is unblocked)
Fido... perhaps the most affordable at the beginning, but later the per minute options are more expensive
Bell. They have a package called 'Solo' that is good priced and the per minute basis is good. You should choose bell only if you are planning to stay in Canada or travel with your phone to the USA. The use of CDMA limits the international roaming posibilities.
Telus: do not bother unless you are in Alberta or British Columbia. They have very limited coverage.
It is a never ending nightmare. I have had Bell Mobility for 1 year (I am locked in a two year contract) and I must say that I have had at least 2 problems per month which means visits to the Bell World Stores or being on the phone for hours waiting for help
is any of these cell phone carriers offering an extended voice mail? it is really annoying that I can only have 12-15 voicemails with Rogers, Bell and Fido. is Telus like that?
What if I want to buy a timed voice mail; let's say 20 minutes, 1 hour, etc.? are there any options in Canada?
Fido's per second billing will save you a bundle. I used to have fido, but switched to Telus because at the time Fido's coverage was very poor. Your phone would only work within major cities. No servoice on the highways. Since rogers bought them though, they run on rogers towers as well, so coverage has greatly improved.
Per second billing can save you a ton of minutes on your phone. Especially if you make a lot of quick calls, as opposed to a small number of long calls.
As for getting service in Europe, It a non issue for 99% of people. With the cost of roaming charges in Europe, you prpbably wont want to be using your phone there anyways. Better off renting one locally.
No matter what, the service level of all these companies is pathetic. If you do a lot of international travel to Europe/Asia/South America, you should go with Rogers/Fido. They have the only GSM networks in Canada. If you are focused mostly in North America, any carrier will be about the same
I have been with fido for 8 years. I am very happy with their service, coverage area and products. I have had some problems but that is to be expected with the timeframe. Great customer service!
please clarify.
in any case, in Canada the answer is "it depends" if you are an enterprise with a lot of international travel to Europe/Asia, you are by far best covered with Rogers (GSM). If your travel is within North America, then you can live with Rogers, Bell, Telus, Alliant, etc. (depending on where you live).
Fido and Solo are brands/offerings for entry level users, so depending on your call volume, those may actually be pretty good deals.
Ok listen to me and listen to me carefully. Fido is by the far the best in Canada. Do not and try and cut corners. Go on ebay and buy a 300 dollars unlocked phone. Top of the line!! you wont have any problems.
I suggest the Sony ericsson k750i. THE BEST. Trust me!
Now top 3 reasons why fido is the best.
1. When u change phones you can do it just by removing the sim. Bell Telus charges you 25 dollars to switch the service to an other phone.
2.The deals on fido puts everyone else to shame.
3. You can transfer ALL your phonebook using ur sim. Bell Telus u got to do it manuly one by one.
If you choose a prepaid phone, are you charged for incoming calls, for example from Europe? Calling from Europe to North American Cell Phones is so cheap, there must be a trick ...
Thanks, Axel
I have just moved to St. John´s Newfoundland... I know the companies in here are Alliant and Rogers.
Please tell me which is better!! I´m planning to move in 1 year to Toronto or Montreal... so I need to get one cell phone company that works good everywhere!!
-20c per/min local. Long distance calls within Canada and the US are 30 cents per minute.
-Texting 5c incoming and outgoing.
-$25, $50, $75, $100 top-up denominations. Each lasts for 365 days (with other services you have to refill every 2-3 months, and unused credit expires).
-No access fee (but 99 cents per month for 911)
I have been with rogers for about 2 years now and i've had horrible coverage (I live in the edmonton area) i've even tried a new phone but the coverage is still just as bad. I'm planning on switching to telus or virgin mobile
Compared to even third world countries the services are both poorer and more expensive.
You can get a prepaid account in Pakistan for free (the sim and activation) and you are billed something like 2 cents per minute for both local calls and calls to europe. Text is half a cent per text. Compare that to 35 cents per minute in Canada and the international rates are in couple of dollars range per minute.
As an international traveller I can tell you what the previous poster said was correct. You can easily get prepaid service anywhere in Europe from about 5c - 10c per minute. You are only charged outgoing calls/texts. Being charged for incoming is a very sick joke. Plus I don't think that there is anywhere now in the EU without coverage. You really need to pressure your Canadian/US providers to give better/cheaper services.
been with fido for 3 years,, and i agree the deals are quite awesome. i pay 40-55 bucks a month for 100 weekday mins. 1000 weekend and eve, and UNLIMITED incoming calls. plus unlimited browsing,Expanded Voice mail with 2500 texts(unlimted in my eyes) and you dont get charged for incoming. service is great along major highways. and you can add Expanded network option for 5 bucks a month. and evenings start 1 hr sooner then Most other companies
also with fido you get what they call FIDO dollars.. esentially its like canadian tire money. it takes a percentage of your bill each month and converts it to fido dollars which you can put towards a new handset or new devices. Higher the bill Higher the fido Dollars.
It worked great until my dog got a hold of it and just about half ate it. If he had any money I would make him pay for it. I guess I will have to go order another one.
i've been using rogers for 3 years now (on wireless/cable/internet), all the 3 services suck beyond my worst nightmare, i have to check rogers bill every month, to see if they have charged me with something that i didn't use and trust me there always is, i have friends who have worked in rogers and they tell me that the reason services are charged is because rogers doesn't have a billing check section, i use bell for home phone and have never had a problem with their bill.
besides rogers is really expensive!
