mobile/cell phone card

"Jo" wrote in message
...
now I have even more questions :-)) what is the best system in Canada and
the USA if it is not the gsm system ? Didn't know there was another one.
So
if I buy my card in Vancouver I will get local call rate in Vancouver and
long distance for example in Banff, is that right ? I won't be giving my
number so won't have to pay for incoming calls at least.

If you look he-
http://www.fido.ca/portal/en/packages/canadaCover.shtml

You will be able to look at Canadian coverage maps. GSM coverage can be
patchy at best. Major cities have the best coverage, but rural areas can be
dead zones. Most residents still seem to have analogue phones.

"Jo" wrote in message
...
now I have even more questions :-)) what is the best system in Canada and
the USA if it is not the gsm system ? Didn't know there was another one.
So
if I buy my card in Vancouver I will get local call rate in Vancouver and
long distance for example in Banff, is that right ? I won't be giving my
number so won't have to pay for incoming calls at least.

If you look he-
http://www.fido.ca/portal/en/packages/canadaCover.shtml

You will be able to look at Canadian coverage maps. GSM coverage can be
patchy at best. Major cities have the best coverage, but rural areas can be
dead zones. Most residents still seem to have analogue phones.

thanks, that sounds good. Will have to find the nearest fido shop. Is it a
mobile phone shop ? Would I find them easily ? We'll be staying on Granville
Island.

Joanne

"Mike O'sullivan" a écrit dans le message de
news: ...

"Jo" wrote in message
...
THANKS Mike, does that include any calls at all ? Or are they extra ?

Joanne

I seem to recall that the SIM was $25 including instant activation, and
that
I bought a $15 airtime voucher, giving, I think, 150 minutes. Plus tax it
came to just over $45.

thanks, that sounds good. Will have to find the nearest fido shop. Is it a
mobile phone shop ? Would I find them easily ? We'll be staying on Granville
Island.

Joanne

"Mike O'sullivan" a écrit dans le message de
news: ...

"Jo" wrote in message
...
THANKS Mike, does that include any calls at all ? Or are they extra ?

Joanne

I seem to recall that the SIM was $25 including instant activation, and
that
I bought a $15 airtime voucher, giving, I think, 150 minutes. Plus tax it
came to just over $45.

thanks to all of your for your help, I checked the coverage and we would be
out of reach most of time while travelling from Vancouver to the Rockies so
there is not much point in getting the card. I will just hope that there are
lots of public phones around when we need them and make sure I have lots of
quarters, I hope this is still what is used in a public phone.

Joanne

If you look he-
http://www.fido.ca/portal/en/packages/canadaCover.shtml

You will be able to look at Canadian coverage maps. GSM coverage can be
patchy at best. Major cities have the best coverage, but rural areas can
be
dead zones. Most residents still seem to have analogue phones.

thanks to all of your for your help, I checked the coverage and we would be
out of reach most of time while travelling from Vancouver to the Rockies so
there is not much point in getting the card. I will just hope that there are
lots of public phones around when we need them and make sure I have lots of
quarters, I hope this is still what is used in a public phone.

Joanne

If you look he-
http://www.fido.ca/portal/en/packages/canadaCover.shtml

You will be able to look at Canadian coverage maps. GSM coverage can be
patchy at best. Major cities have the best coverage, but rural areas can
be
dead zones. Most residents still seem to have analogue phones.

"Jo" wrote in message
...
thanks to all of your for your help, I checked the coverage and we would
be
out of reach most of time while travelling from Vancouver to the Rockies
so
there is not much point in getting the card. I will just hope that there
are
lots of public phones around when we need them and make sure I have lots
of
quarters, I hope this is still what is used in a public phone.

Joanne

If you look he-
http://www.fido.ca/portal/en/packages/canadaCover.shtml

You will be able to look at Canadian coverage maps. GSM coverage can be
patchy at best. Major cities have the best coverage, but rural areas can
be
dead zones. Most residents still seem to have analogue phones.


Joanne,
I live near Vancouver and use Fido, which works well in urban areas. As
others have indicated, their GSM coverage is poor or nonexistent away from
big cities. When I took a cross-country driving trip through Canada a
couple of years ago, I purchased an inexpensive phone with prepaid (pay as
you go) service from http://www.rogersatt.ca which had much better coverage
and also allowed access to analog service. This phone worked well, even
through the Canadian Rockies. When I finished my trip, I sold the phone on
Ebay.

On Tue, 24 Aug 2004 10:53:19 -0500, jcoulter
wrote:

Most phone plans have free long distance so it isn't as much a problem as
it once was when long distance charges really ate things up. but it is
incoming and outgoing

However, these plans with free long distance are not usually useful to
a tourist as (1) they are usually annual contracts, which require a
fixed address and bank information; and (2) are not available for GSM
phones.

--------
Barbara Vaughan

My email address is my first initial followed by my last name at libero dot it.

On Tue, 24 Aug 2004 10:53:19 -0500, jcoulter
wrote:

Most phone plans have free long distance so it isn't as much a problem as
it once was when long distance charges really ate things up. but it is
incoming and outgoing

However, these plans with free long distance are not usually useful to
a tourist as (1) they are usually annual contracts, which require a
fixed address and bank information; and (2) are not available for GSM
phones.

--------
Barbara Vaughan

My email address is my first initial followed by my last name at libero dot it.

On Tue, 24 Aug 2004 23:05:03 +0200, "Jo"
wrote:

thanks to all of your for your help, I checked the coverage and we would be
out of reach most of time while travelling from Vancouver to the Rockies so
there is not much point in getting the card. I will just hope that there are
lots of public phones around when we need them and make sure I have lots of
quarters, I hope this is still what is used in a public phone.

When using public phones, you will be better off with a prepaid phone
card. You can usually get these in drug stores and grocery stores.
--------
Barbara Vaughan

My email address is my first initial followed by my last name at libero dot it.