Rogers and Fido aren't the only options for carriers for your iPhone in Canada. The other options are Petro Canada Mobility and 7 eleven Speakout Wireless. They are both GSM prepaid cell carriers that offer great rates. Their rates are far better than what Rogers or Fido offers for prepaid service. I just picked up a Petro Canada Mobile phone and sim for my sister in law to use on her iPhone when she is in Canada. Almost went with Rogers or Fido, but their service is pretty expensive and the options are limited for light phone users.
Here are the details on Petro Canada Mobility:
- 20 cents per minute anytime
- 5 cents to send or receive texts
- 10 cents extra per minute to call the USA
- Includes - caller ID, voicemail, call waiting, three way calling
- Airtime refills can be purchased in either $20, $50, or $100 denominations and expire 180 days later or 365 days later for the $100 option
Here are the details for 7 eleven speak out wireless:
- 20 cents per minute anytime
- 5 cents to send or receive texts
- 10 cents extra per minute to call the USA
- Includes - caller ID, voicemail, call waiting, three way calling
- Airtime refills can be purchases in either $10, $25, $50, or $100 denominations and all expire 365 dater later.
The problem with Petro or Speakout is that there is no data options so you will just have to use wifi. The other problem is that you cannot just buy a sim card from either carrier, you have to buy a phone. The cheapest phone from Petro Canada is $59 and is the Nokia 2610. The cheapest phone from Speakout is $75 and is the Nokia 1600. Both of these phones are terrible.
The good thing is that they are unlocked and you can sell them on ebay to recover your costs. Both of these carrier run on the Rogers network so there is no difference is coverage or service. Rogers charges 40 cents a minute for prepaid and Fido charges 30 cents. All of their refill cards expire in 30 days unless you buy a $100 card.
Petro or speakout will save you a lot of money in the long run. There probably isn't a lot of people using an iPhone on either one of these, but it is a good option. I hadn't even heard of either until a few days ago.
http://retail.petro-canada.ca/en/mobility/2303.aspx
http://www.speakoutwireless.ca/
Friday, May 2, 2008
Other carrier options
Posted by ruffdeezy at 3:27 AM
Labels: iPhone Canada, Tips
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4 comments:
If you buy a Petro/711 phone, is there an option to carry over your current cell phone number?
I remember someone saying the the sim cards that come with these phones are pre-programmed with numbers already.
You are able to port your number into petro. The number is assigned when you call into activate it. Petro's website details how to port in I think. I think 7-11 phones come with an assigned # but I believe you can also port your # in.
Hey great info, thanks for this!
No problem, it was kinda fun seeing "Petro Canada" pop up as the carrier.
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