Ask LJ: Phone?

[lightcastle]

With the CRTC preventing new competition for phones here in Canada, it seems silly for me to continue on the pay-as-you-go plan.

That said, does anyone have suggestions for who I should go with? Fido is fine, but the best deals there are city-based and I would like to have decent options to call and be called by the handful of Americans who would bother. If one of those plans that are unlimited for 5 people could include the US, it would probably cover it.

Anyone have recent cell-in-Canada advice I should keep in mind while doing my research?

Comments

[hypatia]

as i've said before, you can move to a postpaid plan without signing up for a contract. they will pressure you to, but they will eventually sign you up sans contract.

[lightcastle]

It looks like Fido has no plan that would give me any deal on US calls, though. :(

[hypatia]

get a plan with unlimited incoming, then use a callback service. and google voice for US SMS :)

[lightcastle]

Can't sign up for google voice even with my invoice, as I am in Canada. (I suppose I could learn how to make it appear I am not.)

Unlimited US incoming? Never heard of one, but I'll see if such a thing exists. :)

[hypatia]

for google voice, you just need to be able to recieve a call or a text on a US number to make it work. so next time you're in the US, set it up then.

and i didn't mean "unlimited US incoming". you get an unlimited incoming plan via fido, and then a separate "callback" service from a third party.

there are zillions of such third party services. i'll have a look on redflagdeals and see what people are having good luck with these days.

[lightcastle]

I've always understood "unlimited incoming" to not apply to calls from across the border.

[hypatia]

in canada, incoming is incoming. doesn't matter where it's coming from. if you have minutes, a US call just costs regular minutes; if you have unlimited in, they are fwee.

the way callback services work is that you send a text or use a website or just call the number and they call you back (thus incoming) and you give them a number.. and they dial it for you. generally $10-$15/mo for unlimited can/US ld.

[lightcastle]

Interesting. That's good to know. I should tell my American peeps about that. (I am still fairly sure that it isn't how it works in the US.)

So the callback service works as follows?

I want to call my ex in the US. I call the callback service, they call my ex, and then call me? (So both she and I are getting "incoming" calls?)

[hypatia]

it doesn't cost me any more on my US cell to receive calls from canada (or europe) than it does from the US. i've never heard of that being the case anywhere in the world, in fact.

and yeah, that's how callback works, except that it calls you first, then her, to make sure you pick up :)

[lightcastle]

Hmm..
I must have had a plan that did that at some point, and assumed it was still the case.

Cool. That's decent info. Maybe I'll be able to cobble together something useful for me.

(It's all moot so long as I remain unemployed, of course.)