Cell phone family plans across canada

[Brixxie]

Good Morning
quick question , how do you all keep in touch when your loved ones are away on course or training. My husband and I were sick of the phone cards and were thinking maybe (Bell or Rogers) had a family plan with their Cell phones we could use or are the prices to ridiculous. Im asking because of the shear frustration of waiting by the phone between 6-9 every night .(Ive missed a few calls ).

 

[Booked_Spice]

Hey,

When Hubby went on work up training, we bought him a cell from Bell. THey have military discounts. They also had unlimited incoming calls. All I  had to do is dial the roaming number for that area. I was charged the long distance on our home plan but it worked for us. I would check out Family plans too, because they have some great deals as well.

I hope this helps.

 

[Shamrock]

See about getting a landline installed in his room if he's going to Borden.  The cell coverage on base is horrible when the sun is up and merely crappy at night.

 

[Ansibomb]

Rogers family plans have 2500 between plan phone minutes on them free with the monthy charge.  Last i remember ( i work for the source part time) you also got

1. 3 Months of Unlimited Minutes and Messages < get one phone @your home and the other phone number for where the member will be>
2. First incoming minute FREE for up to 500 calls per month per account
3. 500 Canadian long distance minutes every month to be used between all members on the same account
4. Free Early Evening calling for the first 12 Months
5. FREE local calling between plan members <up to 2500 mins>

But these only apply if you sign up for 3 years.  30 dollars + 6.95 system fee + 50c 911 + long distance if over +taxes =about 50 bucks a month for 2 phones isn't that bad

 

[Brixxie]

thats a great plan service plan thanks !

 

[Spring_bok]

another thing to consider is a Mike phone from rogers or a 10-4 phone from bell.  These work like walky talkies within a cell phone and use a flat rate.

 

[GunnersGirl]

Rogers family plans have 2500 between plan phone minutes on them free with the monthy charge.  Last i remember ( i work for the source part time) you also got

1. 3 Months of Unlimited Minutes and Messages < get one phone @your home and the other phone number for where the member will be>
2. First incoming minute FREE for up to 500 calls per month per account
3. 500 Canadian long distance minutes every month to be used between all members on the same account
4. Free Early Evening calling for the first 12 Months
5. FREE local calling between plan members <up to 2500 mins>

But these only apply if you sign up for 3 years.  30 dollars + 6.95 system fee + 50c 911 + long distance if over +taxes =about 50 bucks a month for 2 phones isn't that bad

We have this plan and are very happy with it, every once in a while you can also get features added for a "free trial period".

 

[Strategic]

Me and my spouse got the Canada wide business share plane through Telus Mobility.
It cost $65 you get to share 200 minutes between both phones for calling other numbers but you call the phones in the plan for free as mush as you want.

The great thing about the Canada wide Business share plan is that there is no long distance charges at all. I have done a lot of research with different plans and companies when looking for cell phones. I am leaving for St Jean on the fourth of September and can now talk to my spouse any where in Canada as much as I want for free ($65)

We signed a tree year contract and got two phones for free the downside is that there is only 200 minuets to call other people. We got the phones to talk to each other but if we need more minuets we can increase the plan.

 

[George Wallace]

The question has been asked here and there about what is the best Cell Service Providers in locations, especially on a new Posting.  Is there one decent Provider that one can find that is providing the Service and Coverage that meets most expectations?

We have Bell serving many areas, but not all.
Aliant was a good provider in the Maritimes, but Bell bought them out recently.
Rogers provides service along with Cable and Internet to most locations.
Telus has fairly well become a national server.
SaskTel and MTS are fairly well only Provincial providers, or have they been gobbled up too?

Others would include:
Fido
Virgin Mobile
Kudo





And then I went and found a List of Canadian mobile phone companies only to find my list really is too large.

Who is be best Provider in your Region?

 

[SupersonicMax]

I am with Rogers and I have no problem whatsoever.  I've been with them forever.  The good thing is that they are pretty much all over Canada, and well, they are the only ones, along with the sister company, Fido, to offer service to the iPhone!

 

[Occam]

There's really no simple answer to the elusive question "Who is the best cell phone provider", George.  There are too many variables involved.

If you think about it, here are just a few of the factors that you have to look at:

- selection of handsets
- coverage areas
- included local minutes
- included long distance minutes
- phone features (caller ID, call waiting, voicemail, enhanced voicemail, etc.)
- text messaging plan costs
- data ("web browsing") plan costs
- perks such as "My 5", where you cite 5 phone numbers in Canada where you get preferred/unlimited rates for calling
- customer service quality
- bundle discounts with cable/landline/television services
- special pricing for military members

I could go on, but it's a super competitive market out there in the wireless world right now, and it's only going to get worse with new companies coming online.  What one really needs to do is to create a list of needs/wants/don't needs, and approach one of the retailers who represent multiple service providers, eg. Costco and any of the umpteen cell stores in your local shopping mall.  Take lots of notes.

For example, my wife and I were on a Rogers Family Plan, which ran us approx $60/month for both phones, 250 local minutes per month, and the basic text messaging plan.  We barely ran up 10 minutes of calling each per month.  We figured out we could migrate to Pay-As-You-Go, buy a $100 phone card each ($100 cards don't expire at the end of the month, they're good for a year), and get all sorts of features like call display and voicemail for free, pay $0.39/minute daytime and $0.01/minute eves and weekends (and all of our calling is eves and weekends), and come out hundreds of dollars to the good just by dumping the post-paid plan.  YMMV depending on your needs, as there are new companies coming out very shortly, and the existing companies are making some very attractive plans to lock you in for terms like 3 years before the new companies come online.

The list you posted from Wikipedia becomes a lot shorter when you know that the big wireless companies (Bell, Rogers, Telus) all offer a "bargain brand" of service  (Virgin/Solo, Fido, and Koodo/Mike, respectively).  PC Mobile is independent, but uses the Bell towers.

Short answer - you just have to shop around.  The cellular companies are just throwing too many carrots out there to point you in one direction without knowing a lot more about your cellular needs. And nope, I don't work for any of the companies, I just spent a lot of time shopping around after being puzzled about all the offerings out there.

 

[BlueJingo]

I agree Rogers is a good provider that is what our RC issues our Recr... and it works in the remote areas where other phones don't get a lot of reception. And the bills seem reasonable.

Telus SUCKS those stupid mike phones that were popular did not work in the remote areas of Petawawa or SSM! It was a horrible summer. Gave Cell Hell a whole new meaning. :troll:

 

[Bzzliteyr]

Here's a good site to use when looking to compare prices for cellphone plans:

http://www.cellphones.ca/

 

[jmbest]

Stay away from TELUS. They require you give them your first born AND second born.  :rage:

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Stay away from TELUS. They require you give them your first born AND second born.  :rage:

I've had nothing but good, inexpensive service from Telus for the last ten years.

 

[MJP]

I've had nothing but good, inexpensive service from Telus for the last ten years.

Aye I agree Telus has nothing but good for me.  The few problems I've had have been resolved fairly quickly and to my satisfaction.

 

[Kat Stevens]

The only real problem I had with Telus went away when I took my 17 year old daughter off my plan.

 

[Jorkapp]

No problems with Telus here either. Usually quick to solve any problems I've had, reception is pretty good just about anywhere, and prices aren't too bad.

 

[jmbest]

No problems with Telus here either. Usually quick to solve any problems I've had, reception is pretty good just about anywhere, and prices aren't too bad.

Sheesh! You guys are lucky!  ;D

I've heard good things about Fido and Rogers. Next phone for me will be with one of them.

 

[dangerboy]

I think it depends on where in Canda you are located.  When I was in Shilo you never heard good things about Rogers as they had the worst coverage, here in Wainwright the coverage is slightly better. The military cell phone I had which uses Telus I had coverage everywhere includding inside buildings; my own personal cell phone through Rogers is not as good and as soon as I enter buildings I lose signal.