Major cell phone providers in Canada?

Question

I'm moving to Canada next year for work for about 1yr, and was just wanting some advice on some of the good mobile phone companies in Canada. I will be mostly based in Alberta and British Columbia but want one with a nationwide network. So my question is:

1) What are 2-3 of the major or largest, bestwell known providers

2) Which 1-2 are regarded as the cheapest (I will do a lot of texting back home and international calling)

3) Is Prepay service available in Canada?

Thanks

Answer 1

rogers is the best one

i think Fido is also good but umm rogers bought it if i am not mistaken

the thing with rogers is you call them and you have to know how to bargain with them until they give you the best deal

if that doesn't work....

try bell but bell i would consider it my second option ..not because they are not good but because i just prefer rogers better and also because rogers is so famous that they can give you free long distance to any other parts in canada

have fun working here ,eh

best wishes

Answer 2

The best coverage in Alberta & BC would be with either Telus or Bell.  I've had a Telus phone for many years, and have never had any trouble dealing with them.  Rogers' service area out West seems to be very limited.

Answer 3

1) Fido

2) Rogers

3) Telus

4) Bell

5) Virgin Mobile, Solo Mobile etc etc

For service in BC and AB, Telus is the best. Fido (which is owned by Rogers anyway) is by far the cheapest because they bill by the second, not by the minute. Fido/Rogers has good service throughout Canada. Bell is mainly in eastern Canada.

Prepay service is available with all the major carriers but Canadian cellphone rates are outrageous as compared to the rest of the developed world (hence why we don't have the iPhone here) so get a monthly package by signing a lease. It will save you money in the long run.

Answer 4

SAY NO TO ROGERS.  Especially if moving to Western Canada.  Rogers has the worst service area.  You cannot use their phones in many places in the Western provinces.

Try Telus or Bell.  They both have excellent coverage and both have pay as you go plans.  

You can go to the Bell Canada or Telus Mobility websites to check out prices, plans, and phones.  

Do not use Rogers please.  They are useless.

Answer 5

The three major service providers are Bell Mobility, Rogers Wireless and TELUS Mobility which cover the entire country.

Each one offers various levels of service, with or without a contract. Generally you pay more for the handset the shorter your contract is.

Prepaid service is offered by all three of the major carriers (along with Virgin wireless), and most have a cheaper offering through subsidiary companies. Such as:

http://www.fido.ca/ (this is a sub company of Rogers Wireless; inexpensive and provides good coverage in most major centres)

http://www.koodomobile.com/ (this is a newly released offering from TELUS Mobility. Very basic service; don't know much about it since it's so new).

If you want to check out various companies at once, try either of these sites http://www.cellphones.ca/ or http://www.mobileincanada.com/

Hope this helps.

Answer 6

Rogers:Rogers offers four different pay-as-you-go plans. The first has a rate of 30 cents per minute and has a $1 per day access fee. Unlimited nights and weekends (6 p.m. to 8 a.m.) are included. The second plan has a rate of 39 cents per minute during peak hours, and one cent per minute for night and weekend calls (8 p.m. to 8 a.m.). The third plan, the All Day Plan, is 25 cents per minute for the first 5 minutes used each day, and 15 cents per minute thereafter. Rates reset to 25 cents at midnight each day. Finally, the Anytime Plan is the simplest, offering rates of 40 cents per minute all day, every day. There is a $20 minimum refill on each plan except the Anytime Plan; the minimum on that plan is $10.

Telus:Usage is based on one minute call increments. 50¢ per call applies for all calls placed from public telephones. 2¢ per minute applies for all calls placed from the U.S. Calls terminating in northern British Columbia and the northern territories will be rated at 12¢ per minute. Additional charges apply for calls originating in these locations. Calls placed to overseas mobile phones may incur extra charges. Rates are subject to change without notice. Card is not refundable. There is no refund or replacement for lost or stolen cards, expired cards or unauthorized use.  Total liability is limited to the value of the card only. Use of the card indicates you have accepted the terms and conditions of the card.

http://www.telusprepaid.com/Prepaid/Easy...

Fido:$1 per day Unlimited incoming calls 30¢ per minute, outgoing calls $1 per day Unlimited evenings and weekends (evenings from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. and weekends from Friday 6 p.m. to Monday 8 a.m.) 30¢ per minute, weekdays 30¢ per minute, any time,20¢ per minute, any time 5¢ per minute

Evenings and weekends(evenings from 7 p.m. to 8 a.m. and weekends from Friday 7 p.m. to Monday 8 a.m.) 40¢ per minute, weekdays

Bell:http://www.bellprepaid.ca/en/rates/

Prepaid service is available in Canada

Answer 7

I'd just like to add that:

a)Telus is infamously awful.  The Telus Mobility people are slightly better than Telus internet/home phone, but still a complete nightmare to deal with.  I had a mobile with them for years and my family all still do and they can't get out of their contracts.  It also uses cell phone networks with infrastructure developed in the 90s, so the phones they can offer are total c**p.  They're so old that they don't even use SIM cards.  Brutal.

b)Prepaid phones are really expensive in Canada and if you're coming from the UK or Europe, as I would guess from your questions, you need to be aware that you DO pay for incoming calls, so prepaid is a huge rip off.  Because we have monopolies on cell phones in Canada there isn't really a concern with which network you use, more like which company has the best coverage for where you'll be.  Telus has wider coverage, but it can be patchy and did I mention they're a total nightmare to deal with?  Rogers is less complete off in the rural areas but has better city coverage.  

c)something you might want to consider is going on craigslist.org and finding someone to take over their contract if they have like a year left on it.  That will ensure that you get the best deal.  Just MAKE SURE how long you'd be committed for on the contract (ie phone the company, don't just talk to the person).  People do this quite a bit and it seems to work out well.  A guy from Germany took my contract last year while I was out of the country and it worked perfectly.  I took it back when I came back, which was right when he was leaving the country.