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Hi everyone,

one of my friends will stay in Toronto for a year and wants to get a pay and go phone.

Even with iPhones, BB's, symbian and WM phones, emails in Japanese do not always transmit perfectly. Not sure why,,,,

so I think my friend will want a basic phone, text messages and perhaps that's it!

I am not sure that she wants to use mobile internet etc but I will ask her tomorrow!

Any advice is much appreciated!

Ofiaich
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Posted: 2010-03-30 00:33:42
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First off I'd like to say welcome to your friend arriving in Toronto; I'm sure she'll have a great experience here.

Some specific Tips first!
1. Always use the buddy system when going out on adventures! Always let others know where she's going. Unfortunately a girl that just moved to Toronto last fall/winter '09 went missing last seen going to highschool and all they've found so far is her knapsack and a scarf.
2. When using any phone especially for Chinese/Japanese/French or just about any language that uses what I call special characters there is a specific setting within SMS called "Data Coding". Data Coding usually equals "7-bit" for English; but for special characters with accents or whatever their called will need "UCS2" coding.

Now as for Pay-As-You-Go or PayGo options ALL providers have them: Rogers Wireless, Fido, Bell Mobility, Telus Mobility, Wind Mobile, (some new one I've seen the past 2 wks cannot recall the name), Koodoo, and ...

1. Rogers Wireless & Bell Mobility (not so great options in phones or costs); These providers concentrate their parent company on contracts for the best options.
2. Telus another major player also focus' on contracts BUT has a UNIQUE offering which I'll get to in a moment! Great selection in Pay&Talk phones (PayGO).
3. Fido HAD a unique offering called CityFido which was a all you can talk/sms/mms anywhere in Canada but its gone. It may return. Their selection of phones cater mostly to feature phones and they have the best sms rate internationally but not by a long margin. You'll notice this after 1000 sms/mth in 12mths though.
4. Koodoo brand [owned by Telus Mobility] is their back to basics brand to compete with Rogers' ownership of Fido. I'm not too familiar with that they have but their phone selection is similar to Fido's.

Something to note is Telus Mobility's unique offering. Unlimited LOCAL calling on your Birthday for both Pre-Paid (PayGo) and Post-Paid - no other provider does this for either services. Also their Pay&Talk allows for Unlimited Evenings & Weekends for local calling or Unlimited local daytime calling; more on this below. Yes on Telus you "CAN" use a smartphone on their HSPA network but they'll be reluctant to A) support it in Pay&Talk mode & B) allow you to put it in this mode; but if you have your own HSPA phone they wont refuse you.

Rogers Wireless' PayGo system will NOT allow any non Rogers branded Pay&Talk phone on that particular service - paranoia I guess. They do offer My5 for $25/mth which is NOT too shabby really.

Fido they're just about open & have a long standing userbase that loves their services and what they offer but since Rogers' ownership many things have changed so it depends.

Wind Mobile ... their a new player and don't use contracts, but their a month to month provider and only have Ottawa & Toronto as a service area.

Best to also understand how Local calling works. Say your friend gets a 416/647 for Toronto number. She gets a call from A) anyone in Toronto, or B) gets a call from someone in Vancouver (other side of Canada); as long as SHE is in Toronto its a local number. Now if she's in Vancouver and gets a call from B) someone in Vancouver while she's there its LOCAL, but if she gets a call from Toronto while in Vancouver its long distance [the network will look for her 416/647-123-1234 number and she's not in Toronto, it'll search the network of where she is and then route the call to wherever she is.

Ok sites for specifics on plans/rates etc.
NOTE: Telus, Bell, Koodo, and Virgin Mobile = ALL have CDMA phones for PayGo; even though they now also offer an HSPA network - usually its only for Contract phones/smartphones.
Telus Mobilty Home & Pay&Talk
Telus PrePaid Rates
Telus Pay&Talk Unlimited Add-Ons

Rogers PayAsYouGo
WOAH! Rogers offers Unlimited Evenings & Weekends TOO on PayGo?! SWEET!

WindMobile is month to month only.

VirginMobile Canada

Bell Mobility is a flash based site so you'll need to select Prepaid and Ontario for Toronto compatible rates.

Koodoo Mobile

Cheers.
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Posted: 2010-03-30 01:47:50
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Thanks Prom1!

That's brilliant information!

I will email it to her now and tell her of this link..!

She wants a simple pay and go, talk an text! Just spoke with her..

Ofiaich

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Posted: 2010-03-30 01:55:32
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Glad I can be of help; sorry it took me so long to find the info ... I actually learned a few things.

Oh yeah!
Another thing. When she comes over to Canada it may be best to see if her bank has a sister company to transfer her funds over. Most banks may have her wait at least 2wks before cashing a personal or work paycheque so warn her of this. HSBC is purely international, as is INGDirect. BMO is a great bank but its Canadian and thus conservative (just like Royal, TorontoDominion, and ScotiaBank).

Oh and have her lookup what she CAN take on the flight and what she cannot ... I haven't flown for over 20yrs so I have no clue what all this North American madness of USA's imposed Homeland Security has screwed with international travel.

Some great sites to visit:
Rogers Dome (formerly SkyDome), CNTower, AirCanada centre, etc. Law Society of Upper Canada (on the West side of Old City Hall, which is West of Eaton Centre).
clubs are at Queen & John/Peter Street to King St and up to Spadina from say York street.

I think its going to be 15 degrees on Wednesday with sunshine so it may be pleasant (for us natives that is lol).

Any other questions let me know. time here is 8:06PM Eastern Standard Time -5 from Greenwhich (we're in Daylight Savings Time).
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Posted: 2010-03-30 02:07:04
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thanks again Prom1!

Don't think Japanese use personal cheques! I will send this information to her!

edit - my friend has read all of your information and has printed it! She sends her thanks to you!

Ofiaich

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Posted: 2010-03-30 02:10:50
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