Scots_in_Canada

Hello
Our family is moving to Canada just before Christmas. My husband's job requires him to take/make international calls on his mobile. Has anyone found a decent plan in Canada for an international mobile phone service?
Many thanks!

Atlantic Xpat

You'll need to define exactly where you intend moving to for anyone to answer meaningfully as cell plans/providers do vary province to province. The obvious question is that if your husbands employer requires him to make and receive international calls then perhaps they should provide him the phone and pay for the plan? My job requires me to make and receive international calls. My cellphone is provided by the company and they pay the bill!

dbd33

I live near the OP's intended destination. Most of the calls I make on my phone are international ones though I find fewer and fewer people use voice for social or business communication so the volume of calls is much less than, say, fifteen years ago. The service is from Bell. It works well enough except that, if you make long calls, Bell interrupt to ask if it's really you. I don't suppose anyone replies "no, I'm not the account holder, I've stolen the phone".

If I only make one call a week, for half an hour, and it's to the UK, then the phone service costs around $250/month. Like car insurance, alcohol, banking and cheese, phones in Canada are expensive.

Jerseygirl

We use a phone card to call overseas. A $20 card gives us about 1,000 mins to the UK.

Siouxie

Ouch!

Freedom Mobile - either one of their plans or as an add on at $8 a month - International calls are 1c per minute to 200 destinations (including the UK). Calls to anywhere in Canada and the US (from your 'home zone') are included on the $49 and $59 plans, or up to 2500 minutes a month if in an 'away' zone.

https://www.freedommobile.ca/network...tional-calling

I agree though, if the employer requires them to make international calls then they should be picking up the bill.

Stinkypup

Not so much for business calls but we started using WhatsApp for texting and phoning, both verbal and video phoning family in the UK... Seems to work well. Just need your wireless data or your cell hooked up your usual plan or PAYG.

Well my mum has a weird inability to find the app when I want her to but stumbles across it when I don't. I got woken up by my current ringtone, the old Batman theme at high volume this morning, she didn't think that WhatsApp working

She calls it What's Up btw

dbd33

The problem with the fringe providers is service area both at home (and the OP is moving to a place that's marginal for service) and when roaming. Bell's data roaming works ok but it keeps disrupting the connection to ask for another $10, by the time one has reconnected it wants another $10, so the experience is like calling Australia from a call box and paying with two bob bits, except that there's no button B.

I should make it clear that I don't think Bell is a reputable company, I'm not giving a wholehearted endorsement; their billing is dodgy and opaque, there's no customer service, there website is baffling. I always feel cheated. However, the alternative is dealing with Rogers.

Engineer_abroad

We use Skype for all international calls, costs a fraction of using both a landline and mobile. I had to call the Halifax (building society) in UK the other week and a half hour call costs around $2.

Snowy560

WhatsApp/Vibee is becoming more and more "mainstream" for calling. You can use it on a data connection. Everyone who you're likely to be calling will have a cellphone and probably a work cellphone number.

I find it hard to believe even companies would rather pay Canadian cellphone international charges if there is a cheaper option.

Engineer_abroad

Out of interest does the other person need the app? As the OP will be calling businesses it can be quite awkward to ask someone else to download an app to talk to you.

One of the advantages with Skype is that you can top up an account and make calls to any number without the other persons needing Skype. if they do have the app (and it is more common now Microsoft has bought Skype and integrated it into office suite (old lync)) then it is free for Skype to Skype calls.

Snowy560

Yes the other person needs the App. What I'm betting though is that quite soon more and companies/people will regard it as "standard" like Skype. Perhaps there will be a paid version if there isn't one I haven't looked. I often ask clients who live abroad if they're on WhatsApp and they usually are.

Engineer_abroad

You must have a young hip client base . If I asked half the geologists I deal with if they had whatapp they would probably think I was doing the Budweiser add from a few years ago.

dbd33

We are not as far into the country as the OP is planning to be and we do not have a quality of service on the phone to support either Skype or WhatsApp for voice. These services in marginal areas are ok if you're talking to a friend but, on a business call, it's not really ok to keep apologizing for being on a cell and calling back repeatedly; the customer may just decide to deal with someone who has a rotary phone on the wall.

Partially discharged

$250 per month for a cell !!!!! what features does your phone provide.? There is no shame in negotiating for a better deal. As per other posters suggestions there are lots of calling cards that you get a better deal on international cards. I don't have a card but literally all calls to the UK are via Skype or Facetime. I did have to make a call to France recently and needed to do it via an Iphone and the cost was only $0.10/minute.

Choosing between Rogers or Bell is like asking if you would prefer to die via lethal injection or a firing squad.

Snowy560

EA: Not really I have clients in their mid forties.

Essentially, if you have a work (smart) cellphone there's no reason you can't use WhatsApp or Viber for contacting people in the context of work.

It's an option. Doesn't have to rule out a non data required call but could save a lot of money.