Firstly, a big thank you to everyone who has replied to my numerous questions over the past few weeks, I am very grateful.

I have one more question...

I recently bought a Samsung T100 mobile phone. I am moving over to Alberta in May and was wondering if I would be able to use the handset over in Canada and just replace the Sim card with a Canadian network contract card or pay as you go card.

If anyone has any experiences please advise.

Cheers

No. Canadian and American networks do not support the GSM900/1800 frequency that your phone uses.

If you wanted to bring your UK phone you would need a tri-band phone. Even then I don't think you could get a Canadian SIM for it, you would only be able to operate it in a roaming capacity on your UK account.

Sorry!

Unlikely. As the previous poster says, North America is alone in the world with a different system. However, it's remotely possible you have a tri-band phone in which case it might work.

Also one mobile company here, Rogers AT&T is starting to switch over to GSM (which is the same as the European system). The feeling is that in fact North America will slowly switch over to GSM because at the moment it's the system that supports G3 technology.

G3 is the next wave of cell phones that will allow users to download and look at video pictures etc.

So get in touch with Rogers AT&T when you get here. They might be able to help. Otherwise I'm afraid you'll just have to start all over again.

There are four mobile companies in Canada: Bell, Telus, Rogers-AT&T and Fido. They offer pretty similar packages. Some pay and talk or prepaid plans don't allow roaming to the U.S.

Hi,
Sorry Bozlyone the T100 is not tri band. So it will not work in Canada. Not even txt mgs !!

Ted

Hello there,

Here is how to do it, simply get a second hand TRI-BAND phone from a computer fair or any other place that you know, and test it out there to make sure it works. If you can buy a new one, great but i don't see the point.

When i first came here in the mid 90s on vacation before i moved over, i brought a nokia with me, all i had to do was change the frequency at the airport here and put a local card in it.

Mind you, they charge for receiving call here, and for listening to your voice message. It bollocks in my opinion, they don't even have nationwide coverage. If you ring someone in Bellville from say Toronto, its classed as long distance, even though they are in the same flippin' province.

Just get yourself a good Nokia or any other tri-band that is good.

Here are the links to the mobile companies:

www.bellmobility.ca

www.telusmobility.com

www.rogers.com

www.fido.ca


One other tip. Should you choose to keep your UK phone simply to use there; I discovered on my last visit that Virgin allow you to use their pay and talk plan without having to top up after a fixed time limit and you don't lose the money you've added. And you can keep your number as long as you want, even if you're phone sits in Canada switched off for six months.

The only stipulation is that you call them every 18 months to keep your number, if you haven't used your phone in that time. The bloke at The Link where I bought a cheap phone to use there claims they're the only mobile phone company in the UK that let you do this.

In other words, if I go back to the UK this Christmas, when I switch on my phone, my number should work and my leftover balance will still be there for me to use.

Their link is:

http://www.virginmobile.com/mobile/

It seems fairly pointless when all the cellphone companies here give away free phones when you sign a contract anyway. So just sign up with Rogers or Bell and get a free phone and away you go. Most give a whole whack of free minutes and you can get free local calling with extra long distance minutes and unless you are a phone addict who can't stop talking on the phone even when they are sat next to me on the damned train or you use it for business then you shouldn't have much of a bill. Rogers do a family plan that allows several phones on the same account so you just have one bill and share the minutes etc and get free calling between family plan members which is good if you want to be able to easily call your spouse / kids etc at anytime.

agreed - I haven't actually paid for a cell phone for either my wife or myself since I arrived in Canada

Has anyone tried charging a Siemens phone here in Canada. i recently bought a 50W step up transformer to obtain a Uk 240V output from 110V input ,but it simply wouldn't work.

Subsequently the transformer got burnt while trying to confirm its output with a Radioshack's international voltage converter.

i understood, the phone would probably not work anyway here in Canada. Although I was told by the local operator here, AT&T that it might be possible to get a reception although it would be weak.

the reason I wanted the phone charged though was to get access to other features like MP3 player.

the phone is a Siemens SL42. Any clues anyone as to how this could be done?

I charged up my Siemens C25 abroad by plugging it into a 200w travel converter and it charged just fine.

I also have a cigarette lighter charger. Obviously this will work in any car which has a cigarette lighter socket!

Alternatively, you can buy chargers which are powered off 4 x AAA batteries - I saw one in Poundland the other day.

The Siemens phones take their power off only 2 pins of the plug which you insert into your phone. You could get soembody who is handy with a soldering iron to chop this plug off your old 240v transformer and wire it onto a suitable 110v replacement (My Siemens phone needs 5v @ 400mA, you could buy something similar from Radio Shack)