Buying a phone in the UK that will work in Canada..
 

I apologise is this has been asked before, but I've been looking around on the internet and can't seem to find any definitive answers.

I'm currently in the UK, waiting for my PR to come through. I really need a new phone but obviously don't want to get locked into a contract over here, as I expect I'll be back in Canada if all goes well within 3-4 months. I want to buy a PAYG phone here in the UK that will also work on a Canadian network. I'm looking at the HTC Wildfire but want to know 100% that it will work in Canada (once unlocked) before I buy it.

Thank is advance!

Re: Buying a phone in the UK that will work in Canada..
 

Any modern cell will work world wide as long as it is unlocked and can take a sim card. We have used old Nokia's up to iPhone's from the UK and they have all worked fine. Even the chargers are multi voltage.

Re: Buying a phone in the UK that will work in Canada..
 

Thanks for the reply. Can anyone else confirm this though? It's just that I've read a lot about people's phones not working on certain networks (something to do with frequencies perhaps ..) Argh really wish I was more technically minded!

Re: Buying a phone in the UK that will work in Canada..
 

Maybe they mean Bell phones as they don't use a sim card.

Re: Buying a phone in the UK that will work in Canada..
 

You'll need to check the working (transiting/receiving) frequencies of the phone against those of the available networks!

and that the network you want to use will provide you with a sim card

Re: Buying a phone in the UK that will work in Canada..
 

Some Bell phones do indeed lack SIM cards, I think it is because they are CDMA rather than GSM. I have a feeling Verizon phones in the US are similar, which is why there was / is a CDMA version of the iPhone.

Speaking of iPhones, I know UK ones, providing they are unlocked (if you are with O2 and have an iPhone they will unlock it for you, think it could be free, if not I think it's about £15 to unlock) will work in Canada.

Re: Buying a phone in the UK that will work in Canada..
 

The NOKIAs seem to work here with no probs at all. As mentioned before, any modern day "decent" phone that has a SIM card and is unlocked, will work here and in the US

Re: Buying a phone in the UK that will work in Canada..
 

Most phones will work if they are GSM network and are unlocked. I took my Sony Errikson back in 2007 and it worked fine. But it would not work on the Bell network.

Re: Buying a phone in the UK that will work in Canada..
 

CDMA has gone the way of the dodo. All in all Canada is still behind Europe in mobile phone technology. Also with RIM CEOs dropping like flies these days, the Blackberry might soon become history, and perhaps Kitchener/Waterloo having it's name changed back to Berlin ( becoming a sister city )

They are laying off 6000 people

Re: Buying a phone in the UK that will work in Canada..
 

my tuppence.... just for info...
My wife and I had an HTC desire each that we got unlocked... i was sure it would work with any network over here... I turned up at the virgin kiosk and we tried swapping the sim out, no joy.. turns up a quick check of the IMEI told them it wouldn't work.

not sure why?, the network runs on the GSM network now ( moving away from CDMA), ended up with an HTC wildfire for free on the virgin supertab 30 day contract.

cheers
marty

Re: Buying a phone in the UK that will work in Canada..
 

OK let’s put one myth to bed, GSM is not the same the world over the frequencies differ between Europe and North America..
You will need to check which GSM bands/frequencies you cell supports if you want it to work over here


This should answer your questions
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM_frequency_bands

Re: Buying a phone in the UK that will work in Canada..
 

You beat me to it.....just because you are on GSM does not mean your phone will work everywhere. That is why some phones are tri and quad bands, so when purchasing a phone, be sure to check. NOKIAs are generally tri or quad depending on the model

Re: Buying a phone in the UK that will work in Canada..
 

Its tri band that people buy and then find that they get poor coverage in certain areas or with certain providers…
If it’s universal coverage that’s wanted then the quad band phone is the only way to go

however if they read the Wiki we wouldn't need half this site http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Compat....2FCell_Phones

Re: Buying a phone in the UK that will work in Canada..
 

I can confirm this, I brought over a Nokia touch screen, and it worked, and an old school samsung, and an LG blackberry nockoff. As long as it is unlocked - buy from dialaphone, and tri-band (most modern phones are, but you can ask). It will work.

I know from personal experience!

Re: Buying a phone in the UK that will work in Canada..
 

A tri band phone will work some of the time, maybe even most of the time, depending on which part of the GSM band is available at that location..

To quote "GSM-1900 is the primary band used in urban areas with 850 as a backup, and GSM-850 being the primary rural band." if your phone only has one of these bands then coverage will vary by location !

to further quote "European tri-band phones typically cover the 900, 1800 and 1900" which would mean your phone would only work whilst inside city coverage zone's (and some major highways) in large parts of Canada