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Story and photos by Perry Mack
Cell phones have almost become a necessity while travelling – find your way with GPS, display your boarding pass, make purchases, pay bills, listen to music, take photos and video, check email and even… make calls. But traveling with your Canadian plan while you’re in the US can cause you grief with expensive roaming and data charges. It’s so bad it can make you not want to use it for the purpose it was originally created for, but no longer. A Canadian company is offering a new phone service specifically designed for Snowbirds (or anyone who lives or works in the USA for extended periods). Roam Mobility offers unlimited nationwide talk, global text, 1GB of data per month, 4G LTE data speeds where available, unlimited 2G speed data (which kicks in after your high-speed data is used up), free long distance calls to Canada, free voicemail and caller ID and no overages for $39.95/month. Which is an outstanding value. I have one of the best cell phone plans available in Canada with Roger’s and I don’t get all these features yet I pay $55/month.
So what’s the catch (or catches)? As the saying goes, if it’s too good to be true it probably is. Well, there are no catches. You do need an unlocked phone. Not every phone can be unlocked but pretty much any phone with a SIM card can. It can cost $35 to $50 at a local business – try your local providers’ retail outlet or a cell phone service centre. Or go online, which I did, and do it yourself for less. I did it for $14 at MobileinCanada.com. I paid my money then followed the instructional video. And the phone was unlocked. I’ve had a cell phone since the mid 80’s – anyone remember the big box permanently mounted in your car? To me the unlocked phone was a small miracle – I put my wife’s SIM card in and voila, it rang and functioned to her cell number - although it still had all my stored settings.
So now that you have your phone unlocked why not just go to the US, buy a prepaid card and SIM and stick it in your now unlocked phone? You can. But there are some terrific advantages using Roam Mobility. First, it’s a Canadian company with over 15,000 snowbirds on the plan – tried, true and reliable. Second, you can schedule it online before you go – you don’t have to stop on route. Third, free long distance calls to Canada - wow! Fourth, you can keep the US phone number that you are assigned as long you buy some time on your account every 365 days. Your friends and family can store your US number and they’ll always know how to reach you.
Fifth, you can pick the area code of the region in the US that you wish. As I spend a lot of time Las Vegas, NV (business, purely business), I did a Google search to find the zip code of the Las Vegas Strip, entered it into the field of the Roam Mobility website and there was my new Nevada number.
There’s no contract – for anyone out there as sick of Canadian phone contracts as I am, this is a huge plus. And before Christmas they hope to add a ‘local’ call forwarding feature that will let the folks you left in the cold, dark north call you in the sunny south at reduced rates.
You buy your Snowbird plan for a minimum of three months (it’s easy to add on additional months). When you get back to Canada, put your old SIM back in, hang on to your Roam Mobility SIM and you can add time on it again and keep the same phone number for the next year (or trip). They offer many other plans, any combination of talk, text and data, and time frames from one day and up. So in addition to your southern vacation, you have a US number you can buy time on for short hops for shopping, business or vacations of any length.
Roam Mobility’s network has excellent coverage anywhere a snowbird wants to go, including Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Depending on your phone, and your location, you can experience 4G LTE speeds.
Although, I unlocked my phone, I ordered a phone from Roam Mobility. The reason is simple. I know myself, and I am guaranteed to forget which SIM is in my Blackberry. No doubt, I’ll use the wrong SIM at the wrong time and rack up charges far in excess of the cost of a phone. Plus, owning a second phone means I have a back-up phone in case I drive over it or drop it in the toilet again (don’t ask).
I chose the Breeze FB201, which is a dual SIM phone – another bonus. If I want to, I can put my Canadian and US SIM in at the same time. One phone, both numbers – anyone can reach me at either number anytime and I can select the number I want to call out on – very cool. Dual SIM phones have been around for a long time but haven’t been prevalent in the Canadian marketplace. Which I find astounding as it also allows the option of having a work and separate personal cell number in the same phone.
Adding to my cart, I also picked up the Piston Power Lite external battery. For me this is a neccessory, not an accessory. It essentially allows me to recharge my phone (and other devices) anytime, anywhere. For $9.98, I couldn’t go wrong - the first time my phone dies and I can’t find a plug, it will have paid for itself in what I call ‘grief savings’.
For the first time, I’m looking forward to using my phone on the next trip south.