Roam Mobility, a Vancouver-based company has secured a roaming deal with American carrier T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network to offer more affordable voice, data (even for the iPad), and text roaming rates for Canadians heading down south. The company’s prepaid service is set to launch on January 16th, 2012.
Users with unlocked phones and smartphones will be able to purchase Roam Mobility SIM and microSIM cards. As for compatibility with the iPhone, data will work on EDGE only. Cheaper unlocked handsets are available to purchase as well.
Roam Mobility claims over 52 million crossings a year from Canada into the U.S., and Canadians incur $800 million dollars worth of annual roaming fees, with half this amount down in the United States. Roam Mobility plans to offer an alternative to Canadians, as they claim their roaming data rates are 99% cheaper than the offerings from ‘major’ Canadian carriers (ie Rogers, Telus and Bell).
Check out the following preview of rates we exclusively have for you:
Roam Mobility Text, Talk, and Data Plan Rates (includes unlimited talk and text, Caller ID, Voicemail)
Roam Mobility Talk and Text Rates (unlimited talk and text, Caller ID, Voicemail)
Data Plans (optional for plans; will work for tablets such as the iPad)
Products Available for Purchase
So essentially it will work like this: if you are heading down to the USA, you purchase either an unlocked phone (a pretty basic one) from Roam Mobility if you don’t own one, or you buy a SIM/microSIM card.
You then subscribe to one of their talk/text, talk/text/data, or data only plans. You will be able to renew or top up via text message or calling customer care. You can even schedule the start date of your plans. No contracts or other hidden fees.
If you are a frequent traveller down south, these plans make it easy to setup everything in Canada before you arrive in the U.S. I like the fact all talk and text is unlimited to and from Canada/USA and includes caller ID and voicemail. The roaming data plans are also pretty ‘cheap’ when you compare them to similar offerings from Rogers, Telus or Bell. Definitely some pretty good value here.
Starting January 16th, Roam Mobility products will be able to purchased online, and other retailers will be announced. In Calgary, products will be available from Pipestone and at Wanderlust in Vancouver.
So, anyone here interested in Roam Mobility’s upcoming offerings?
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Looks like it would still be cheaper to buy a pay as you go sim once stateside. You have to have a unlocked phone either way so…….
Wouldn’t it make more sense to purchase an tmobile/att sim…
Yes, $7 for sim then $2/day for unlimited talk, text and data on T- Mobile.
I just did this while I was in Hawaii/Washington over Christmas. $10 sim then $2/day unlimited voice/text/data with an unlocked iPhone 4S. Data was slow but useable. On tmobile.
What did the give u for a sim, on their website I don’t see micro sims?
I went into a tmobile store when I arrived in Hawaii, and asked for a microSIM, which they had in store. I phoned the tmobile store that I knew I’d be going to beforehand to make sure they had the microSIM in store.
The TMo plan doesn’t include calls back to Canada. Does the unlimited text include texts to Canada? If so, definitely a better plan. If not, then the Roam plan above would actually be cheaper for me. I send a lot of texts back home when I’m in the U.S.
Yes, but…
…it seems to me that the iPhone will not run on much if any of T-Mobile’s network…
I’ve used my unlocked 3GS on AT&T, T-Mobile as well as several European carriers. It works fine and is a lot cheaper!
Might as well buy a sim stateside, since you’re getting a different number anyway, and it’s still cheaper.
Now that unlocked iPhones have been available in Canada for a whole now, I’d love to see a post detailing options for using those iPhones when travelling in the US.
What carriers, what rates, where to get the SIM cards etc.
u guys r smart. thanks. i woulda fell for this roam thing.
The T-mobile $50 plan is unlimited calling for a month and unlimited data. With an extra $10 add on you can call back to Canada for free for a whole month. A very good deal better than the one post here. The sim card is also free. The only draw back is the data is at 2g speeds.
After doing research I decided to use T-mobile service. For $60 a month I can call and text unlimited in in the US and to Canada plus receive from Canada while in the US. I bought a no contract phone from T- mobile. I am in the us about 3 wks out of 4 in a month.
Agree. These prices are not all that great considering you can go to T-Mobile directly. I guess the nice thing is that you can get a SIM in Canada, to be ready to go before you even land in the US. I’ve had a T-Mobile SIM since June and have used it for a few trips now, works great, better than giving any more of my hard-earned $ to Rogers! They take enough of it as it is!
Anybody have any experience with a Mexican carrier? Heading there in a few weeks. Considering just using T-Mobile.
My problem with these sim cards from other carriers is their expiry. How long do ATT/T-Mobil SIMs last for? I also like to have a functioning phone the minute I cross the border. This seems like a decent alternative. I’ve been using a SIM from a company called Ekit for about 3 years. Credit lasts ~12-18 months and calls are 9c/min.
I have a unlocked 3GS that I use with At&T go phone plan.$2 a day(only get charged for days you use it) unlimited long distance in US. Unlimited text to Canada and Mexico. 19 cents a min for long distance back to Canada. For data I have Virgin mifi. 1gb for $20 at Walmart.
Pfft, I’ll stick with using AT&T pre-paid. Way better prices than this.
It seems that the advantage this offers over going to AT&T or T-Mobile directly is the fact that you have unlimited calling back to Canada. Whereas the US providers offer unlimited calling in the US and unlimited text back to canada (at least AT&T does) not unlimited calling back to Canada. US prepaid plans are still cheaper though.
Travelling to US and will be there for 4 weeks. I have a Rogers Galaxy Nexus. Can I buy a prepaid (pay as you go) SIM once in US from AT&T or TMOBILE with a Canadian credit card? Don’t they need a US billing address?
You should be able to just pop into the stores and pay with your Canadian CC.
Thanks. I’ll give this a try!
These prices are better than Canadian-carrier roaming, sure but they’re awful compared to what you can get from half a dozen different US-based prepaid providers!
Simple Mobile, Red Pocket, H20 Wireless and others all have prepaid plans with 1-2Gb of data from $40-60/mo that run on either T-Mobile or AT&T. If you’re going to change your SIM card and phone number anyways, why not just go with the local provider??