Found it out: The US-identity of 44/1-SIMs comes from a Pennsylvanian MVNO called Immix, so 44/1 should work where Immix works: Immix Wireless ** immix.com ** Coverage

Immix claims to have native coverage in central Pennsylvania, so perhaps it's a misnomer to call it an MVNO.

I see Immo has a roaming agreement with Rogers in Canada; rates, however, are not posted.

There is coverage in North Dakota and Montana, so a roaming agreement with Alltel must exist. This is good news.

You're right, Immix is a real MNO, though a tiny one. After I had learned that Immix is the US partner, I realized that tonight, too. But I doubt 44/1 SIMs will roam in Canada through the Immix-IMSI, as Henning Gajek stated in his article (which I've translated on the first page of this thread), that the American IMSI won't work outside the US.

I e-mailed Immix and asked what their Canadian roaming rate is. Rogers reports back charges to US providers instantly so it is a good bet that if they can handle Alltel's tiny GSM roaming network, they can handle Rogers. In any event, we will know soon enough- particularly if they do a cheap upgrade option on the SIM.

I'm wondering whether they a use a callback scheme on US calls.

How did you find it out???

Dream on. There's a good reason why those of us who have ever had dealings with Rogers refer to them as Robbers.

See also negative-option billing. Robbers were also (the?) first to throttle Internet traffic even though their management denied it for years.

Robbers has a monopoly on GSM in Canada. You won't get any bargain roaming rates from Robbers.

Didn't Rogers, as I understand it, cripple some of the phones they sold so you could not use any mp3 downloads as ring tones? All the better to make you pay for them eh.

Ah, I know Rogers/Robbers all too well. I live 10 miles from the Canadian border. I deal with Rogers a ton -- not as much as the Canadians out there, but I go to Canada for dinner, family events, parties, go to Canadian beaches in the summer, etc. I have multiple relatives in Canada. Even two of my three sister-in-laws are Canadian.

My wife also has several Canadian clients. We have a Rogers contract cell phone which is basically a family plan phone belonging to a Canadian relative. We trade him one TMobile SIM for one Rogers SIM and engage in various strategies to keep our usage from seriously impacting the other's minutes.

Back to the point, this is what I received form Immix:

"Thank*you for contacting Immix Wireless. Unfortunately we do not*know the charge for Canadian*roaming, it is billed to us after usage and varies depending on your location in Canada. It can vary anywhere from $0.32 to $1.65*or possibly more.
If there is anything*else we can assist*you with please contact 1-888-249-8030 or*611 from your cell phone."

I don't think they are going to assist in Canadian prepaid roaming.

They do, but only for a few more months. Telus plans to have 3G GSM in place in the Vancouver area in time for the 2010 Olympics. Also, while it won't make an immediate difference in roaming revenue for Rogers (at least until people start acquiring compatible phones), we're even closer to 3G GSM at 1700 MHz with Quebecor in Quebec and Yak/Wind in all the other provinces.

You are already seeing a few cracks in the armor/armour in the Canadian cell market. FIDO has rolled out a month-to-month contract plan, there are a few unlimited offerings coming on the market, there has been an attempt by the Canadian cellular industry to put out more attractive data packages, etc. It ain't much, but I think it is a start.

Rogers Canadawide MyFavs has definitely been improvement for Vlad and I.