[GadgetKen]

Originally Posted by Motel75

Slightly OT, perhaps, but 7-11 does offer 365-day expiration, with the caveat that they cut off your service if you don't use it for 120 days (and it doesn't offer roaming anywhere else to allow users outside Canada to keep it active).

Vlad, or anyone: Is there a workaround here, such as checking one's voice mail, that would keep 7-11 Mobile active during long stays outside Canada?

Petro-Canada is another theoretical option, but you can't just recharge it every 180 days using a foreign credit card (AFAIK) you need to enter the code available only at Petro-Canada service stations into the phone itself.

7-eleven and PetroCanada wireless resellers are actually run by the same ZTar outfit(same customer service center):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7-Eleve...k_Out_Wireless

7-eleven Canada official brochure:

http://www.7-eleven.com/products/doc...ochure_can.pdf

According to this unofficial blog, no US roaming yet with 7-Eleven Canada (although there is a US version that runs on Cingular/AT&T-GSMor Sprint-CDMA). :

http://www.speakoutwireless.ca/#number15a

This might change though, because the underlying Rogers/Fido prepaid network now allows US roaming(my prepaid Fido card works in the US).

In answer to the question on something to keep the 120 day useage going from outside of Canada(other than possibly roaming in the US in the future), it could be possible to leave a voicemail message for the cellphone, and then retrieve it from a landline (either the access number for voicemail or dialing your own cellphone without the sim chip in it and pressing #). Assuming a voicemail message even if the sim isn't live on a network would keep the 7-eleven sim chip alive.