question about usa sim cards

[bylo]

Originally Posted by Motel75

It's true, it has a 365-day expiration, but as you have to buy the phone (there are no SIM-only kits) the upfront cost is quite high.

According to this thread on HoFo, as little as $20 with $10 airtime. The phones that come with US SO are locked (the ones in Canada are not.) And AFAIK you can top up airtime using AT&T's website so you can keep this SIM alive from overseas.

Canadian Speakout ... lack of account activity for 120 days will end the account.

Where did you get that information? AFAIK there's a 99¢/month "911 fee" but the card lasts a full year providing there is enough airtime credit. Once the year ends you have something like 90 days to top it up before the SIM expires.

Since there's no roaming, it's not possible to keep it going unless you're in Canada every 2 1/2 months.

Actually the only way to top up the Canadian SO SIM is to buy a voucher at a 7-11 store in Canada and then validate it from a SO phone. So it's effectively useless to anyone outside Canada. Unfortunately there are no good GSM options for visitors to Canada thanks in large part to Rogers' monopoly. (Perhaps the best option for visitors is to use a US T-Mobile SIM then pay 69¢/min to roam in Canada )

[snaimon]

Probably off topic....

My wife and children were in Canada in 2003. I had purchased a prepaid Fido SIM from eBay USA. That worked fine. After they returned, I sold it on eBay to someone else. At that time our T-Mo prepaids did not roam in Canada.

I take it the situation has changed since then. I think Rogers and Fido are now one company. I am a bit surprised your regulators would allow such a merger to result in a monopoly.

=======================

As to the US GSM prepaids, I often look at eBay.de. You can always find ATT or T-MO US prepaids being offered there. I don't know how well they sell, but I suspect there is some demand for them. Thus, if a visitor purchased a US prepaid SIM, I think it would be possible to sell it on his/her native eBay or elsewhere to someone else rather than try to keep the # alive. The $100 upfront investment for 1000 minutes might not be everyone's cup of tea.

I made a very costly mistake buying 2 Malta prepaids and trying to keep them alive. I lost one where I had invested > $50 and sold the other at a huge discount. Would have been cheaper to buy new ones or use my international SIMs.

Stan

[bylo]

Originally Posted by snaimon

I think Rogers and Fido are now one company. I am a bit surprised your regulators would allow such a merger to result in a monopoly.

Yes Rogers bought Fido and now they are both the essentially the same. There are two developments that may open up Canada to more GSM competition:

1. There is a spectrum auction in progress. Something like 40% of that spectrum is designated for new players only. It's highly unlikely that the winner of such an auction would use anything but GSM. Also, the incumbent wireless providers are required to lease towers and cell repeaters to new players for at least 5 years at "reasonable" rates in order to give them a chance to succeed.

2. Telus, the main western Canadian telco, is currently CDMA-only. However there is speculation that they will start to convert their network to GSM, starting in western Canada, in order to participate in lucrative roaming revenue from foreign visitors to the upcoming Vancouver Olympic games. (Rogers charges something like $2 or $3 per minute for roaming and gets away with it because there is no GSM alternative carrier.)

[Motel75]

Originally Posted by bylo

Where did you get that information? AFAIK there's a 99¢/month "911 fee" but the card lasts a full year providing there is enough airtime credit. Once the year ends you have something like 90 days to top it up before the SIM expires.

From the SpeakOut Canada brochure (available as a PDF on their website somewhere):

"Your mobile number may be cancelled if your account has no activity for 120 consecutive days. Please contact Speak Out WirelessSM Customer Care to establish a new mobile number for your account. Mobile number cancellation does not affect your account balance and expiration. A service activation fee and new wireless phone number may be required to reactivate service."

[bylo]

Originally Posted by Motel75

From the SpeakOut Canada brochure...

Thank you. That, however, is the Canadian service. The US service, which is provided by AT&T rather than MVNO Ztar, may have different terms. (There are other differences between the two offerings.) Nevertheless, a useful caution for occasional users. I guess we'll have to wait for the resurrection of 7-11's website to find out for sure.