question about usa sim cards

[PhotoJim]

Rogers and Telus are not a monopoly. They have the only significant GSM network in Canada (there is a tiny one in the Arctic), but there are CDMA competitors and the new spectrum up for auction will likely be GSM.

[bylo]

Originally Posted by PhotoJim

Rogers and Telus are not a monopoly.

I think you meant Fido, not Telus. They are as far as GSM is concerned, which is all that visitors from overseas care about.

there are CDMA competitors

They are only contenders if you have to buy a new phone just for your NA visit. If you already have an unlocked quadband GSM phone then a Rogers, Fido, SpeakOut (or Petro-Canada Mobility) SIM plus airtime is all you need. And even if you have a 900/1800 GSM phone you're more likely to consider a GSM solution because you're more familiar/comfortable with it than CDMA.

the new spectrum up for auction will likely be GSM

However the auction ends in July. And they you have to wait for the winners to roll out their offerings. Hopefully one of them will be yak. Then we'll start to see some real price competiion, especially on foreign roaming.

But we're digressing