Guess What?! (Hint: We had to update our Terms of Service to do this)

[Brooke_C]

We’ve got another BIG and EXCITING announcement to make!

We will be launching US roaming in November this year! Many members have been patiently waiting for this to arrive and we are ecstatic to be making this announcement. Members like @robbytwotwo, @carloscmd, @ckndr47, @nishufan, @McLaren, @makkahn28, @imm1304, @Cookin, @srlawren and many more have been submitting or promoting ideas about US roaming on our Public Lab, saying things like:

“The plans offered here are great. I am waiting for some sort of roaming to be offered though...”

And

“First of all kudos to PM for such an amazing service...Now that we are growing, would love to see a ...”    

We would like to extend a huge thank you to those that submitted the idea and to those who supported the idea by giving it a bravo. We have listened to your feedback and recommendations, and are excited to be bringing this idea to life.  

Think about the convenience…the freedom… No longer will you need to purchase a different SIM card when you travel to the States. No longer will you need to travel to the States without any service at all. No longer will you have an excuse to not respond to your parents/ girlfriend/ boyfriend etc. (Whoops- that was a good thing.)

Anyway, we veered off topic just a tad. Soon you will be able to connect to AT&T and T-Mobile networks when you travel to the states. AT&T and T-Mobile’s coverage includes all 50 states, plus Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. So, whether you are travelling to the snow-capped mountains in Alaska or to Florida's sunny beaches, we will have you covered.

In order to roam, you will have the flexibility to choose 10 day Add-ons that include talk only, text only, data only or a bundle of all three services. We are still finalizing the Add- on price points and the exact launch date, so stay tuned for more information. We have also updated our Terms of Service to incorporate US roaming, so please be sure to read it here.

-Public Mobile Community Team

[srlawren]

@hb2811 sorry I'm not sure I understand your question.  In terms of roaming offerings, literally nothing has changed since US roaming add-ons were introduced about a year ago.  You won't get any free US data with PM.  The only thing you will get for free while in the US is incoming text messages, though you won't be able to reply without picking roaming add-on(s) that include US roaming texting.  

[hb2811]

Hi,

My friend told me about PM and I'm excited to join. Any news on the November roaming date and prices though?

I'm going to the states in a couple of weeks and my current provider...whilst mainly useless, offers free 1gb while I'm there but if I can swap to PM by the 13th (before my next bill) that would be the BEST.

[Rockdaddy22]

I felt the exact same way. I barely consider this prepaid 🙂

[Eug]

BTW, I wish there was a decent pre-paid plan available when I stuck my mother-in-law on Fido post-paid, but there wasn't. She used to travel a lot, especially overseas, and we specifically told her not to use her phone like she would in Canada because it would be really, really expensive. Nonetheless, she got there, and proceeded to use her phone a lot, just a little bit less than she would in Canada. And calls for stupid stuff, like some mother-in-laws do. Well, in just a couple of weeks she racked up a $600 bill. She was shocked, despite our warnings, but when she asked what she could do about it, I just told her to pay it, because she was warned and the billings were legit. It was a hard lesson to learn, but she learned it. However, if she had been on a plan that didn't allow such billings in the first place, she would have not had that bill.

Nonetheless, the lines between pre-paid and post-paid are getting blurred these days on these flanker brands, and that's good.

Just a few years ago, I would have never considered a pre-paid plan. Back then, it seemed to me that pre-paid was for those who didn't want a credit check and had problems paying for "real" service (with decent amounts of voice/text/data buckets and roaming options), or else had very, very, very limited usage, etc. Nowadays some of the pre-paid plans are very similar to post-paid plans, but just that the timing of payment is different.

[TroyDaBes]

Is there any mod out there who's going to help me with my problem?

[niloc22]

OK no problem, thanks for the update, just curious.

[Brooke_C]

Hey @niloc22,

Great question! While at sea the ship relies on satellite based communications, which, unfortunately are not part of Public Mobile's U.S. Roaming offerings. 

[niloc22]

Oh it wasn't cheap with Bell, but voice wasn't too bad for emergencies, about $2 a minute I think.  Data was another thing, that was expensive, and Texts could still be received for free I think, and about $0.75 per test sending.

Wish I'd seen this a week or so ago, as i just signed up for Roammobility for this coming February.

[Jonavin]

@niloc22 I am surprised that Bell allowed it because it's usually a premium for cruise ships. I keep the original Kindle 3G around for this purpose. Free (slow) data and it was enough to send emails, not much else.

[niloc22]

Haven't been able to find an answer already posted on this, however if Roaming in the US, does this include reception on the US cruise ships in the Carribean? When I was with Bell I think they had reception on the cruise ships.

Thanks,

[Alpaca]

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@Jonavin wrote:

@luckypal who was your previous carrier? If it's Fido or Rogers, you're likely to get better reception. If it's Koodo/Telus, Bell/Virgin, then the reception will be nearly identical. 

---

Yes, I was with Rogers before and noticed that phone reception is better. I get more bars. 

[luckypal]

@Jonavin, reception isn't my issue, it's the roaming coverage that still bugs me a bit as I plan to bring my phone with me when I travel. It's great that PM now has US coverage but would like to see it happening globally in the near future 🙂

[Jonavin]

@luckypal who was your previous carrier? If it's Fido or Rogers, you're likely to get better reception. If it's Koodo/Telus, Bell/Virgin, then the reception will be nearly identical. 

[luckypal]

Fully agree! I just made the switch but I'm having minor anxiety that PM doesn't have the roaming coverage that my postpaid line had. I can still switch back to my old carrier but I want to give PM a chance. 

[mm623]

awesome. any word on the speed?

[Eug]

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@srlawren wrote:
@Eug also, Koodo have an international roaming offering which PM does not.

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Not for Koodo Prepaid.

[makkahn28]

I hope PM will evenyually have an Full Global Roam Add-On as part of their endgame to give PM Guest Clients the awesome Public Experience of a Lifetime

[makkahn28]

I find the Roaming rates to be pretty much fair and very lucrative. for 10 Days, very good.

But, Would be nice if PM also had Roll Over Version too so ppl can have flex Roam options too

But, I'd also settle for PM having 2, 5, 7, 10 and 14 Day too, just to add variety.

Wished PM had Add-On set up where if ya Bundle 2-3, save perhaps $3-$6, to give some competititve edge, BUT so far, very awesome

[Jonavin]

I think the price is fair. I really only use data while roaming anyways and with PM's fee model, I won't have to worry about paying for accidental incoming calls or text. 

I do think there should be a bundle for all 3 services because I know unlike myself, other people still want text and talk. Maybe $30 for talk+text+1GB for 10 days, and $20 for the talk+text+250mb for 5 days (covers long weekend)?

I assume you can buy more before the 10 days is up if you happen to need more data than 1GB? 

I'd prefer it without expiration for data, but I think they'd have to price it a lot higher.  How about another option? Make those 1GB for $30 usable for both Canada and US roaming? That would add value to that $30 1GB add-on.

[srlawren]

@Eug also, Koodo have an international roaming offering which PM does not.

[Tim_Ea]

Great News!

[srlawren]

@Eug the nice thing about the Koodo US roaming is the 3/10/30 day choices. However, the prices on the add-ons are a lot higher than PM (if you compare the 10 day options at least)

[Eug]

Interestingly, Koodo Pre-paid just got US roaming plans too, and theirs roll over, so very nice for them. Unfortunately, Koodo's regular Pre-paid rates suck compared to Public Mobile.

[srlawren]

@Eug or if you only need say one or two of the services.

[srlawren]

@mat_oli it's active right away

@Eug pricing is great for a longer trip (7 days or more) vs something like Roam Mobility or Fido's or Roger's roam like home.

[mat_oli]

Can you choose when to activate the US roaming data add-ons? Or does it become active as soon as you purchase the addon?

[Eug]

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@Eug wrote:
Rumour has it US roaming on Public Mobile is coming Monday, November 14.

This is according to a post from RFD. The poster claims it was told to him by a Telus exec.

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So the rumour turned out to be accurate. Gotta love leaks on the internet. 

I just checked my wife's account, and took a screen grab from its self-serve page.

For my wife for a 10 day trip she'd probably need Talk ($8) plus 500 MB Data ($15) and +/- Text ($8). So, $23-$31. I'd probably tell her to get the 1 GB data anyway though, because it's only $5 more, and maybe she'd be sending a lot of pix to relatives while on vacation, so she'd use more data than usual.

For me, for a 10 day trip I'd get everything at $36. My last US trip used about 80 MB per day, so this would work out nicely. This is an attractive deal, and much cheaper than my US roaming costs on Fido (since my account does not have Fido Roam support, which is $5 per day). However, I'm still very hesitant to port over since Public Mobile's customer support delays are still so very long. I've read that PM's Community has added a couple of new mods, but the delays people are seeing are now sometimes over a week.

[jigginsmcgee]

Very excited for the official announcement! If I were to make one request it would probably be that Roaming Add-ons weren't pushed live until they were functional. Something to think about for next time!

[hummuschips]

Looking forward to this!  I visit the US a few times a year and this would work great for me.

[Rockdaddy22]

Can't wait @Brooke_C