New Long Distance Add-Ons

[Catherine_T]

Hi Community, 

We heard you about wanting more countries and we have some exciting news to announce today! Effective October 8, 2020, Public Mobile is launching a new add-on suite of Long Distance Minutes to better serve customers making calls internationally from Canada. 

What’s changing? 

We made some key changes based on your feedback, including:

• A simplified structure 
• Increased value for high demand countries  
• Increased the number of countries included in our suite of add-ons from 19 to 41 

What does this look like? 

Previous Long Distance Add-ons (pre October 8, 2020):

• 200 Minutes to the U.S. and Canada for $8
• 400 International Minutes for $15 

New Long Distance Add-ons (as of October 8, 2020):

• 1000 Minutes to the U.S. for $15;
• 1000 Minutes to the U.K. for $15; 
• 750 Minutes to India and Pakistan for $15;
• 500 Minutes to China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan for $15;
• 100 Minutes to the Philippines for $15 
• 300 International Minutes for $15 which now includes more calling locations 
• New countries added include: Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Romania, Sweden 
• 500 Canada-wide Minutes for $5  

How to get this offer:

1. Log-in to Self Serve
2. Ensure you have sufficient funds in your account. If not, make sure to top up. 
3. Go to “Plan and Add-Ons”
4. Select “My Add-Ons”
5. Select your preferred Long Distance Add-On under ‘Talk’
6. Click ‘Make a Payment’ and follow the instructions

What you need to know:

1. Unused long distance add-on minutes do not expire and will roll over to the next plan period 
2. Customers with existing long distance add-ons can continue to use their minutes until the minutes are depleted  
3. Customers purchasing the 300 International Long Distance Minutes Add-On can now call the following countries: Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Venezuela 
4. Our 500 Canada-wide minutes for $5 add-on is still available for purchase  

Thank you again for choosing Public Mobile! Let us know what you think 🙂

- The Public Mobile Team

[LurganIeUk]

NO NO!!! Not one price for all!!! LOL!!! Do you want the 15 cent a minute one to sway the prices upwards???

Even though I worked it all out I neglected to recognize some were the same price. And in the back of my head kept thinking....so many bundles....and costly if you need more than one as some are at 1000 minutes. Like a 1000 minutes of USA would last me more than a life time. Good for PM though and they have been good to me....so this change was kinda of this for that.

Leave as is. 

500 Canada Wide Long Distance Minutes $5 or 1 cents/min. 

Combine but make it a 1500 min plan?? That's a compromise. 

1000 U.S. Long Distance Minutes $15 or 1.5 cents/min. 

1000 U.K. Long Distance Minutes $15 or 1.5 cents/min. 

Combine to 1000 minutes @3.5 cents a minute 

750 India & Pakistan Long Distance Minutes $15 or 2 cents/min. 

500 China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan Long Distance Minutes $15 or 3 cents/min. 

Absolutely leave as is.

100 Philippines Long Distance Minutes $15 or 15 cents/min. 

Leave as is. 

300 International Long Distance Minutes $15 or 5 cents/min. 

[computergeek541]

---

@Jonavin wrote:

I think these new rates gives clearer destination specific rate choices  for those who call a particular region. But I think it adds complexity for those of us that call multiple countries. You should at least lump US and UK since they are the same rate. We would not have to buy two separate add-ons to call both countries.

---

That's my main criticism. I know we're discussing complexity, but the need for multiple add-ons also adds complexity. Having multiple add-ons in this way only benefits Public Mobile. The fairest way would be to have one long distance add-on period and for the calls to use up parts of the add-on a weighted basis. I also essentially caleld the US/UK situation to be a cash grab, or at the very least, that's how consumers are going to see it.

[Jonavin]

I think these new rates gives clearer destination specific rate choices  for those who call a particular region. But I think it adds complexity for those of us that call multiple countries. You should at least lump US and UK since they are the same rate. We would not have to buy two separate add-ons to call both countries.

[darlicious]

---

@Pawprints1986 wrote:

@Jb456 

Just wondered if you mean 2 fully active accounts between PM and koodo? Or do you somehow use koodos easy roam in conjunction with your PM main account ? The latter sounds way too good to be true lol

I wouldn't even mind having to pay the 8 or 12 per day ahead PM style even if it went unused, that piece of mind really is priceless... And when you're already spending enough to travel to such places, what's another 50 bucks or so?

There's WiFi many places but WiFi can crash. Cell signal satellites are pretty rock solid

@Pawprints1986 

If you are budget minded.....another 50 bucks or so.....is enough to make a European holiday (or elsewhere) out of reach for most people. I specifically bought a dual SIM phone for our 21 day holiday in Europe in spring 2018 because the roaming options per day charge was outrageous from the 3 providers we had at the time ( telus, fido and freedom.) Intending to buy a local sim while in either Dublin or London the plentiful free WiFi convinced me otherwise but once on the continent the small outlay would have been well worth it but we still managed using WiFi only with the exception of Paris when the bf went out to the local "corner store" for a bottle of wine and got lost for 4 hours! We spent $9 between us on roaming charges with fido and freedom sending a few texts and a short phone call. Nice to fall back on....next holiday I'll just get a cheap local sim card since pm doesn't offer roaming in Europe to fall back on. The $9 spent was still better than the cheapest discounted roaming option at our disposal of $8 p/day+ reduced charges per text or call.

Reducing your overall costs here and there can make holidays affordable for most who don't think they are....2 people, 21 days, return flights from Vancouver to Dublin on Air France and KLM. Flights and transfers to London, overnight coach and ferry to Paris, flights and transfers to Barcelona/Girona and back to Dublin, all meals, airbnb, one luxury hotel night, museums and art galleries, local transit tickets/passes, £400 and €1000 in spending money = total cost of trip for two people just under $6000 cdn. Approximately $150 per person per day all in.....$50 or so here and there can really add up.....that's 10 bottles (or more) of good wine you could be enjoying every day with lunch!

---

[LurganIeUk]

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@JLakerson wrote:

That's awesome! I'm sure many PM customers will be very happy with the countries that have been added. 

---

Exactly recent immigrants, students or temporary workers from abroad etc. Keeping cost down with no land line...what a great convenience. 

[JLakerson]

That's awesome! I'm sure many PM customers will be very happy with the countries that have been added. 

[Korth]

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@computergeek541 wrote:
However, it's still easy to make calls using an an app and pay by the minute or to purchase long distance minutes from a third party service.

---

Some of those third-party (long distance calling card) services cost less per minute than these PM long distance add-on rates.

But these services always milk their money somehow. A charge of $0.25 each time you dial a call. A "maintenance" charge which depletes your balance $0.50 per month. An expiry date (time limit) after card activation. Details vary, some rob you less and some rob you more.

While PM's add-on minutes rollover billing cycles indefinitely without diminishing and they don't expire or fall off the account until they've been fully consumed. So they're probably still a better deal (lower total cost per minute) for many people.

[computergeek541]

---

@Amila wrote:

Hi

Can you please add Sri Lanka? Thanks lot!

---

Changes are Public Mobile are often very slow to happen. The only advantage to these add-ons is the ability to make direct-dial calls using the regular phone service. However, it's still easy to make calls using an an app and pay by the minute or to purchase long distance minutes from a third party service.

[Amila]

Hi

Can you please add Sri Lanka? Thanks lot!

[Korth]

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@Pawprints1986 wrote:

There's WiFi many places but WiFi can crash. Cell signal satellites are pretty rock solid

---

Maybe true where you are located. Also true where I live, in a city "near" a big urban core.

But untrue in a lot of the places I've worked - Northern BC, Caribou and Okanagan and Kootenay areas, parts of Yukon and Northwest Territories. All nominally within PM (Telus/Bell) network coverage. But all lacking reliable cellular service when too far outside urban areas, especially around coastlines and mountains. Sometimes these places simply don't have enough local cellular radio hardware to cover the whole area, it has limited capacity or it has directional focus somewhere else. Often these places compensate by providing some kind of WiFi service which is in turn linked to the world through wired hardware. (Some "amateur" radio towers also function as Call/Text/Data relay stations for locals/visitors, though I'm unsure exactly how this works or if it's a free public service.)

Cellular phones and satellite phones are different things. Some consumer devices do integrate both sets of radio hardware. But the only satellite service accessible to a typical consumer smartphone is GPS beacons.

[Jb456]

@Pawprints1986 meant seperate accounts. 

[Pawprints1986]

@Jb456 

Just wondered if you mean 2 fully active accounts between PM and koodo? Or do you somehow use koodos easy roam in conjunction with your PM main account ? The latter sounds way too good to be true lol

I wouldn't even mind having to pay the 8 or 12 per day ahead PM style even if it went unused, that piece of mind really is priceless... And when you're already spending enough to travel to such places, what's another 50 bucks or so?

There's WiFi many places but WiFi can crash. Cell signal satellites are pretty rock solid

[LurganIeUk]

---

@makkahn28 wrote:

Ok. The Countries that hopefully would someday be added

Vietnam

Malaysia

Singapore

Hungary

Cuba

Trinidad

Barbados

Brazil

Peru

Paraguay

Haiti

Thought that if PM had more beyond the 40, that could make PM even more valuable

---

ahem cough cough.

Included countries: Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France,Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Venezuela

[makkahn28]

Ok. The Countries that hopefully would someday be added

Vietnam

Malaysia

Singapore

Hungary

Cuba

Trinidad

Barbados

Brazil

Peru

Paraguay

Haiti

Thought that if PM had more beyond the 40, that could make PM even more valuable

[Jb456]

@makkahn28 the ones you listed are available to call from Canada with an add-on.

$15 add-on for 1000 minutes to the UK

All the other countries you listed you're able to call from Canada with the $15 - 300 minute international add-on.

[makkahn28]

That's a GREAT start

Hoping PM will add more to the List

UK

France

Germany

Spain

Portugal

Poland

if Most of Europe is added, and More Asian Countries and African Countries added eventually, that would give PM more Value as well

[AE_Collector]

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@Jb456 wrote:

Also most Carribean cruise ports that I've been to always have a place for free wifi. 

---

Just follow the ships crew when disembarking!

AE_Collector

[Jb456]

@Korth . For sure it can get pricey and I do agree. if you want to use just your personal number each day traveling in another country. 

However it's a good back up if you do really need it only for a few days on your travels.

Practically anywhere you can find free wifi or for a small amount of money a wifi card ( example Cuba is $1CUC for 60 minutes of wifi. Log in to do what you need then log out to save remaining minutes on the card) . Also most Carribean cruise ports that I've been to always have a place for free wifi. 

Textnow app is my go to when traveling (I think everyone should get it) because the other person does not need the app. Just the number and I can receive voicemails after the fact when I connect to wifi. As well as messenger and WhatsApp for the people that do have those. 

If I have to make an important call to work or something like that. Knowing that it will only cost me $12 to activate on Koodo for a 24 hour period. So I don't have to deal with a spotty wifi connection or anything. 

I feel there a pros and cons to it depending on one's personal needs.  Always look for the best price that other providers offer.

For instance using Chatr in Cuba they charge $4 per call minute, 40 cents for outgoing SMS, 50 cents outgoing MMS and $30 per MB of data. Now that is awful! 

[mimmo]

@Pawprints1986  chatr mobile does offer international roaming.   If roaming is essential for you.

Chatr, lucky and Public all typically have similar plans, it's a matter of looking at the finer details of each provider to find which offers the best total package for your needs.

[Korth]

$8 or $12 per day seems awful.

Put it into perspective by considering that 1000 minutes equals almost 17 hours. Which I think would require some superhuman phone talking effort (along with a fully charged battery, and a fully charged spare battery) to use up in a single day.

But if there's no other way to connect then there's no better price to connect.

Unless maybe you can find third-party international calling cards for your calling destination.

[Jb456]

@Pawprints1986  Doubtful that PM would offer this considering 2nd tier Koodo offers two different types of internation roaming plans.

$8 per day for Alaska,Guam,Hawaii,Northern Mariana Islands,Puerto Rico,U.S. Mainland,U.S. Virgin Islands

 $12 international per day to 100+ countries.

The daily Easy Roam fee is valid for 24 hours, and applies when you make or pick up a call and send a text or use data abroad. If your plan includes Shock-Free® data, you'll continue to receive data notifications while travelling and have the option to top-up at the domestic rate.

You’re only charged for the days you use your existing plan in the U.S. or an eligible international destination

https://www.koodomobile.com/easyroam

PM in 3rd tier so I don't see anything like this coming here.

I even keep an account with Koodo just for this reason. 

[Pawprints1986]

Any plans to ever add the ability for international roaming add ons? As in being in the UK for example and needing to call or text Canada without having to rely on being in range of WiFi (textnow, what's app etc) or buying local Sim cards with different phone numbers that no one will answer? 

Not so much needed right now, but in normal safe times... I would love this peace of mind when traveling even if paying extra at the time is needed, so worth it. 

[Triguy]

You could use Wi-Fi apps like Textnow, Skype, WhatsApp, or Fongo.

[Rooselark]

Just a question re International Talk - I would like to recommend that Public Mobile look at including Trinidad and Tobago on the International List.  That would be very beneficial to many of us Trinis living in Canada.  I guess I could ask for the other Caribbean Islands also like Barbados, etc.  Also for more of Central and South American Countries.

[AE_Collector]

There was only the one category that went up in price and really, International calling from your cell phone is usually at a fair bit of a premium price compared to the cheapest calling cards you can get. But prices On these add-ones seem pretty good to me still. All other prices got even better plus a bunch of countries added that were simply unavailable before. And of course there are many other options available to make long distance calls if PMs prices are too high.  So price wise I cant really make a bug fuss about this.

AE_Collector

[LurganIeUk]

Yes, and I do often use FaceTime audio. 

[mimmo]

I had similar reservations re the price increase of the 300 minute plan, but after a little reflection I realised most people I call is via whatsapp so really not a big deal, my wallet is safe.

[LurganIeUk]

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@daengelhardt wrote:

What happened to the 400 Minutes of International Long Distance for $15.00? You may be offering more options, but you have also made calling more expensive. This is not what I'd call better service, considering that there was talk in the news that the CRTC plans to make changes that will make cell phone use cheaper, not more expensive.

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It's gone. But look at one of my previous posts that shows what happened. I feel it is a very good change. There is much more variety but in different bundles. You will have to know what you need and what you don't. And overall it may cost more as you may have to have more than one bundle. But keep in mind they don't expire until exhausted and some of the calls have decreased in the per minute price. PM has done a great job here as many were asking for more destinations. They have done a good job in  putting the higher price per minute calls in their own bundle. And also keep in mind any older bundles you may have are still there to use until exhausted. 

[daengelhardt]

What happened to the 400 Minutes of International Long Distance for $15.00? You may be offering more options, but you have also made calling more expensive. This is not what I'd call better service, considering that there was talk in the news that the CRTC plans to make changes that will make cell phone use cheaper, not more expensive.

[Rosguru]

Thanks to Public Mobile for all the promos and announcements.  

I would like to make a suggestion to hopefully help to clarify eligible dates to avoid confusion and help people not to waste time looking back into too many posts to find answers.

My suggestion is to put in eligible dates of each new promo and new announcement for any limited time offers.  You can add these in brackets after the name of the announcement like for instance eligible from start date to end date.

This would really be a beneficial addition if done on all new announcements.