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U.S. Roaming has arrived!

Brooke_C
Retraité / Retired
Retraité / Retired

Hey Community!

 

 

We are ecstatic to announce that after months of planning and hard work, U.S. Roaming has launched! With Black Friday around the corner, we think the timing is pretty great.  It’s also news you can share with your friends to increase your referral rewards.  Remember - our $40/ 4GB promo plan ends November 20th. We’re glad we pulled this off just in the nick of time!

 

Here’s how the U.S. Roaming Add-ons work:

 

  • All U.S. Roaming Add-Ons will last 10 days. This 10 day period will begin upon payment of the Add-on and will end 10 days after this date.
  • You can choose an Add-On with just one of the services or a combination. We want to ensure that you only pay for what you need. Keeping this in mind, we are offering a range of U.S. Roaming Add-Ons, all with great value. For example, the U.S. Talk, Text and Data Bundle works out to just $2/ day for the 10 day period!

 

U.S. Roaming 10 Day Add-Ons

Details

Price

U.S. Talk Only

·         Unlimited Canada Wide & U.S. talk

$8

U.S. Text Only*

·         Unlimited global text

$8

U.S. Data Only

 

 

·         250 MB data

$10

·         500MB data

$15

·         1GB data

$20

U.S. Talk and Text Bundle*

 

·         Unlimited Canada Wide & U.S. talk

·         Unlimited global text

·         No data

 

$15

U.S. Talk ,Text, Data Bundle*

·         Unlimited Canada Wide & U.S. talk

·         Unlimited global text

·         250MB data

$20

*Picture and video messaging are not available, but coming soon! Please note that you need a U.S. roaming data plan in order to receive picture and video messaging.

 

We’ve partnered with AT&T and T-Mobile to provide you with fantastic coverage.

 

Your U.S. coverage will include 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 Hawaii’s sunny beaches, we will have you covered. For more details, check out our coverage map here.

 

Getting U.S. Roaming is easy!

 

You can purchase the U.S. roaming Add-Ons by either using your online Self Serve account or the automated phone system.

 

  • Self Serve account: You will be able to purchase the Add-On in your Self Serve account at publicmobile.ca. After logging in, just select the U.S. roaming Add-On you want, make the payment, and then it will be ready to use.
  • Automated phone system: You can also purchase your U.S. roaming Add-On using the automated phone system by dialling 1-855-4PUBLIC, and following the prompts.

With this exciting announcement, we have put together some anticipated FAQs. If you have any other questions, please post them below.

 

-Public Mobile Community team

 

U.S. Roaming FAQs

 

 1. What happens after my 10-day U.S. Roaming Add-On expires?

10 days after you purchase your U.S. roaming Add-On, it will automatically expire. If you need another Add-On, you can purchase it the same way you did originally, by using your Self Serve account or calling our automated phone system at 1-855-4PUBLIC. 

 

 2. I need more than 1GB of data while roaming. What do I do?

Not a problem. You can buy more than one U.S. Roaming Data Add-On if you find you need more data.

 

 3. Can I roam while I am in countries, other that the U.S.?

No. At this time, we only offer roaming in the U.S.

 

 4. I can’t see the U.S. Roaming bundle Add-Ons. What do I do?

If you are experiencing issues seeing the U.S. Talk and Text Bundle or the U.S. Talk, Text, Data Bundle when you are in Self Serve or during the activation portal, be sure to clear your cache /cookies in your browser. Once you do this, you’ll be able to see them!

 

 5. I am a Legacy customer and don’t have a Self Serve account. How do I buy an Add-On?

You can purchase an Add-On through our automated phone system by dialing 1-855-4PUBLIC. As a Legacy customer, you are also able to purchase the Add-On by calling into our call centre. Remember, you are able to create your own Self Serve account at any time, if you would like to. 

 

 6. Why is *611 not working while I am in the U.S.?

We’re working on this! Dialing *611 is not available now, but will be coming soon. In the meantime, you can dial 1-855-4PUBLIC instead.

 

 7. The U.S. Add-On prices in the French automated phone system do not match what is displayed on the French website. What’s up with that?

The U.S. Roaming Add-On prices are only stated incorrectly in our French automated phone system. But, don’t worry, when you select the Add-On you want, the correct price will be charged to your account.

 

 8. I am a Legacy customer on a $19 plan and, when I try to add the U.S. Roaming Add-Ons, I get an error message.

Legacy customers on the $19 plan are not eligible for U.S. Roaming Add-Ons. To take advantage of the roaming options, you will need to change your plan.

 

 

253 REPLIES 253

biggyk
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

When I was in the states for the thanksgiving week, I never had to change any apn settings. It stayed on public mobile settings and was using the att the whole time I was there.

U know, with the amount of issues US Roam is bringing, It pains me to say, BUT perhaps PM should consider taking the Option temporarily OFFLINE UNTIL they can patch what the issues are, so that the glitches are very far and extremely few, and managemable, as it is, it/s painful, UNLESS If PPL Must switch their Network settings Manually to AT&T or T.Mobile, THEN PM Must have this Listed in the Add-On section, so PPL know that to USE US Roam, 1rst Purchase, then when in US Change your Network settings to this Manually.

 

Just to save PM the hassle

kjmckenz
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Hmmm, seeing all the issues reported for account suspension, I think I'll still stick to Roam for now... 😕

 

I do have a plan change coming up early in the new year, so I'm hoping that this issue is resolved before the plan renews and I'm hit with an account suspension even though I'm on autopay.

 

I'm grateful to those who have "volunteered" to try out the change, potentially at the expense of not being able to use their account later on (uknowingly so, but still).

biggyk
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

This is exactly what happened to me man. I worked fine also when I came back into Canada. Just getting support to fix the account issue is the frustrating part.

Johrobkoo
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

why is my account suspended after I added USA roaming?  I am in the states yet and it is still working but it says it is suspended and payment is due when I just renewed my 90 day plan on Nov. 22!  I hope it works when I come back to Canada.  it says that my plan is expired which isn't true!  

ryanwoo
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen
Add-on is not like porting a number or changing a plan, it should really not to cause us any trouble at all. At least, not to disrupt normal services even the add-on itself is not working. PM is great only when it works.

biggyk
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

I also used it in the US no problem. Was great!

 

Its only my account that is bugged saying its suspended.

srlawren
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité
I used the US roaming texting add-on last weekend and it worked great for me, no suspension of service.

(I only used the texting as I used roam mobility in my second sim slot for data and had my calls forwarded to my fongo number)

>>> ALERT: I am not a moderator. For account or activation assistance, please click here.

ryanwoo
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

I am curious, did this US roaming ever work for anyone. I can't believe it failed on all who purchased this add-on.

embridgwater
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

srlawren
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité
Opps "selecting" not sleeping. Sorry I typed that in a hurry on the mobile site and SwiftKey thought it knew better than me 😉

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srlawren
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité
@Johrobkoo have you tried manually sleeping the AT&T or T-Mobile network on your phone? Some people have needed to do that.

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canucks4life
Town Hero / Héro de la Ville

@imm1304 wrote:

It is global texting as in the PM customer on the PM network is able to send texts to a whole bunch of countries in different coreners of the world. 

 

As I said before, international roaming is not part of the regular plan you purchase.  International roaming always costs extra $'s no matter which carrier you are with.  

 

Just do your research and you will learn that international roaming costs extra. No carrier offers extension of their plan for free to you while roaming internationally. 


FYI technically Wind (Freedom) allows free inbound SMS while roaming anywhere in the world.

Johrobkoo
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

We are in California.  I purchase the USA roaming before I left.  But it doesn't work at all!  I tried everything suggested here.  Any suggestions?  Can you activate it?  

imm1304
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

It is global texting as in the PM customer on the PM network is able to send texts to a whole bunch of countries in different coreners of the world. 

 

As I said before, international roaming is not part of the regular plan you purchase.  International roaming always costs extra $'s no matter which carrier you are with.  

 

Just do your research and you will learn that international roaming costs extra. No carrier offers extension of their plan for free to you while roaming internationally. 

aday
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen
OK, but then it should be named Nation Wide texting. IMHO

imm1304
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

Global texting that is part of our plans is only functional when we are connected to PM's national network within Canada.

 

Roaming is a separate category of service as we would connect to other carriers outside Canada.  I don't think any carrier offers global texting for free while roaming.

aday
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen
Ya but then global texting is not really global texting

theoc198
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

@aday

 

If you add a US romaing add-on which includes texting yes.

aday
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

with the addition of U.S. Roaming does that mean we will get true global texting (send/receive) in the U.S. if we have Global texting on our plan???? 

a6955567
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

Great!

brosephina
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

Thats great! Exciting news to hear 😃

zmawani
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

This seems interesting! I like that it is only 10 days rather than a full month since I'm rarely in the US for more than a few days at a time.

Ali125
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Ali125
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

mech9t5
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

I think some people don't like the roaming options because they haven't thought it through or their usage doesn't suit these options.

 

It is hard to compare the cost between Public and Koodo or other providers because Public's cost is variable.  It all depends on usage.  The break even point is roughly 84mb per day.  

 

As you start to use more data, public starts getting cheaper.  At 84mb per day, Koodo is cheaper for 1 or 2 days of travel.  I believe the trend is MORE data especially when travelling as you will need to search, use maps, etc.  

 

So I think the reality is, if you only go to the US on day trips, then Public's roaming is not for you.  For any other scenario Public has the better roaming options. 

 

 

 

 

Rockdaddy22
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité
Thanks for the update 🙂

biggyk
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen
I just wanted to confirm that I used roaming for the week I was in the states and it worked awesome. I was on att the entire time and LTE worked just fine.

Other than my self serve telling me my account is suspended which it's not, I was happy with the add on 🙂

What if PM restructured the Roam like this, so as to make the 10 days work effectively and efficiently

 

Instead of like Koodo's No Expiry version, or the 10 Day timer that once purchased would expire after 10days, what If PM gave the PM Client 30 days to use the 10 Days worth, when U cross the border, 1 Day is deducted from the 10 day, U still can use for the full day, even IF U cross multiple x's in a single day, still counts as One

This way, the 10 Day can be flexible and still be fairly priced, not too expensive, and the PM Client can still say that the way it's structured works perfectly, can fit any schedule, PM wouldn't have to add different cycle periods 100%, there's flexibility and would be a win/win for everyone

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