3g shutdown versus 4g LTE

[mellondon]

 

 am I totally missing something here. Why is p/m telling me to pick a new plan as my 60 USA roaming plan will stop working by the end of the month. Seems to me it should be a flawless transition. 

[mellondon]

@hTideGnow  thanks. And no I don’t talk 24/7. Lol

[mellondon]

Exactly. I’m a long haul driver going to Indiana and I really need to communicate with my office etc. 

[hTideGnow]

HI @darlicious   I thought OP wants to take the offer of $60 refund and change plan LoL

Yes @mellondon , using TextNow/Fongo on your PM roaming data will work.  Unless you talk 24/7  🙂

[darlicious]

@softech 

Think about it....many of the customers with this plan spent nearly two years not using their US services and kept their plan. Most customers will still keep it and use a workaround as long as customer support agents dont continue to spread misinformation.

[darlicious]

@mellondon 

Oops....go to the playstore and download the app.

[darlicious]

@mellondon 

Just download either the textnow or fongo app. Register and choose a canadian number. Done. Textnow has better call quality but lots of ads and you have to use it more often to keep your phone number. I have both but tend to use fongo more often as I can just text with my pm plan. I use fongo mostly to check voicemail.

@hTideGnow 

The OP has US roaming data....fongo probably uses less data at 0.5mb/min.

[softech]

@mellondon   I wonder if you should reply the message and push the CS Agent to escalate for senior staff

Or maybe Community manager can help?

Hi @J_PM , 

Hopefully you can shine some light here.  We got some "rumour" that VoLTE might be enabled for roaming (and Canada as well???) before late September.  Is that really in the work? 

Problem is some users are on the US calling plan from before, they are paying $60/cycle now but they are getting hit by the taking down of 3G.   If VoLTE really coming, and coming soon, maybe it worth the wait (but it is an expensive wait, paying full amount but not getting 100% service everywhere in US)  However, if there is really no VoLTE in the picture any time soon, then those subscribers can change plan without regret.  The last thing we want to see is that  they give up the snowbird plan now and only find out next month that VoLTE is here and they cannot go back to the grandfathered plan.  

Please reply and let us know. 

[hTideGnow]

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@mellondon wrote:

I feel like I want to go to fongo I can’t speak to a person and I don’t want to mess it up. The website is confusing 

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Hi @mellondon    Ify ou are in US a lot, using TextNow (just like Fongo but better) is certainly a cheaper solution.  You just need Local Mobile Data SIM

You can forward voice calls to your TextNow number before you leave Canada and you are receiving phone calls that way

[mellondon]

I feel like I want to go to fongo I can’t speak to a person and I don’t want to mess it up. The website is confusing 

[dust2dust]

@darlicious-  Nope. Just tried setting to LTE only and dialing 611 just immediately halted and "hung up".

[darlicious]

Why has everyone missed the most important point here? The CSA is supplying the customer ( @mellondon ) with complete misinformation.

By offering an inducement to change plans if the OP did not know to consult with the community ( who has so far in the last few replies) has also failed to point out that public mobile support has no clue about what they are talking about then he may have changed plans thinking what is the point of paying for a US Roaming plan if it wont work?

The only loss of service is voice calls that have a workaround until hopefully as @softech mentioned VoLTE may be enabled by the end of September. 

Maybe the reasons cited for the 30% rate to the $10 plan included enabling VoLTE calling for all customers?

"This includes keeping all our call centers open, 24/7 technical support, and keeping our stores and dealer locations open. We want to ensure all our customers have fast data speeds, the best reception, and access to all of our premium services, including new prepaid plans with data, and customer support. Sometimes price increases are necessary to ensure we can continue to deliver the best service and coverage."

[gpixel]

you could have just took the free money 🤣

[softech]

@mellondon   It is a tough call to change your plan or not.  You have an old plan, you changed it and you can never get it back. 

The rep who talked to you said nothing he can do and even offer you the refund of one month.

But another member said he said he talked to "PM customer service rep late yesterday. He says that Volte should be enabled late in September."  

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Get-Support/8-2GB-USA-Data-Plan/m-p/831611/highlight/...

Of course, not sure if the source is reliable.  You have a choice to make

[mellondon]

Yes I do have a grandfathered plan. 

[kb_mv]

@mellondon Your $60 plan includes US calling not US roaming (unless you are on some legacy plan that was offered a long time ago?). To roam in the US you need a 10 day roaming add on. In any case with US carriers shutting down their 3G, PM voice calls will not work when dialled in the US because for now PM does not offer voice over LTE (VOLTE), all of their voice calls in Canada and US use 3G only. They are apparently working on offering this in the US at least, by end Sept. The 4G/LTE that you googled refers to the data connection.

Having said that, I don't get why you have to change your plan.

[mellondon]

 

[JL9]

Could you post the screenshot of the email or communication of PM asking you to switch

[hTideGnow]

HI @mellondon   it is not confirmed, but someone posted here and said PM is arrange to have VoLTE enabled for US roaming before end of September

[darlicious]

@mellondon 

Have you recieved any notice of a change to your plan services via text or email from public mobile? Is this just info from google? This may just be related to the imminent shutdown of the 3G network in the US that will affect your voice services going forward until VoLTE is enabled for pm users. Though an unsubstantiated message to another user with your plan mentioned VoLTE will be enabled by the end of September.

After July 1st 2022 you will have to use a workaround for voice services in the US. This entails downloading a voip provider app such as textnow or fongo and using it on wifi or mobile data to be able to make or recieve voice calls. You would need to leave a new voicemail message advising contacts to call your voip phone number while you are in the US. You could also test whether you can call forward your pm phone # to your voip phone # and see if connecting to a US tower's 4G LTE network will still change your call forwarding options back to their default voicemail settings.

Since there are no US Roaming monthly plans at pm changing plans will not help your situation.

[dust2dust]

That looks like google results. Perhaps they're going to do to you what they did to the $10 plan...forcefully change it to a different plan. But if you've had no form of notice on that then I would disregard what you're reading elsewhere.

As has been discussed, talk will be much reduced as you're already seeing with AT&T. And without that then you might be experiencing less coverage using T-Mobile. Until they too start removing their 3G for talk in another month.

Then we'll see what will happen here. Will Public bring in VoLTE for all or will they make agreements with US carriers to allow their customers to use their VoLTE there. We've seen one rumour from a support person. We'll see if they knew something.

But data should still work.

[MrSpock]

@mellondon hi did PM send you a notice to change plans?