Activation

[Peter05]

Can I activate a new SIM card from the USA? It will be sent to a relative who is unable to activate it themselves. 

[cellphoneuser1]

@JPO Public doesn't charge for each time you roam. It doesn't work if you don't have a roaming add-on. Roaming is only available in United States.

[JPO]

Ok, if a person can activate a Canadian PM sim from anywhere online, would you incur roaming charges automatically  as soon as you turn the device on? Or are you just not able to make calls if you don’t have an add on roaming package?

[kselmak]

@Peter05 

I have a question, did you by any chance try or talk to anybody who tried TextNow sim card. They have free Canada and USA calling on sprint network, very affordable phones or sim for$10. The thing is that usa credit card and mailing address is needed. Someone just posted the picture of their coverage map and it looks like Americans traveling to Canada and Mexico can actually use it. 

[AE_Collector]

Just an FYI... They won’t be able to phone you in the USA unless you get them a US calling Add-On which is $15 for 1000 minutes and it will last until all of the minutes have been used up. Then a new one needs to be purchased. However, both of your accounts have a gift of 500 minutes of international calling which includes calling to the USA and a 2Gb data add-on so be certain to go online for each account and claim both free Christmas Gifts!.

AE_Collector

[kselmak]

Yes the account part works very well.

You should also get familiar with their phone if nobody is walking distance from them, it gets very challenging to get then to turn off airplane mode if you don't know what their home screen looks like. There are some nice flip phones that may be a great solution. Another one that i found very helpful is android with simple home option, nice large boxes instead of buttons or bubbles. 

[JK8]

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@Peter05 wrote:

From what I’ve read too, as long as I have access to the self serve account I can resolve some issues via that as well. 

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You can also call 1-855-4PUBLIC.

[Peter05]

From what I’ve read too, as long as I have access to the self serve account I can resolve some issues via that as well. 

[kselmak]

Yes

And both Canadian and USA credit cards are accepted.

Is there anybody who could assist the person when they do receive the card?

I've noticed if somebody is not able to activate themselves if there is any issue they will have problem resolving it and long distance doesn't make it any easier to assist as even the lingo may not work, i had very hard time getting somebody just to click on the address bar on their browser, taking the bus to their place was just faster. Having a friendly neighborhood with a kid who could be bothered for couple of minutes twice a year ended up being very useful

[RossN]

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@Peter05 wrote:

Can I activate a new SIM card from the USA? It will be sent to a relative who is unable to activate it themselves. 

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@Peter05  yes just make sure you use a canadian address for the activation 

[whyveeare]

Certainly!  In fact last month I activated a PM SIM card for my mother while I was in Washington state.  She already had the SIM card.  She just sent me a photo of the SIM card so I could get the SIM number.

[computergeek541 · Accepted solution]

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@Peter05 wrote:

Can I activate a new SIM card from the USA? It will be sent to a relative who is unable to activate it themselves. 

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You're in the U.S. or it's a U.S. SIM card?  It doesn't matter where you are when you go to the activation website. The SIM card must be a Public Mobile SIM and it can only be used for Public Mobile service. Is this simply a matter of you performing that task for the relative?