Definition of home province

[deljo_agtor]

Hi... I'm under the impression that your home province is deffined by the address listed in your profile, correct?

The reason as to why I ask is this:

With Province wide calling, I can call any number within the province and receive any call within the world.  With Ontario as my home province (and without an add-on), if I go to BC, will I:

a) be able to recive call?

b) be able to make a call to a BC number?

c) be able to make a call to an ontario number?

If I deceide to move to BC, how do I change my "Home Province"? Is it as simple as changing my address on my profile?

[itpun]

Im actually in a trickier situation; I have a BC area code number, but moved over to Ontario for about 6 months now. I just ported it over yesterday with my Ontario address and it is currently considering Ontario as my "home" address. THis is fine for now, but I will be moving back to BC next year, requiring me to change my home address to BC instead. From the notes before, it seems that Public Mobile uses the Area Code of the number to evaluate where the home location is, but apparently mine is Ontario even though it is a BC area code number.

Would I just need to change my profile address to my BC address once I move back so that my home location would change to BC?

Thank you!

[kav2001c]

@hamidh and to add to what I posted last; Videotron will not even work if using an out of province number. Their system does not support it at all.

[kav2001c]

---

@hamidh wrote:

You may be correct that no carrier does that. But all carriers allow subscribers to switch to Saskatchewan, Manitoba, or Quebec plans if they move there without changing their number. Because if have to change their phone number, they might as well just go with SaskTel, MTS, or Videotron. If I move to another province, I will switch carriers instead of chaging my number. Public Mobile has every right to design their plans and services as they see fit. But I want to emphesize that they may lose subscribers because of this policy.

---

WHAT?

This is so wrong

Bell, Telus, Rogers, heck even Wind require you to have an in province phone number to use a regional plan

Also since number change is free I am failing to see what the issue is?

[imm1304]

Not all plans are for everyone.  Hope you find the best option that works for you. 

Down side of keeping the same number when changing province is that many in your new province will have to dial long distance to call you.  Also, provinces like Quebec, Manitoba, Alberta have special regional deals by other carriers. So if you move to one of these provinces, you can take advantage of these deals by selecting a local province's number.  But, as I said, gotta do what works best for you. 

[hamidh]

---

@computergeek541 wrote:

---

@hamidh wrote:

I hope Public Mobile would change its aproach and similar to other carriers use the address on file to determine the home province.

---

No carrier ever does that.  Long distance charges are always based on your phone number (and city that the phone number is based out of).

---

You may be correct that no carrier does that. But all carriers allow subscribers to switch to Saskatchewan, Manitoba, or Quebec plans if they move there without changing their number. Because if have to change their phone number, they might as well just go with SaskTel, MTS, or Videotron. If I move to another province, I will switch carriers instead of chaging my number. Public Mobile has every right to design their plans and services as they see fit. But I want to emphesize that they may lose subscribers because of this policy.

[hamidh]

I don't want to lose contact with everyone who has my previous number. This is a suboptimal solution at best. I would probably move to another carrier instead.

[computergeek541]

---

@hamidh wrote:

I hope Public Mobile would change its aproach and similar to other carriers use the address on file to determine the home province.

---

No carrier ever does that.  Long distance charges are always based on your phone number (and city that the phone number is based out of).

[imm1304]

Hi @hamidh!

Once you move to a different province, you can change your number to one from the local region where you live.  This is easily done instantly from selfserve.  Then your plan stays the same and local calling area changes to the home province of the number you selected.  

[hamidh]

That's unfortunate. If I have to move to a different province, I will have to change carriers. Because I really don't want to pay per use for calling or receiving calls. I hope Public Mobile would change its aproach and similar to other carriers use the address on file to determine the home province.

[rodjames]

Is there a Local Access Number that outsiders can use to reach PM users out-of-province?

[Luddite]

@UncleBill Thanks for updating us. It's good to know the official "rule".

[UncleBill]

Hi, received reply from Public Mobile that home province is depends on the area code of the phone #. Therefore my home province is BC.

Thanks.

[deljo_agtor]

---

@Luddite wrote:

Hey @UncleBill @deljo_agtor Whatever was the final definition of home province? Area code or address in your account?

---

No "Official" answer was given, but I belive it to be the area code of your phone number.

[Luddite]

Hey @UncleBill @deljo_agtor Whatever was the final definition of home province? Area code or address in your account?

[Luddite]

I am still sure your home province is determined by your phone number and not your address but we can see what the moderators @Shazia_K @Mary_M have to say tomorrow.

Try calling someone in BC; it won't go through if Ontario is your home province. If that happens, I still think you should wait before making any changes.

Off to bed; I'll check in tomorrow.

[UncleBill]

Thanks for your quick reply. I've checked again and I don't have any addon activated and my talk plan is unlimited province. From my understanding after reading the definition of home province, it looks like my home province is Ontario although I have a BC #.

[Luddite]

@UncleBill If you have a BC area code, your home province is BC no matter where you live.

If you are receiving calls while in Ontario it's a happy glitch that suggests long distance add-on was activated.

Before doing anything else, I suggest you log into your self serve account and confirm your plan/add-ons and phone number. Let us know what you discover.

BTW: in future start a new thread so your problem does not get missed.

[UncleBill]

Hello everyone, just joined Public Mobile. I'm a little confused about my home province. I have the unlimited province talk. My address is in Ontario and my cell # is in BC. I think my home province should be BC. However, when in Ontario, both incoming and outgoing call work. So is my home province is Ontario or BC? If my home province is Ontario, how can I change it to BC?

Thanks.

[deljo_agtor]

This is great, thanks for the assistance in answering my questions.

[imm1304]

Good point @Luddite, losing my number would be very inconvenient as well.  

[kav2001c]

@Luddite ah depends on user. I know some people who are stuck on their numbers (esp HORRIBLE NUMBERS, people always misdial or get wrong number calls yet never want to change)

I can understand holding onto a "really good" number in a way

But then again, remember they expect number pools to be exhausted by 2044 so we will all have our numbers changed for us by then 

https://www.nationalnanpa.com/pdf/NRUF/April_2014_NANP_Exhaust_Analysis.pdf

[kav2001c]

@imm1304 correct about the 1 change per month

[Luddite]

Plus once you change your phone number you cannot recover the original number.

[imm1304]

@kav2001c, good idea.. 1 downside to that is the restriction on how frequently you can change your number.  I dont think you are allowed more than 1 number change per month.  

[kav2001c]

@deljo_agtor you could always change your number during your travels 🙂

[NDesai]

@imm1304 Just realized, thanks. 

[imm1304]

Hi @deljo_agtor!

Your are correct regarding the home province.. your PM number's area code will belong to your home province.  

To answer your questions,

a) NO.  You can NOT receive calls while you are outside your home province and dont have a long distance add-on.  

( @NDesai  no incoming calls without add-on when away from home province)

b)  YES.  You can make outgoing calls to the province you are in.  So in your example, you will be able to call BC numbers while you are traveling to BC.

c)  NO.  You will not be able to call Ontario numbers while travelling in BC without the add-on.

You can change your address but more importantly, you can accomplish this by going to selfserve and change your phone number.  Select number from the BC calling area of your choice and your home province will be changed to BC. 

[NDesai · Accepted solution]

Your home province is defined from cell tower you are connected to. 

If you go to BC,

No a) be able to recive call?

Yes b) be able to make a call to a BC number?

NO  c) be able to make a call to an ontario number?

So, whichever province you are in at that moment, you will be able to call only in that province.