No service

[Corada]

I have a canadian PM account. Since landing in Mexico...my phone has shown "no service". the local provider tried their card and said my phone is locked. I have used the phone in other countries with different providers so it isn't locked. Any ideas? I should have free international texting

[darlicious]

@chukdefatey @dust2dust 

Well upon further investigation I can see where a customer may think it would exist in Mexico at least....as ICE wireless does offer roaming in Mexico included in their plans in the same manner as freedom's nationwide service.

https://www.icewireless.com/en/wireless/plans

[dust2dust]

@Corada- This is a somewhat frequent misunderstanding of the marketing terminology here (and other providers). The texting service here is not just the US either. Roaming is offered for while in the US only . International texting is for while in Canada only. You can text in and out anywhere while in Canada. I remember people even asking if texting in Canada is included due to a similar misunderstanding. It's just stupid marketing. But Public is not alone in using that terminology.

[chukdefatey]

Roaming has been around since mid 1990's so I have no idea why someone would assume there Countries plan included features will work in another country? However there are some plans that will work in other countries but it will specify 'Roaming'. So there is no reason to mix Roaming usage with your international plan features. They are completely two different things 

[chukdefatey]

@Corada international texting with Public Mobile or any other Canadian Providers doesn't mean it's US only. Not sure where you getting your information from. If your Canadian Providers plan has international texting that means international and that international includes mexico. 

[chukdefatey]

@Corada Which Provider will you switch to when you get back home?  No major Providers in Canada offer International texting when you are in Mexico. So my curious mind wants to know which Provider do you have in mind?

Also for your information. If your Canadian or a Plan from another company in most of the world includes international texting that means you can text internationaly from the country your sim card is from. It absolutely doesn't mean you are able to Roam with it in another country and use Free international texting. 

Also for your information when you take your sim card and want to use it another country it's called Roaming.  

[darlicious]

@Corada 

International texting means you can recieve or send texts internationally to nearly all countries around the globe while in Canada. If another provider allows texting in Mexico you will pay either $14 to $15/day for Roam like Home service or you will pay per use rates that average between $0.60 to $0.75/SMS text.

[computergeek541]

@Corada 

No matter which carrier you go to, roaming won't be included with the plan.

[Corada]

Wish i had known that international texting on the PM site meant US.  I would have changed carriers.  I'll do that when I get back to Canada.

[darlicious]

@Corada 

If....your phone is locked then it's locked to the telus network and you can get it unlocked by contacting pm's customer support. What is the make and model of your phone? If itsva phone released in 2018 or newer it's very unlikely to be locked by a Canadian provider.

[HALIMACS · Accepted solution]

@Corada 

Regrettably, public mobile services only work in Canada and the USA (with a USA add-on)

They do not work anywhere else.

If your phone is locked to a carrier, you need to determine which carrier locked it and have them unlock it for you. Then you can use a local prepaid SIM card in Mexico.

EDIT:  if you are in a Wi-Fi zone when texting is needed, you can use iMessage if you are using an iPhone or chat if you are using an Android device. Otherwise you can also use a VoIP service like TextNow to text.

[Handy1]

@Corada @Pm only works in Canada and USA with addins won’t work in Mexico your best to get a local SIM card there for your trip 

edit the international texting and calling is when it being made from Canada only to abroad