Public Mobile Service in Whitehorse: Any Insights for Traveling to Alaska?

[Nadele]

I’m planning to upgrade to an iPhone 15 or 16 along with a new calling/data plan and am considering Public Mobile. I travel to Alaska for week-long trips 2-3 times a year for work and often need to use my phone as a hotspot when I have cell reception. While I'm at home in Whitehorse, Yukon, I rarely use my phone's data.

Additionally, I plan to use a Tractive dog tracker (newest model) that relies on an app on my phone for location tracking. However, I’m concerned about the spotty coverage from Telus off the Bell cell towers in my area. Since June/July 2024, there have been telecommunications outages that Bell has attributed primarily to network congestion. They acknowledged that increased usage has led to service disruptions, including dropped calls, delayed text messages, and poor internet connectivity. In response, Bell has pledged to invest $22 million over three years to enhance 4G and 5G services in the region. While Bell customers should not receive preferential access (as governed by the Telecommunications Act and overseen by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission), I sometimes question if that is the case.

I've encountered mixed experiences in posts on this forum regarding coverage issues in Yukon and Alaska. I can manage with technical problems interfering with my phone use (from time to time), but I need reliable service for the Tractive tracker and want to ensure that my phone can effectively access Telus/Bell networks without significant issues.

Could anyone share their experiences with Public Mobile service in a similar situation? How has your experience been while using Public Mobile when traveling in Alaska? Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

[Phil_Adelphus]

@Nadele   Public Mobile's VoLTE approved iPhones are iPhone 8 and above.

[Nadele]

I have an iPhone 8 now, but I’m planning to upgrade to either the iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro. My decision will depend on whether I buy the phone outright (under my business) or through a 0% payment plan. If I can get all the services I need with Public Mobile, I’ll still come out ahead even if I choose the iPhone 16 Pro, as I’ll save quite a bit on my monthly bill.

I understand that VoLTE is enabled by default on iPhones that are 5G compatible (iPhone 12 series and newer). If I end up buying my own, I’ll be getting an unlocked version.

[hairbag1]

@Nadele 

FYI...with Public Mobile, there will never be any data overages or unexpected after-billing. PM is a pre-paid service meaning you only pay ahead for what you want. If you happen to get an unexpected benefit, you won't get billed later.  My suggestion is to enable Data Roaming and leave it on. You will not be billed later for anything...(other than your regular plan).

[hTideGnow]

HI @Nadele 

there had been 2 years PM lost the roaming partnership with AT&T and hence people weren't able to connect

The roaming in Alaska with AT&T resumed last year and it worked well.  And make sure you tried 4G first as 5G could be a trouble

for voice, it is still depends if you have a VoLTE whitelisted phone.  So, what phone do you have?

[Nadele]

Thanks for the information! Is this based on your experience connecting in Alaska? Just to clarify, do you think the previous posts about people not connecting to AT&T were due to their phones being too old, not following the right steps to connect (and avoid roaming fees), or has this issue been resolved recently (like within the last year)? I just scanned the discussions and didn't review all of them.

[hTideGnow · Accepted solution]

HI @Nadele 

PM has roaming service in Alaska now.  What you need to do is to make sure your phone connects to AT&T while you are there.  If Automatic does not work, use manual connections.  And only AT&T is the roaming partner there (ie, you won't see T-Mobile or Verizon there)