"Unlimited Canada, US & Mexico minutes ..etc" .... does that mean FREE ROAMING?

[jk514]

Hello, 

I am new here.

Some public mobile plans include.. "Unlimited Canada, US & Mexico minutes and messaging plus unlimited international text and picture messaging" .. is that essentially FREE ROAMING?  does that mean that, if i travel across Canada or the USA or Mexico i can still use my phone to make and receive calls without being charged for roaming? 

For example, i am in Montreal now.. but if i then travel to say Vancouver or New York.. can i still use my montreal number & phone to receive calls from all over canada and usa ...and can i use my phone while i am travelling to make calls to any local area i happen to be visiting while in the usa or canada  without  any roaming fee or additional charges.. like if i was in florida can i call the local pizza hut to order pizza and can they call me back?  

thank you.
 

[jk514]

---

@Chalupa_Batman wrote:

How about this. To put your mind at ease before joining Public Mobile, reach out to a Customer Service Agent and see what they say. I think hearing directly from a Public Mobile employee may put your mind at ease.

The Public Mobile chatbot is currently unable to create trackable tickets for members who are unable to log in. So for this reason, please use the following link to contact customer service.

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

A Customer Service Agent will reply to your community inbox here:

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/privatenotespage

During business hours (9 AM-10 PM EST) you can expect a response within 30 minutes, but it may be longer depending on current volumes.

Let us know what they say.

---

Hi again,

Yesterday i sent a message to cs_agent;

title:   is the Samsung Galaxy A16 5g phone supported on your VoLTE network?
i looked at the official list of VoLTE supported devices but i didn't see the Samsung Galaxy A16 5g phone on the list. 

Today, i got a reply;

title: Re: is the Samsung Galaxy A16 5g phone supported on your VoLTE network?
My name is XXXXXXX and I will be happy to help you today.
it is 3G, 4G (LTE) and 5G

i find their answer ambiguous. 

[Reg3]

My wife and I have the same Canada/US/Mexico plan and recently used it for four months while in Mexico. No roaming fees. Everything worked fine.

[hairbag1]

@jk514 

I can speak from recent experience while using Public Mobile in Mexico. Only the usa has retired 3G completely...not so in Mexico. You can use your non-VoLTE cell there without issue. As a matter of fact...I'm fairly certain your Sammy will work with VoLTE in Mexico also. You'll be connecting AT&T, T-Mobile Telcel or Movistar while in Mx. 

With the Canada/us/Mexico plan, you can ignore the message that goes.. "Welcome to usa...don't forget to buy the talk add-on". You won't need to buy any such add-on with that new plan.

[cellphoneuser1]

---

@jk514 wrote:

Hello, 

I am new here.

Some public mobile plans include.. "Unlimited Canada, US & Mexico minutes and messaging plus unlimited international text and picture messaging" .. is that essentially FREE ROAMING?  does that mean that, if i travel across Canada or the USA or Mexico i can still use my phone to make and receive calls without being charged for roaming? 

For example, i am in Montreal now.. but if i then travel to say Vancouver or New York.. can i still use my montreal number & phone to receive calls from all over canada and usa ...and can i use my phone while i am travelling to make calls to any local area i happen to be visiting while in the usa or canada  without  any roaming fee or additional charges.. like if i was in florida can i call the local pizza hut to order pizza and can they call me back?  

thank you.
 

---

It's true that the Canada/US/Mexico plans all include raoming in US and Mexcio, but there were some older plans that advertised US calling that didn't include raoming in the US as some of them only included calling to the US from Canada.

[jk514]

---

@hTideGnow wrote:

hi @jk514 

only problem with CS agent is that they will go by the "book" and they will give you the same answer as the link

many members confirmed that the VoLTE is actually bigger than advertised.  So the best answer is not from PM support agent, but from your test.  Make sure you phone shows LTE or 5G before you make calls.  Make a call and check if the icon changed from LTE or 5G to 4G or 3G.  If it changes , then it is NOT on VoLTE.  If it stays on LTE or 5G, then yes, your phone is on VoLTE

from what I heard, people can use VoLTE on an A16 on PM network

---

I know my phone has VoLTE.. but i am currently with another carrier .. this is why i wanted to know if PM would support my phone....... not all carriers support the same phones.. just because my phone is able to connect through VoLTE with one carrier doesnt mean it will work with another carrier............... this is just another example of how complicated choosing wireless carriers has become. 

[hTideGnow]

hi @jk514 

only problem with CS agent is that they will go by the "book" and they will give you the same answer as the link

many members confirmed that the VoLTE is actually bigger than advertised.  So the best answer is not from PM support agent, but from your test.  Make sure you phone shows LTE or 5G before you make calls.  Make a call and check if the icon changed from LTE or 5G to 4G or 3G.  If it changes , then it is NOT on VoLTE.  If it stays on LTE or 5G, then yes, your phone is on VoLTE

from what I heard, people can use VoLTE on an A16 on PM network

[jk514]

---

@Chalupa_Batman wrote:

---

---

How about this. To put your mind at ease before joining Public Mobile, reach out to a Customer Service Agent and see what they say. I think hearing directly from a Public Mobile employee may put your mind at ease.

The Public Mobile chatbot is currently unable to create trackable tickets for members who are unable to log in. So for this reason, please use the following link to contact customer service.

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

A Customer Service Agent will reply to your community inbox here:

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/privatenotespage

During business hours (9 AM-10 PM EST) you can expect a response within 30 minutes, but it may be longer depending on current volumes.

Let us know what they say.

---

Good idea. 
I sent them a msg. 
I will let you know what they say.

[Dunkman]

@jk514 

The list is not updated frequently. 

From another post, the A16 should be VoLTE compatible

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Get-Support/Samsung-A16-VoLTE-Support/m-p/1333496#M91...

[Chalupa_Batman]

---

@jk514 wrote:

---

@hTideGnow wrote:

hi @jk514 

PM only allows small number of phones use VoLTE

even it is not on the list, I think it works on VoLTE, can you check if your phone show LTE when it makes no call and when it is on a call?  if it stays on LTE while you are on call , then it is VoLTE

---

PM says "Not all VoLTE-capable phones are certified across all service providers. For a list of devices certified for VoLTE on Public Mobile, refer to the official list"  

So the Samsung Galaxy A16 5g is not on the list even though the phone is from 2024 and has LTE and VoLTE. Another popular phone that has VoLTE but is not on the list are any of the samsung galaxy s24 & s25 phones. which makes me think the list is old. 

---

How about this. To put your mind at ease before joining Public Mobile, reach out to a Customer Service Agent and see what they say. I think hearing directly from a Public Mobile employee may put your mind at ease.

The Public Mobile chatbot is currently unable to create trackable tickets for members who are unable to log in. So for this reason, please use the following link to contact customer service.

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

A Customer Service Agent will reply to your community inbox here:

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/privatenotespage

During business hours (9 AM-10 PM EST) you can expect a response within 30 minutes, but it may be longer depending on current volumes.

Let us know what they say.

[jk514]

---

@hTideGnow wrote:

hi @jk514 

PM only allows small number of phones use VoLTE

even it is not on the list, I think it works on VoLTE, can you check if your phone show LTE when it makes no call and when it is on a call?  if it stays on LTE while you are on call , then it is VoLTE

---

PM says "Not all VoLTE-capable phones are certified across all service providers. For a list of devices certified for VoLTE on Public Mobile, refer to the official list"  

So the Samsung Galaxy A16 5g is not on the list even though the phone is from 2024 and has LTE and VoLTE. Another popular phone that has VoLTE but is not on the list are any of the samsung galaxy s24 & s25 phones. which makes me think the list is old. 

[hTideGnow]

hi @jk514 

PM only allows small number of phones use VoLTE

even it is not on the list, I think it works on VoLTE, can you check if your phone show LTE when it makes no call and when it is on a call?  if it stays on LTE while you are on call , then it is VoLTE

[jk514]

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/get-help/articles/volte 

i noticed the Samsung Galaxy A16 5g phone isn't on the list of VoLTE devices.. why?

it definitely supports VoLTE.

[hTideGnow]

HI @jk514 

yes, you can, and not roaming fees

first, our service always work anywhere in Canada

When you are in US and Mexico, make sure your phone is enabled with Mobile roaming data so it can get the data on the US or Mexican network 

[Chalupa_Batman]

---

@jk514 wrote:

Hello, 

I am new here.

Some public mobile plans include.. "Unlimited Canada, US & Mexico minutes and messaging plus unlimited international text and picture messaging" .. is that essentially FREE ROAMING?  does that mean that, if i travel across Canada or the USA or Mexico i can still use my phone to make and receive calls without being charged for roaming? 

For example, i am in Montreal now.. but if i then travel to say Vancouver or New York.. can i still use my montreal number & phone to receive calls from all over canada and usa ...and can i use my phone while i am travelling to make calls to any local area i happen to be visiting while in the usa or canada  without  any roaming fee or additional charges.. like if i was in florida can i call the local pizza hut to order pizza and can they call me back?  

thank you.
 

---

No, sorry, Pizza Hut is not one of the places you can call. Try Domino's. 🙂

Clearly the above was a "funny" so please take it as one. As @Dunkman stated, make sure you're phone is on the whitelist so you can use it in the US and Mexico. Speaking of, which phone are you using? And on a side note, if your phone is good to use in the US, you want to make sure you turn on data roaming for data to work plus you MAY have to go into your Network Settings and turn off Automatic and choose T-Mobile as it's the better service down there. And finally, if you do have a phone that works and you do choose this plan, every time you enter the US it will tell you to purchase addons to use in the US and or Mexico. Those, you can ignore. Everyone get's them.

[Dunkman · Accepted solution]

@jk514 

Yes, that is correct.  You can use your phone in Canada, US and Mexico without needing anything extra (ie. add ons).  Since PM is prepaid, there is no extra charges. 

One thing to consider though is for talk services in the USA, you should have a phone that is VoLTE compatible  with the Public mobile network.  Since the 3G network is decommissioned in the USA, VoLTE is important for US calling while in the USA. 

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/get-help/articles/volte

P.S. I will move your post from Lounge to Get Support section.