Province-wide, Canada-wide and Long Distance Add-ons

[neilselden]

Hi,

I'm hoping one of our moderators can sticky this thread.... @Shazia_K, how about it?  🙂

@ute1978 posted a great chart explaining how Provice-wide calling works.  I'm re-posting it here, and below, will describe how it works...

There is a lot of confusion about Province wide calling, but I can summarize it here:

1. When in your province:
   1. All calls made within your province are free
   2. All calls received from anywhere are free
   3. Any calls made to anywhere outside your province require a long distance add on
2. When outside your province
   1. Calls made to whichever province you are in are free
   2. You wil not receive calls unless you have a long distance add on
      1. You will be charged for each minute of incoming call

WIth Canada-wide calling:

1. any call that you make within Canada is free
2. any call that you receive from anywhere while you are in Canada is free
3. if you want to call International, you will need to buy the International long distance add-on
   1. If you want to call the US only, you need one of:
      1. US/Canada Long distance add on
      2. International add on
      3. Some VoIP solution like Fongo, Hangouts Dialer, etc... This would use your PM data connection to route calls

Hope this helps our new members understand how it all works.

Cheers,

Neil

[pm-smayer97]

As for the extra cost, I am not over there often enough to warrant the extra fee so am trying to understand the nuance. 

At worst, the $8/200 min add-on would be a better fit. 

Again, I like to understand the detailed specifics.

[pm-smayer97]

Yes I have been reading the Ottawa/Gatineau dilemma but I do not recall anyone SPECIFICALLY mentioning anywhere the ring vs voicemail result. And I do not like to operate on supposition. 

Thx for the reply.

[srlawren]

@pm-smayer97 it goes right to voicemail.

I think you've already seen first hand info on the ON/PQ issue, since you have been responding over here.

Your mileage may vary, but if you are in that area, I would strongly suggest you pay the extra $5/30 days or $15/90 days to upgrade to Canada-wide calling instead of province-wide.  Then you don't even have to think about any of this.  

[pm-smayer97]

Yes, thanks that is how I am approaching it, and that is how I am understanding it.

Based on DESIGN, would a user still have their phone ring even though the call cannot be completed or will it simply not ring and the caller go straight to voicemail?

That said, can anyone confirm what they ACTUALLY experience between Ontario and Quebec (most of my travels)? (I know I cannot depend on it).

[srlawren]

@pm-smayer97 officially you should not be able to receive any inbound calls while outside of your province on a province-wide plan without long distance add-on minutes available.  However, as you note, some uesrs have reported success receiving calls in such situations.  This appears to be a gltich, so I would not count on that being available now, or forever.  You might get lucky and it might work, and they might never fix it.  Or, it's possible it will never work for you, or they may patch it next week, next month, next year, etc.  

If I were you, I would make my decisions with the assumption that you will not be able to recieve any calls outside of your home province.

[pm-smayer97]

So just to be sure, does this mean that if I do NOT have and LD add-on and I am from Toronto ONTARIO but located in Montreal QUEBEC, that I can still RECEIVE CALLS while in Montreal from callers in MONTREAL? 

I have read that mods and PM say it should NOT work but somes users claim it DOES work, so it is very confusing...

[kav2001c]

@pm-smayer97 incoming is ok, so is outgoing to province you are in

But you can't call another province

EG live in Toronto, can call anywhere in ON

Travel to Montreal, now can call anywhere in PQ, but CAN'T call any of your friends back in Toronto (yet they can still call you)

[pm-smayer97]

BTW, I have read through the thread but not sure about this...if no LD add-on, will the phone ring at all if located out of province? And what will the caller get, direct to voicemail or ring until voicemail picks up, or something else?

[pm-smayer97]

Not sure why I cann subscribe to any threads...so posting in hopes this will subscribe me so I can follow the discusion.

[ute1978]

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@srlawren wrote:

@ute1978 are you 100% sure the incoming calls are not drawing from your add-on minutes while you are out of your home province?  If they really are not, then yes this must be a glitch, as that's how it's supposed to work.  

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Yes, I am sure.

See also my own thread here. Public Mobile will investigate.

http://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Plans-Add-Ons/Province-wide-calling-with-long-distance...

[WearySky]

@ute1978 You're lucky then, for whatever glitch is on your account.

[srlawren]

@ute1978 are you 100% sure the incoming calls are not drawing from your add-on minutes while you are out of your home province?  If they really are not, then yes this must be a glitch, as that's how it's supposed to work.  

[ute1978]

Yes I am on a provincial plan and have the long distance add on.

[kav2001c]

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@ute1978 wrote:

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@kav2001c wrote:

@ute1978 incoming is not free, it is deducted from your long distance minutes

---

Well, not for the two of us. All incoming calls are free wherever I am. Public Mobile is looking into it but until now there is no news on this glitch.

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On a province wide plan?

Only Canada or Canada/US should have free incoming

[ute1978]

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@kav2001c wrote:

@ute1978 incoming is not free, it is deducted from your long distance minutes

---

Well, not for the two of us. All incoming calls are free wherever I am. Public Mobile is looking into it but until now there is no news on this glitch.

[kav2001c]

@ute1978 incoming is not free, it is deducted from your long distance minutes

OUTGOING is free, while in another province you can call any local number (excluding the Ottawa-Gatineau fiasco)

[ute1978]

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@power-fade wrote:

My home province is BC, I am currently in AB... I am making calls to AB numbers and I am also receiving calls in AB, both no charges.  Of course texts globally are free and data is Canada wide....

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Thank you for confirming. That's why I was firmly convinced (on the RFD forum a few months back and I even argued with other members) that incoming calls are free if you are outside of your province and you have the long distance add on.

[ute1978]

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@Rockdaddy22 wrote:
What if you try and call BC?

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Outgoing calls to other provinces are charged.

[Rockdaddy22]

What if you try and call BC?

[power-fade]

My home province is BC, I am currently in AB... I am making calls to AB numbers and I am also receiving calls in AB, both no charges.  Of course texts globally are free and data is Canada wide....

[srlawren]

@bluesklus in your scenario, as long as you stay within BC, you can call your friend's BC-based phone number without needing an add-on.  Depending on your friend's plan with their provider, they may or may not be able to receive the call without incurring long distance charges, but that is independent of your side of the equation.

[bluesklus]

Hi, 

Are the province boundaries determined by the area code of the number? Or the geographical location of the receiving phone at the time of the call?

For example:

I have a BC phone number with Public Mobile. I have a friend with another provider who also has a BC number. If my friend likes to travel around Canada, can I call his BC number from my phone on the province wide plan? Or will I need to get an add on?

Thanks

[Nilsej]

I remembered I had the same issue when I was with Fido for sometime and it is gone by itself. The problem I had with Fido is when I add 1 in front and if I am in that city where the area code belongs to it gives me message saying dial the number by removing 1.

I hope public mobile recognize that none of the company I am aware of still has local(inner city) only cell plan now a days so this warning message is more of irrelevant.

[WearySky]

Because it's still technically a long distance call, even if it's included in your package.  The solution for me (years ago, when I was with Rogers and ran into the same issues even though I had nationwide calling) was to just add a +1 in front of all my contacts' numbers... Kind of a pain, but since I'm on an Android phone I was able to do it at contacts.google.com instead of having to do it in my phone.

[Nilsej]

Why I am getting annoying long distance call alert before call even if I am calling within ontario and to the Ontario number? I am in Ontario too and having unlimited provincial plan.

[JUNA1D5HAH]

i agree

[bbdata]

@RLBL yes, you can receive texts while you remain within Canada.

And global and international mean the same thing.

[RLBL]

@WearySky @bbdata thank you both... but can I "receive" them from anyone, and anywhere when I am out of province (sorry if I was not clear -  I assume the answer is yes). I appreciate I can send them from anywhere.

side question:

On the promo page, it says global text... when I signed up I only have the option of international.  Not a big deal for me, but which is it?

[bbdata]

@RLBL you can text internationally while in Canada.

[WearySky]

@RLBL - you can text from wherever you are in Canada.  No need to be in your home province (likewise using data).  It's only calling that's limited to province-wide (on province-wide plans, obvs)