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

[bryanbreguet]

Well given that this was already mentioned 4 pages ago by one of the mods, I think this just shows how difficult it is for you to actually understand what you read. Or maybe, as previously already established, you just didn't actually read and are just going with your own interpretation.

[kav2001c]

@neilselden one question on chart that is unclear to me

Person has a provincial plan with a long distance add on

Your post seems to indicate that minutes will not be deducted when calling long distance if you are in your home province?

That's not true right?

[daredogg]

This information is great, but I think credit needs to go to ute1978 for creating the chart in the first place. It's great that @neilselden took the information and ran with it (good job by the way), but I really do believe in giving credit where credit is due.

@ute1978 post something in this thread so we can all you give you bravos!

Neil did acknowledge ute1978 in their post, but I wanted to make sure people understood it was a joint effort. There are several people on the PM community right now who are wanting to create better, more clear step-by-step instructions for various processes... so bravos to ALL of you! *clap clap*

[furcifernova]

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@dhanadhan wrote:

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@furcifernova wrote:

I'm just curious if it's possible to port a BC (250) number to Ontario and make Ontario your home? 

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No, it will recognize your number from area code and towers you connect to. 

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OK, so if you keep a BC number while living in Ontario you would be on roam and people calling you would have to dial long distance even if they were right beside you. Canada wide calling is really the only option then. Thanks. 

[NDesai]

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@furcifernova wrote:

I'm just curious if it's possible to port a BC (250) number to Ontario and make Ontario your home? 

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No, it will recognize your number from area code and towers you connect to. 

[furcifernova]

I'm just curious if it's possible to port a BC (250) number to Ontario and make Ontario your home? 

[WearySky]

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@Rockdaddy22 wrote:
Why only Ontario?

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Well, Ontario and any other place where there aren't regional kickass plans (like some of the crazy data Rogers plans in SK, Koodo in MB/QC, etc).

[stonechucker]

@NDesai

It's not that I don't appreciate a better plan, it's that the better plan wouldn't be useful for people like me who do not require what you perceive to be a better plan for you.

Some people want data, some what nationwide or international texting, and the same with caling.  Everyone is different.

Maybe the next promo with be fabulous for folks wanting Canada wide calling.  Great!  Will it interest me,  probably not.

[NDesai]

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@aa wrote:

Why do people make province wide calling vs Canada wide calling such a big deal? If you leave your home province a lot then the promo plan is not for you. If you are worried that one day you MIGHT leave your province for a week then buy an add on. If you call outside your province a lot, why not use something like Google hangouts which calls anywhere in the US and Canada for FREE.

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Its mostly those in another province used to cheaper plan pricing. They don't know how plan pricing is in another provinces so, they do not appreciate even better plan but want something that they really want badly. 

[NDesai]

Great job neilselden, simple and easy to understand. 

[srlawren]

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@aa wrote:

Why do people make province wide calling vs Canada wide calling such a big deal? If you leave your home province a lot then the promo plan is not for you. If you are worried that one day you MIGHT leave your province for a week then buy an add on. If you call outside your province a lot, why not use something like Google hangouts which calls anywhere in the US and Canada for FREE.

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@aa hear hear!  🙂

[aa]

Why do people make province wide calling vs Canada wide calling such a big deal? If you leave your home province a lot then the promo plan is not for you. If you are worried that one day you MIGHT leave your province for a week then buy an add on. If you call outside your province a lot, why not use something like Google hangouts which calls anywhere in the US and Canada for FREE.

[daredogg]

I want to chime in here... It wasn't too long ago that cellphone carriers didn't have Canada-wide calling in its plans. When you actually had to pay long distance for each minute you used, you were sure to understand if you were "roaming or not". I've always understood that if I'm out of my calling area, any incoming calls would cost me. Maybe some people have always had nationwide calling, so that's why it seems so difficult to understand.

With the province-wide calling with PM, your entire province is your calling area. If you leave the province, you are roaming. When you are roaming, you can make local calls, but just know that anything incoming will cost you minutes from your LD plan. If you're roaming and don't have an LD plan, people won't be able to call you.

It's an easy enough concept to understand, but thanks to both @neilselden and @ute1978 for taking the initiative to better explain it. 

[srlawren]

@Cyber all the other carriers offer either Canada-wide, or local calling options.  PM offers either Canada-wide, or province-wide calling options.  I'm really struggling to see why you want them to get rid of province-wide?  It's a less expensive plan option for folks that never or rarely need to call outside their province.  It's more inclusive than the local-only lower priced offerings from the other carriers, so what's the downside?

The "confusion" around it applies equally well to the local-only offerings from other carriers, to understand what calls are local (depends where you are physically when you place the call), whether you will be charged long distance for making/receiving calls in various scenarios....it's really the same thing except for two differences:  (1) province-wide is a bigger region than local, and (2) since PM is pre-paid, you won't ever get dinged for unexpected long distance--you buy what you need.  

Just like if the local-only minutes don't meet your needs on other carriers so you opt for a Canada-wide plan, the same concept is here!  If the province-wide minutes don't meet your needs, then pick a Canada-wide plan.

[Rockdaddy22]

Why only Ontario?

[homer]

For people in Ontario, yes LOL. 

[Rockdaddy22]

@homer it's an amazing deal for a lot of people, nothing out there can come close.

[Jeremy_M]

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@geogolem wrote:

@Jeremy_M: Just to clarify. If I am in a situation where I am making or receiving a call that will use the minutes in my long distance add on. If I make or receive a call that lasts 5 seconds.. does that count as 1 full minute... or is it accumulated by the second.

Answer: If there is no connection, no minutes will be deducted

Also, if someone calls while I am outside my province and I do not answer the call.. That wont use my minutes - right. Likewise if I make a call but hang up before anybody answers and before their voicemail  answers - that wont use my minutes either - right.. 

Answer: That is correct 🙂

Final Example:  If I call someone and get their answering machine and hang up after 5 secondswithout leaving a message..does that count as 1 minute or 5 seconds.

Answer: 1 minute

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Cheers,

Jeremy

[homer]

I agree that priovincial-wide is confusing, but it is better than city-wide / zones right? Plus, the point of the promo is the 4GB data each month. I would say it is still a good deal for a lot of people 🙂 

[mjs]

I don't think that it's about "confusing" customers. I think it's keeping up with what people really want. these days it's all about data. So you see all these telecom companies now offering unlimited international text/ canada wide calling as a standard and normal thing in many of their plans but focus on manipulating data amount. 

[Rockdaddy22]

Hey, I'm switching too, I've made it very clear this plan will work for me with some addons. I just wish I could get Canada Wide for a reasonable price with the promo.

[Rockdaddy22]

People have dealing with much more confusing things in the cellular industry than provincial calling. It really isn't that confusing. PM can't be the only carrier offering provincial calling, is it?

[mjs]

Nicely said @Cyber

[stonechucker]

@Rockdaddy22,

The "last one" wasn't a promo.  The plan changes in the summer were set up, and you selected the items you wanted from the options provided.

The Provincal vs. Canada-Wide talk option on a 90-day plan happened to be a $15 difference, when you picked all 3.  You didn't have a 'promo' to opt in to, just a choice of different options for "your plan".

In the current Promo, There is ONLY one option.  To get the deal, you must select the REQUIRED 90day plan, Province calling, Global Txt, and 12 GB to get the deal.

For whatever reason, Public Mobile decided they didn't want to offer it to Canada wide subscribers, which is unfortunate for them.  I just happened to be one of the lucky ones who could choose to switch, as I do not require Canada wide calling.

[Cyber]

@Jeremy_M,

For actual/new customers, this is very CONFUSING.

What a mobile client want ?

A client want simplicity + Canada-wide calls.

@neilselden has well explained Province-wide but just a small group of persons will come on this thread.

@Jeremy_M, If you want to make Public Mobile better and better, please stop focusing on Province-wide plans. It costs nothing to Telus to offer calls within Canada-wide.

[mjs]

yeah. that or something similar would be nice. 

[Rockdaddy22]

I see lol
I'll definitely be fine with addons but do wish I could get Canada Wide for an extra $15

[Rockdaddy22]

I'd love to see one like the last one, you added $15 to get Canada Wide

[mjs]

i wasn't thinking. lol

[Rockdaddy22]

Fair enough, but why use the promo at all? So you'll use it for 3 months and the switch, I'm just trying to understand your thinking