Ottawa ON - Gatineau PQ

[kav2001c]

This idea has been posted before (even by myself once) but really needs another look

It seems silly that a call originating in Ottawa & terminates in Gatineau is a LOCAL call, yet those on provincial calling plans are unable to do so

A provincial long distance plan SHOULD cover a LOCAL call, regardless of what area code is

Whether Public makes an exception for those living there or lets anyone in ON dial it (after all with a Province wide long distance plan we can then call Gatineau from ANYWHERE in ON)

This issue needs to be resolved; many people make this daily commute and it sounds really weird repeatedly explaining that on a Province wide plan they can dial a city hundreds of kilometres away but can not place a LOCAL call

[zmawani]

Agreed. There should be an exception made in this case. Ottawa is part of a National Capital Region and it is very difficult to dissociate the Gatineau side from the Ottawa side. Both sides share many of the same resources (for example, bus service crosses from the Ottawa side to the Gatineau side and vice-versa) and the two cities exist in parallel with one another (how well they do this is a separate issue).

For all other phone companies (even before Canada-wide calling was considered standard), calling within the NCR was NOT considered long-distance.

[hazing]

Is there number of hits we need or replies in this thread to bring this to the attention of someone who can make this change. I'm certain everyone in Ottawa using a public mobile plan would voice their concern regarding this issue.

[maoz]

Absolutely, I remember I was so disappointed when I noticed this was counted as long distance call because other companies don't consider this as LD call even the Quebec local company Videotron. 

[csphone]

This would be a great help to me as well!

[kav2001c]

@hazing well if we can get +17 bravos (12 more) it will be on top page so will start to generate even more interest

For now try to get anyone who mentions Ottawa to help out, and hopefully some of the vets (like Oracles) will come onboard too

[kav2001c]

What do the big guns think?

@Shazia_K, @Saray_O, @Mary_M, @Public, @Luddite, @imm1304, @srlawren

We need this to happen

[JaK]

Don't have that much need to call Gatineau, but I'll support this.

One comment @kav2001c, think maybe you have a typo, you wrote:

"A long distance plan SHOULD cover a LOCAL call, regardless of what area code is"

I think you meant:

"A provincial plan..."

[kav2001c]

@JaK technically yes true. Just less of an issue on Canada wide plans of course.

But a PROVINCIAL long distance plan should cover a LOCAL call regardless of area code is correct

Thanks, I will try to correct

[srlawren]

@kav2001c since you called me out, let me weigh in.

I sympathize with the issue completely.  That said, an arbitrary "division" has to be made somehow.  PM has chosen to offer Canada-wide or Province-wide calling, rather than Canada-wide or Local-only.  (let's exclude the Canada&US for the purpose of this discussion).

So I'm a bit torn.  The province-wide plan gets even more complicated to explain to people if we add in "except if it's a local call by way of how the telecoms have traditionally decided it was a local call" exceptions to the chosen provincial boundary issue.

I realize too that this particular issue is complicated by the fact that your phone could attach to a tower on the other side of the invisible provincial border, making the network think you're outside your province.  

I guess if PM has a technical way to somehow whitelist situations like this where calls are local even across a provincial boundary, then they should.  On the other hand, if the only way to resolve it is to somehow comp an upgrade to Canada-wide calling for the affected folks, I don't think that's fair either to everyone else that has paid for the upgrade to Canada-wide.

So, I'm going to say that while I would not be happy if I were affected, I still struggle with outright supporting the idea.  

But, my opinion is only my own, and hopefully for anyone affected, PM thinks differently, and has a fix in mind.

[neilselden]

@srlawren,

I never thought about the possibility of connecting to a tower over in gatineau (I am in Ottawa).

At the moment I am on the Canada/US calling plan, but will be switching to province-wide in a couple of weeks.

However, I'll keep an eye out for that and let folks know if it is an issue.

Cheers,

Neil