Best Smartphone Plan Covering US and Canada?

j00bhaka writes "I am a US citizen attending university in Nova Scotia, Canada. I currently have the Verizon America and Canada plan (also known as the North American plan). My bill is currently around $80-$100 per month. I chose this for a couple reasons. One, I have had my number for about 7 years. Two, I do not permanently live in Canada. I live in Canada for 8 months out of the year at school, then travel home for the summer months. Either way, I would be dealing with international roaming without having both countries in my plan. Currently, I obviously don't have a smartphone. Through Verizon, I could purchase one, and add their international unlimited data plan on top of my (already) hefty phone bill. I have looked into Telus and Rogers here in Canada and cannot find anything better. As a student, my budget is obviously limited. Is there any way to reasonably have (and utilize) a smartphone while I am living in both countries? If so, what do you suggest I do?"

Re:Why a smartphone? Google voice + prepaid is bes

[ComSon0]

I travel to Canada from the US often for work and have tried this as I also have a Rogers plan. Google voice will not forward the calls to international numbers, even if it's our neighbor, Canada.

Re:Call Them

[drtsystems]

Except it does cost them more... a lot more. They don't have a network in canada so they have to pay rogers or whoever the CDMA carrier is in canada to let them use their network

GSM FTW

[bananaquackmoo]

Get a GSM phone, then you can remove the SIM card. Get 2 phone plans, one in Canada and one in the US. It'll be more expensive to have 2 plans, but it will also be cheaper than paying international rates.

Re:I wish.

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow! I have a 5 cell phones (each member of my family carries their own - no smart phones) a home phone, internet (FIOS with about 8-12 wifi/wired devices connected), and TV with 4 boxes (one an HD DVR)including HD content and movie channels (HBO/Cinemax/Starz/Movie Channel/etc....) all from Verizon and I still only pay about $350/month. You are seriously overpaying....

Re:GSM FTW

[Anonymous Coward]

It'll be more expensive to have 2 plans

Maybe not. If he parks his number on a pay as you go plan and gets a local plan for $35, it would save him a bundle. Mummy and Daddy can suck up the long distance bills to call him and he can use skype or whatever to call home. Skype is something like 0.02 cents a minute to call a land line so it won't break the bank. Heck, if they're somewhat technically inclined, he can call them for free. At the end of the deal, he can cancel his local plan and go back to his pay as you go number.
Posting anon cause im too lazy to log in.

Retention Department... other discount plans

[tzhuge]

I only have experience with the canadian cell companies, so I don't know if this is true more generally. Pretty much every cell company here has secret hidden plans only available if you phone customer service and say the magic words 'cancel service'. Some of the bonuses available might include roaming plans. You don't get to know the real pricing unless you do the song and dance. Also, you could look for group discount plans... maybe your student union, or school has some deals available. Those should be somewhat comparable to the types of discounts you can get from a retention department.

Re:Call Them

[faclonX]

CDMA carrierS are Bell Canada and Telus, who also operate HSPA+ networks, Rogers is a pure GSM carrier who completely owns fido.
Roaming Data is fucking expensive, I speak from experience as someone who travels to the US very frequently. My solution to avoid these costs was to buy a US cell phone, on Pay as you go.

NOW, to answer this poor guy's question...
There is no easy way, all these solutions recommending google voice are phenomenal, until you realize that google voice doesn't work properly with most Canadian numbers. What I would recommend is a dual radio device, something like the BlackBerry Tour, or 8800. That way you can have a CDMA carrier, and a GSM carrier, both numbers are associated to the device, so both numbers will work. You could get a Rogers/Fido SIM with a monthly BB data plan and a sprint/vzw/whoever CDMA phone plan. When you go home to the states, cancel the data on the GSM carrier, pick it up on the CDMA carrier. This is probably your most affordable and easiest method, however its still is needlessly complex.

I wish you luck with whatever you do, as I'd love to figure it out for myself cause its painful to be without my BB when I'm in the states for more than a few days :S