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?"

Comments

How badly do you need a smartphone?

[natehoy]

I guess the biggest question would be - why a smartphone specifically?

Assuming you have some sort of decent Internet access at school, at something available at home, why not just get a VoIP line (a' la Vonage, MagicJack, etc)? You'd have a single number that would cross borders with you easily, and it would be one heck of a lot cheaper.

Re:How badly do you need a smartphone?

[TexasTroy]

More so, how badly do you need a phone at all? You are a student. Is there some higher obligation that requires you to have mobile accessibility (and why isn't that paying for it) or is this something you want to have so you can be like all the other cool kids on campus? If a mobile phone is an unnecessary want, get your priorities straight. Plenty of time for over-priced whiz-bangs after school.

Secondly, what is the need for keeping the same phone number? I had a new number every year when I was in school back when we used two Dixie cups and a string, and modems melted the lines at a blazing 2400 baud.

Figure out what you really need, then go from there. That should help you decide what it is worth rather than looking to get the cheapest generic plan for something you may not need to begin with.

Re:How badly do you need a smartphone?

[zen_la]

You forgot to tell him to get off your lawn

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

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow, you managed to give a solution that does not address a single requirement of the problem... Bravo.

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:Don't bother

[Lunix Nutcase]

Get this. Up until 15-20 years ago (practically) no college students had cell phones.

And we walked to school barefoot in the snow and uphill both ways!

Re:Don't bother

[timeOday]

Get this. Up until 15-20 years ago (practically) no college students had cell phones. They all managed to survive and get through school despite that handicap.

Times change. The fact that everybody now has a cellphone makes it much harder to get by without one. Payphones aren't widely available any more. Things aren't pre-planned as much; if you're not reachable, you simply miss out. Your friends' tolerance for telephone tag is different now.

Yes, you can still survive without one. But the fact remains, not having one now is quite different than not having one 15 years ago. A better analogy to not having a cellphone now would be not having your own PC 15 years ago - a few students didn't, but most did, so you were at a disadvantage if you didn't.

Re:Don't bother

[snowraver1]

We were LUCKY to go barefoot! In my town, we would wrap our feet in barbed wire for traction.

Now get off my lawn you damn kids!