Lowest data plan (help)

[callopsitte_himself]

I take care of my disabled elderly mother. When I'm lucky I sometimes get a couple hours of respite.
I actually don't have a cell phone and have not for over 8 years (and I managed to survive lol).

As anything could happen due to her condition it would now come in handy but it would only be to receive calls in emergency (and maybe make very very few outgoing calls).

What would be the cheapest plan (data plan and use Fongo?) and with which provider?

I know there are "à la carte" but you have to renew like every three months. Maybe I would not need it for three months so I would either lose what I paid or need to re-activate.

Any suggestions?
Thanks.

[Jake]

Maybe something like Telus or PC that have a 365 day card for $100. That would give you about $8 per month calling credit for the year ($8 on average), or they have a data add on where you would get 100mb data per month, for $10 per month, which would be deducted from your $100 credit. The 100mb of data could be used for Fongo, which at their quoted rate of 0.5mb per minute would yield a theoretical 200 minutes per month. That data won't roll over though.

One thing I will mention is it would seem that your $100 would last 10 months with $10 being deducted per month, but they also hook out a 911 fee of up to $1.45 a month depending on where you live. Ontario will just be $0.75 a month I think, so your $100 will last 9 months with change.

For me, if you are just wanting to make and receive emergency calls, I would just slap $100 on a prepaid phone and be happy it was there for the year. I know it is a block to pay out initially, but then you have nothing for the rest of the year.

[callopsitte_himself]

I don't mind paying a big amount upfront but encouraging companies by paying time I would not use.

Paying $100,00 is not a problem but paying $100,00 for probably only 3 minutes (per month)at the most would be ridiculous.

Any other suggestions?

[Jake]

$8 a month is probably about as low as a cell plan is going to get in Canada.

The only other thing I can suggest is get an iPod and install Fongo on it, then make sure you are near a wifi signal so you can make calls. The answer phone will kick in if you are not connected - so then it comes down to how far you will be away from a wifi signal, and how urgent calls might be.

As a Brit, I am very shocked at the way cell companies act over here. It just wouldn't happen back home. We don't pay for incoming calls, on a prepaid account the credit rolls over, and on a monthly plan you would expect to pay a fraction of what you do here. We also had, granted very basic, 3G handsets 10 years ago. They were very ugly things, but you could hold a two way video call on them.

I can only put it down to the fact that the phone system works slightly differently, and the area that the companies have to cover is much bigger.

[dibsmft]

I have a a cellphone (around 8 years old now) that I use only for emergencies and carry with me all the time because I am not as young as I was. When I am at home I make mainly local calls and calls to relatives in the UK and for that I use voip. I use a Virgin Mobile (Bell) prepaid plan of 100$ per year (or $10 per month) that rolls over as long as it is not allowed to expire so I have lots of accumulated credit. Yes, there are plans in the UK that suit retirees much better than the plans in Canada!

[bridonca]

The cheapest voice plan is $25 a year, and that is offered by Speakout. https://www.speakout7eleven.ca You need to buy a rogers compatible phone, (about $20 on kijiji) and a SIM card for $10 So the first year cost is about $60, $25 afterwards.

From your $25 balance, you get charged $1.25 a month for 911, and each call is 25 cents a minute.

3G Data and Fongo are a bit pointless, because the call quality is rather awful,

[dibsmft]

Yes, Speakout is probably the best deal if you make a small number of calls and live in Ontario(mostly). The national coverage is spotty as they seem use the Rogers network (hardly any coverage in NL except for St. John.s) otherwise I might use them. I rarely use my cell phone even once a month (and then for testing my voip services and the phone itself!) but I have used it to call 911 once and for calls from hospital during recovery for which I was very glad to have the phone.

[Snowboardphil1]

I've been using President's choice network for about 7 months now only for it's data. In last december they offered 5$/100mb/month under pay as you go plan (unfortunatly new subscriber have it now at 10$/months). I pluged-in the sim card from PC mobile in my Samsung GalaxyW from Bell and it worked instantly on PC's network (no unlocking needed) I ported my bell phone number to fongo and .... Voîlà !!

115$/yrs (with taxes) + 23$ (texting with Fongo for 12 months with taxes)= unlimited phone time under wifi, 250 minutes under 3g/4G per months, almost unlimited texting under 3G/4G. I almost never use my full 100mb for 5$ per months so after a while I get more and more data time every passing months. I figure I will still have a PC balance of about 20$ at the end of the year.

Keep in mind the on Kijiji, Lespacs (in québec) or Craigslist, some people sell PC mobile refill card at a loss when they realise they do not need them. I found one for 75$ that I will use to refill 100$ on my account's deadline day in april.

Good luck