Fido was the first network to provide a GSM mobile network in Canada and it offers a good value mobile phone solution for travellers visiting Canada.

Prepaid plans

There are several prepaid plans, which fall under three categories: By the Month, By the Day and By the Minute.

By the Month

The By the Month plans have a monthly fee which entitles you to either a combination of talk and text, or cheaper calls. The daytime and evening and weekend minutes apply both to outgoing and incoming calls.

By the Day

Fido’s By the Day plans are a good option for travellers who won’t be visiting Canada for a full month. These plans are also ideal for people who don’t use their phone every day.

By the Minute

The simplest plan is ideal for people who don’t use their phone frequently.

The charge per minute applies to both outgoing and incoming calls. On all prepaid plans, a 75c 911 emergency access fee will be taken from your account balance every month.

Long distance and international calls

International calls to the United States and long distance calls within Canada are charged at 40c per minute. Please note that these charges are on top of the cost of a regular local call.

International calls to landlines and mobile phones in Australia and the UK cost 75c per minute. Calls to New Zealand cost $1.10 per minute and calls to Singapore cost 91c per minute.

Save on international distance calls home

You can significantly reduce the cost of international calls with the Rebtel service. Rebtel works by assigning a local US number to each of the regular international numbers you call, then you simply call this local number and your call is diverted to the international number. You are charged for a national call by T-Mobile and the international portion of the call is paid to Rebtel at USD 2¢ per minute to Australian landlines and USD 16¢ per minute to Australian mobiles. Check the Rebtel website for rates to other countries .

It only takes around five to 10 minutes to set up a Rebtel account online, however you need to access the internet as soon as you arrive in the US to complete the set up process as Rebtel sends you a text message with your activation code before asigning local US numbers to your international phone numbers. Once it is set up, however, it is a very easy system especially if you save your Rebtel numbers to your phone's address book.

Alernatively, if you have a smart phone with Wi-Fi wireless internet access that can run the Skype app (such as Android phones and the Apple iPhone), then this is another option for making cheap international calls. Please note that you need to be in a Wi-Fi wireless internet hotspot, many coffee shops and even some city parks in the United States have free wireless internet access.

Coverage

Fido has very good coverage in most populated areas of Canada.

Topping up your credit

You can top up your credit at thousands of outlets Canada-wide including convenience stores, petrol stations and supermarkets.

Activating your SIM

You can activate your Fido Canada SIM card online. At this point you can choose your plan and add any add-ons for data and discount long distance calls. You also need to specify your local area as calls are cheaper in your local area and upon activation you get a phone number with a local area code.