My Cellphone My Terms

Whether we travel to the US or our employees do, we need to be connected. However, our wireless bills can get overwhelming, frustrating and downright nasty. The cell phone bill is a matrix of line items and charges that require a scientific calculator to figure out. But which carriers offer the best Travel roaming packages for business that covers Voice, Text and Data?

Let’s list Travel Packs for US travel forRogers,BELLand TELUS and see who comes out on top.

Rogers: The travel pack comes with Voice and Text only. Data would be an add-on
$40 One-Time Fee: 40 minutes (overage rate/min $0.63) + 100 texts ($0.25 overage) +  US Data Roaming ( 3 packs available)
$25 per 15 MB, $50 per 60MB or $100 for 250MB (Each MB get you 18-20 emails)

So a package for all 3 starts at $65 as high as $140, not including overages. Yikes!!!

BELL:  Voice, Text and Data packs are individual add-ons but offer 1 bundle
Voice: $15/15 minutes, $30/50 minutes, $50/100 minutes or $100/400 minutes
Text:  $15/50 texts sent, $30/200 texts or $50/Unlimited
Data: $30/10 MB, $50/25 MB or $100/150 MB

Combining bundles start at $60.

Travel Bundle: $100: 50 minutes (overage rate/min $0.03) + 150 texts ($0.20 overage) + 50MB

You need to analyze your usage patterns and determine the best bundle for you.

TELUS: 30-day pass or monthly recurring
The travel essentials pack come with 3 options that each includes Voice, Text and Data
$30:  20 minutes + 30 texts + 10MB
$50:  40 minutes + 60 texts + 20MB
$100: 100 minutes+ 100 texts+ 100MB
(Overage rates depend on bundle taken. The higher the bundle, the lower the overage rate)

So based on our findings, TELUS has the best rates out there followed by BELL by Rogers in a distant 3rd place.

Also, it is important to note that Canadians are amongst the highest payers of roaming charges in the world. The carriers in Canada make sure to keep those rates higher with the end result being over inflated cellphone bills.

That being said, I would advise you to be creative. Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi!!! Use the wireless feature on your device to stay connected with email and BBM to limit the charges. Purchase a SIMM card and forward your calls to your new US number. Utilize Skype to make calls. Third party long distance apps for your smartphone. Stay tuned for more on this…