Best Cell Phone Service from U.S. to Canada

What is the best cell phone service from U.S. to Canada? If you happen to reside in the United States but have friends, family, or colleagues who live up in Canada, it is important to keep this factor in mind when choosing a cellular phone plan. The rest of the features may sound attractive, but if you're overpaying for long distance, the costs will add up very quickly.

Note: This article is for informational purposes only and the rates described are believed to be accurate at the time this article was written (January 2009). Do check with your chosen cellular provider before making any decisions concerning long distance calls to Canada.

Many cellular providers in the United States offer monthly plans that may include nationwide calling, but these typically do not include "free" long distance to Canada or Mexico. Remember that the long distnace costs involved are quite different than the considerations you may have for finding the best cell phone to communicate within Canada.

In looking for the best cell phone service from U.S. to Canada, call quality usually doesn't come into play, because you would already consider signal strength and voice quality when it comes to calls within the United States. In this way, it's largely a matter of price and seamlessness.

With the AT&T GoPhone prepaid phone service, long distance calls to Canada cost $0.15 per minute, in addition to the regular charge for your pay-as-you-go minutes.

For people who call frequently, the best cell phone service from U.S. to Canada from AT&T would involve what the company calls AT&T Canada. The $4.99 monthly option reduces the per minute rate (when calling from the United States to $0.09 a minute). If you are calling while roaming in Canada, the rate jumps to $0.59 a minute. In the instance of roaming, an extended stay in Canada may warrant getting a cheap Canadian cell phone rather than using an American phone in Canada.

AT&T WorldConnect expands on this concept. A monthly fee of $3.99 provides subscribers with discounted per-minute rates on long distance calls not only to Canada, but also most other international destinations. This should work with the iPhone, as well as all other AT&T handsets.

The international calling rates from T-Mobile are very similar to those offered by AT&T. While you may be able to find unlimited calling plans, these very rarely (if ever) include cell phone service from U.S. to Canada. These are almost always a separate option.

The basic per minute rate to Canada is $0.20 a minute. Subscribing to the $5.00 a month FlexPay discounted calling plan, this rate drops to $0.09 a minute. Using the T-Mobile @Home service, the per minute rate for calls to Canada from the U.S. is just $0.04.

Is it the best cell phone service from U.S. to Canada? That's debatable. The standard rate for calling Canada through Sprint is 49 cents a minute, but subscribing to the $4 a month Long Distance Plan reduces the rate to a more reasonable 9 cents per minute. This is very similar to what you would get with the above two cellular providers in the United States when making calls to Canada.

If you need to communicate but don't need an actual voice call, using an unlimited texting plan that includes text messages to Canada can save you a lot of money.

The Verizon international long distance plans are virtually identical to those offered by Sprint. The standard per-minute rate is 49 cents with no monthly access charge, whereas the rate when using the international long distance value plan is just 9 cents per minute with a $3.99 monthly access charge.

Based on the various fee schedules described in this article, it seems that the best Canadian calling plan available is through T-Mobile. The regular rate and "discounted calling plan" rate is in line with the other providers, but international calls become much cheaper with the T-Mobile @Home service. Naturally, you'll need a Wi-Fi enabled cell phone with the T-Mobile @Home service to access that rate schedule.

• Timeline of Mobile Phone
• Cell Phone Picture Gallery

• Free Blackberry Curve Applications Downloads
• Retrieve Text Messages Online
• Free BlackBerry Pearl Downloads
• Track a Cell Phone Using GPS
• Free Java for Windows Mobile 5

• International GPS Cell Phone
• Category:Cell Phone Plans
• U.S. Cellular Calling Plans
• Cheap Cell Phone Rates Canada
• Best Cell Phone to Communicate within Canada