Bell roaming rates changing May 1st to flat rate of $1.45/min

A few weeks ago we heard that Rogers was going to increase the 911 Emergency Access Fee to $0.75 per month starting April 1st. And it seems they’re not the only ones that feel the need to increase rates. With all the great promos going on over at Bell, I’m sure their customers will be happy to know that increases are on the way when it comes to roaming rates.

If you’re traveling or make/receive calls to the United States the you should mark May 1st, 2010 on your calendar. Bell states that “Please be advised that Bell Canada’s Unregulated Terms of Service will be changing effective May 1, 2010″… and those unregulated increases are the following:

– All incoming and outgoing calls from the United States will be charged at a rate of $1.45 per minute (Currently $0.99 per minute, depending what plan you’re on)
– Sent text messages while roaming will be charged at $0.75 per message (Currently $0.60 per message, depending what plan you’re on)

UPDATE: Bell sent us an e-mail stating the following:
“The change to voice roaming rates in the U.S. is in an effort to simplify how we bill our customers on pay-per-use rate going forward. Today, we charge $0.99/min + a long distance rate that varies by the type of call you’re making (e.g. back to Canada, local call, international etc.). As of May 1, no matter the type of call they’re making, we’re moving to a flat-rate fee of $1.45/min. This is very much a price change and simplification of the charges. For instance, many of our customers call back to Canada when they travel – today this costs $0.99/min + $0.75/min for a total of $1.74/min. As of May 1st, this will cost them $1.45/min. Bell offers clients who travel to the United States many excellent roaming packages that offer discounted rates, and some plans offer rates for occasional travelers as low as 37 cents per minute, and for frequent travelers, as low as 18 cents per minute.”

More here at Bell