Bell’s Virgin Plus and Rogers’ Fido have both added Canada/U.S. calling and texting to select plans. Notably, the move came after Freedom Mobile rolled out reworked plans for Canada/U.S./Mexico usage across the board.
However, unlike Freedom, it looks like Virgin and Fido’s plans only give customers unlimited calling and texting from Canada to the U.S., with customers still on the hook for expensive roaming charges when they travel.
MobileSyrup spotted the change to Virgin’s plans on July 26th. Previously, Virgin’s 4G plans only offered unlimited Canada-wide calling and unlimited international texting (sent from Canada). As of July 26th, Virgin’s website lists all 4G plans as having unlimited Canada/U.S. calling and texting. Unfortunately, this isn’t roaming like what Freedom bundles into its plans. Bell confirmed to MobileSyrup that the plans don’t include U.S. roaming.
In other words, Virgin customers with these plans will still be on the hook for pricey roaming fees if they travel. Virgin charges $13/day for U.S. roaming and $16/day for international roaming.
Virgin has the following plan with Canada/U.S. calling:
- $39/20GB 4G
- $44/40GB 4G
- $49/60GB 4G
Notably, Virgins lone 5G plan doesn’t have Canada/U.S. calling.
Fido also added Canada/U.S. calling to several plans, though it’s not clear when. Regardless, as of July 26th, the following Fido plans included Canada/U.S. calling:
- $44/20GB 4G ($39 with autopay)
$49/40GB 4G ($44 with autopay) - $54/60GB 4G ($49 with autopay)
Rogers confirmed to MobileSyrup that the Canada/U.S. calling feature only grants customers the ability to call U.S. numbers as long as the call originates in Canada. Likewise, customers can text U.S. or international numbers from Canada. Phone usage outside of Canada remains subject to roaming fees, like the $12/day fee for U.S. roaming or the $15/day fee for international roaming.
While it’s nice to see added value on plans from Virgin and Fido, these plans still don’t stack up to other offers. For example, Freedom’s revamped plans include options like $35/50GB with 5G data and Canada/U.S./Mexico roaming built in, which means customers can use their data, make calls and send texts when in the U.S. or Mexico without incurring additional fees.
You can check out Virgin’s plans here and Fido’s plans here.
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