Most people do not associate Petro Canada and Cellular Phones, but this successful gas station chain has a series of prepaid cell phones that they sell in Canada. These phones are aimed towards people who are not heavy phone users and want an easy and inexpensive solution to keep in touch while they are on the go.
The Petro Canada phone service piggy backs on the Rogers Wireless network that covers 93% of the population in Canada. This is an important feature to take note of because it means that you can take the SIM card out of your Petro Canada phone and stick it in to any Rogers phone! Since your SIM card acts as your identity on any network, you can put your Petro Canada SIM card into a Rogers phone and it will automatically port your previous phone number and other important information to your Rogers phone.
Why would you want to insert you Petro Canada SIM card into a rogers phone? Well… Petro Canada only has a small collection of basic phones that they sell and Rogers has the best selection of phones in Canada. It all depends on your cell phone habits, but a lot of people find the Petro Canada prepaid service a more favourable option compared to the Rogers Pay as you Go service. So this nifty trick gives you the best of both worlds as you get the simple and affordable Petro Canada rates and also get the excellent selection of mobile handsets offered by Rogers.
Do the PC SIM cards only work in Rogers Phones
Not necessarily. The Petro Canada SIM cards will work in any phone that is locked to Rogers but the SIM cards will also work on any unlocked GSM device that uses the North American bands (850/1900 Mhz). Google should be able to verify the wireless bands for any well known phone.
What about data plans with Petro Canada
This is where things start to get a little more convoluted. But don’t worry because it’s not all bad news on this front. PC offers unlimited web browsing for $10 per month but you can expect slow data rates compared to advanced 3G technology. And to put it simply, if you want to get data working on a Rogers or other unlocked phone you will likely have to do a lot of research and fiddling to get anything working. Most people report that they can get web browsing working on their non-PC phones but they are not able to get applications like Blackberry, iPhone, and Android apps working. You should be ready for a hit or miss situation with data plans on Rogers/Unlocked phones.
Is this a perfect setup?
Admittedly, swapping your Petro Canada SIM card into another phone is not a perfect scenario (as compared to sticking with the original provider), but it is another option that you should consider. Lets face it… there are not many options in Canada when it comes to the wireless industry so any new ideas are a welcome treat (no matter how crazy they are).
Petro Canada Rates
The basic idea is that all local minutes are 25 cents and the prepaid top up minutes last for a longer period of time than most prepaid plans in Canada.
|
Denomination |
Local Calling Minutes |
Days of Service |
| $15 | 60 | Up to 30 days |
|
$25 |
100 |
Up to 120 days |
|
$50 |
200 |
Up to 180 days |
|
$100 |
440 |
Up to 365 day |
Text Messaging
|
Outgoing Message |
Incoming Message |
Area |
|
5¢ |
5¢ |
Canada |
|
10¢ |
5¢ |
United States |
|
25¢ |
5¢ |
Outside of North America |
As previously stated these rates may not appeal to the heavy usage - cell phone addicts, but Petro Canada offers a different style of service that is an option for many Canadians who would otherwise not jump into the world of mobile telephones.
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