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Q: How do I "switch over" my Chinese-bought cell phone when I move to Canada?
I have a Samsung and my wife has an iPhone and we are going to Vancouver next month. How do we get our phones to be workable there as we are relocating? I know this may be a silly question but I really don't know the answer. I was just planning to go to Telus or Fido and explain my situation and see what they could do.
Do Canadian phones use sim cards like they do here?
Cos if they do it's probably just a matter of buying new sim cards.
philbravery:
that's all we ever do
however some phones are locked and you may have to pay a phone repair shop in Canada a couple of $ to unlock it
If it is like USA, you just put in the Canadian sim card. You might try a discount operator, like Simple Mobile in the USA. You will get a cheap plan because you are not subsidizing a phone.
Depends on the phone models, too. If they're China Mobile or China Telecom branded model, they may only work on old 2G GSM networks in Canada; no 3G and definitely no 4G. Although a Telecom phone might be compatible with Telus, not sure. If they're China Unicom or International models they should work on Rogers without a hitch.
Phones and networks are so complicated now, I miss the old days when all you needed was a unlocked tri-band or quad-band GSM phone and you were set all over the world.
It is a lot of hassle. I go home every summer. Unlocking a phone in Canada can be done. It is expensive. Can be done though. I found it a lot more convenient just to by a cell in Canada. I bought it through Telus with a pay as you go plan. That meant I also change my cell number every year in Canada. It is expensive but I don't use it for 10 months of the year. If you are permanently moving,as your question implies, to Canada It just might better to buy a new cell in Canada. After-all, you might want to visit your old friends and enemies in China again and to breath the toxins in Beijing.
