The Unofficial 7-Eleven Speak Out Wireless Canada Consumer Page 
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6:01 pm
I'll be in Toronto doing research for a month (Feb. 8 - March 8). In order to be in contact with the locals with whom I'll be working, I need a cell phone for them to contact me. I do not need to use this phone for US calls, I'll use Skype for that, but for such a short term situation, I'm trying to find the best deal. Would it be useful for me to buy a 7-11 phone here in the US? Would it work up there? Should I wait till I get up there? Is there another plan anyone can suggest that might be cheaper and more efficient?
Any help is appreciated!
9:41 pm
Would it be useful for me to buy a 7-11 phone here in the US? Would it work up there?
No, it won't work up here because (a) the SpeakOut service doesn't allow for roaming outside of the home country and (b) the Nokia phones they sell stateside are locked.
Should I wait till I get up there?
I would. You might consider getting a Nokia 1600 here. Rumor has it that they'll be running a promo from February 16 to March 31, 2008 in which, if you buy $100 airtime, you get a 1600 for free. Then when your visit here ends you have two choices:
(a) Sell the phone and remaining airtime privately.
(b) Take the phone back to the US. The 1600s they sell here are unlocked so you can use it with any US GSM prepaid plan. T-Mobile for example sells SIMs and airtime or you could buy a US SO SIM off eBay and airtime from a 7-11 store, etc.
Is there another plan anyone can suggest that might be cheaper and more efficient?
I'm not aware of any, especially if you want the flexibility of using the phone when you go back to the US. (I.e. there may be a cheaper CDMA phone and plan but it would lock you in.)
7:17 am
Even if you need the phone before the sale starts, buy the Nokia 1600 for $ 75.00, which includes $ 5.00 of airtime.
If you purchase another @ 25.00 airtime on top of that, you would have 150 minutes ( 30.00 : 0.20 cents/minute ) of local airtime.
When you get back home, do as Bylo suggested.
