Since being bought out by Rogers, FIDO has posted rate increases for many of its services.

In some cases, rates have gone up by a factor of 4 or 5 times.

Prior to being bought by Rogers, receiving cell phone calls while roaming in the US used to incur a per minute cost of US$0.20 for roaming plus C$0.10 long distance (airtime charges not included). Shortly after the Rogers takeover, the price went

up to C$0.50 for roaming plus C$0.20 long distance. Effective August 4, 2006, the price goes up to C$0.95 roaming plus C$.25 long distance.

Prior to being bought by Rogers, making calls while in the US used to cost US$0.20 (airtime charges not included). After the Rogers takeover, the price went up to C$0.50 per minute plus C$0.30 long distance per minute (if the calls are not local). Effective August 4, 2006, the price goes up to C$0.95 roaming per minute plus C$0.75 long distance per minute (if the calls are not local).

My advice for Canadian cell phone users who visit the US often or plan on staying for a while (such as snowbirds) -> purchase a local prepaid SIM card from T-Mobile. US$100 buys you 1,000 minutes (that’s US$0.10 per minute) of air time and the balance is good for an entire year. Long distance to Canada costs only US$0.40 per minute. You can probably even call forward your Canadian cell phone phone to your new US prepaid number and pay a low per minute long distance rate.