Roaming with no data

[Squirrel]

(01-13-2021, 07:05 PM)Jupiter Wrote: I´m a little confused Squirrel, my battle is with Freedom Mobile not the Colombian Government. Although I do know what you mean about not wanting to stray outside your home. I could be at the mercy of a foreign power and be arrested and setenced without the rights I have in Canada. And don´t think I didn't get the double entendres in your text ("left leaning on your own government") Yes I probably lean a little to the left as I was an active union member for over thirty years but experience has taught me that both sides need to clean up their act!
  I also love the "True North strong and free" ( I have prospered here with my work, children and still believe this an excellent country to be raised in). I have many reasons to start building a home in Colombia.
  I do it for my physical health ( for me the jungle is very therapeutic, my apnea goes away when I am here.) The fresh air,water and the huge variety of fruits and vegetables are so good for my body health.
  I do it for my mental health, ( Learning a new language and dealing with a different culture is so revitalising for my old rusty brain). If it weren't for covid I would be teaching english at the school near my home.
  I do it for my psychological health, I used to play hockey, those days are gone but I do really enjoy skating and teaching my Grandchildren how to skate. It is what I miss most about being in Canada during the winter. But let's be honest here, Canadian winters are cold, daylight is short and the lack of greenery is depressing (serotonin levels drop). I instantley start feeling more alive when I go somewhere green and warm.
  I have to go again, Life is getting in the way House won't build itself. Squirrel I have seen Squirrel in Medellin, they are smaller than the canuck squirrels and I know they are in my jungle so don't be afraid to go outside your comfort zone, I have and i never regretted it.

Sorry, I meant to say something different, and ended up posting a tangent.

Yeah, 'Freedom Mobile' was just another example of a small-time start-up trying to gain a piece of the big-game "Canadian mobile air time" pie. And they bowed out once they had a nice buy-out offer from one of Canada's big-time Mobile players (Bell, Rogers, Telus). I forget which of the three bought Freedom.

I myself am with 'Virgin Mobile' which is another one of those small-time start-ups that got bought out. Amusingly/annoyingly enough, I started with Virgin because it wasn't one of the big players, and specifically not Bell, so guess what happens??  Yup, Bell bought Virgin Mobile. There's another handful of them, of which I don't even remember them all. 'Koodoo', and 'Lucky Mobile' are two that I do.

There is an insane amount of money invested in lobbyist groups for Internet/Mobile companies in Canada.  I am actually a member of a lobby group against them (openmedia.ca). But the little-guy rarely ever wins, and most of those wins end up being overturned.

(Ie: More than a Year ago, the independent ISP TekSavvy went to the CRTC, and got them to demand the Big Three reduce their rates, and them themselves started offering lower rates immediately, on the strength of that, believing they'd get their money back.  But more than a year later, even though a court case supporting the CTRTC decision was WON, STILL we have lost again, as the Federal Government is again allowing the Big Three to &^#$ Canadians, and force us to spend more than pretty much any other country does.)

By getting hitched with a small-player, you end up dealing with the cutbacks in staff that the Big Three impose, because even though one of them now owns 'Freedom' as well, they still want you to be their customer, not Freedom's (if you are following).

Thus, you will never get the service you should with Freedom.

I had visits to the USA planned for last year -- three of them, and I didn't have to make a decision on a conundrum I had -- mainly that my Virgin Mobile cell simply would not work in the USA, even though, naturally, that should be possible.

Again, Bell, the new owner or Virgin wants me to switch to them, so they can charge me exorbitant rates, and are not at all interested in expanding Virgin's market share. Now I'm fighting to keep the awesome deal I had (pre-paid pay-as-you-go $100/yr plan) which has been 'grandfathered' but they are going through exotic attempts to try to get you to miss some deadline, so they can kill your grandfathered account option.