Hello Worldwidetravel,
Welcome to the community!
If you did not wish to avail of Fido Roam, you would need to opt-out of the feature. In doing so, your usage would be on a pay-per-use basis. You can view those rates here.
It has always been cheaper to use a local SIM or dedicated travel SIM. However, that option may have limitations for some people. A local or dedicated travel SIM will mean you travel with a different phone number which means you won't have access to your Canadian phone number. In addition, the new number will likely be long-distance from Canada if you provided to your contacts.
@Worldwidetravel wrote:
...Your Canadian number can be accessed by What's App to get your messages, and then you can use an alternate chip / device to return calls...
I'm not sure of the accuracy of that statement. While you would still have access to your WhatsApp, the app does not have access to your regular voicemail or text messages. As far as I am aware, WhatsApp only works within the app itself. Using a different SIM or device to access your regular voicemail could incur long-distance charges on that SIM or device. Depending on whether your device is single- or dual-SIM, you might not receive text messages on your Fido SIM if it is replaced with a local one. If your device does have dual-SIM functionality, it should be noted that while incoming SMS does not incur roaming charges, any data contained within a MMS (incoming and outgoing) would be considered roaming data and therefore would incur charges. It should also be noted that RCS messages and iMessages would transmit as data and also incur charges.
Unless all of your contacts use WhatsApp, I'm not sure how you will be able to access your regular Fido voicemail and/or text messages if you choose to use a local or travel SIM.
To be clear, I'm not trying to sell you on Fido Roam. Customers have always had the choice to use their providers' roaming options or travel with local or dedicated travel SIMs. They would need to weigh the pros and cons of the available options and decide for themselves.
Hope this helps 😀
Cheers
