Overview

Cityfone is a Canadian wireless telecommunications provider. They feature both contract and prepaid plans.

Pros: Rate plans can be purchased on a prepaid basis, which is not common for Canadian prepaid providers.

Cons: The access fee is uncommon and can add up over a year. Paying $6.95 per month is almost 84 dollars per year.



Detailed Provider Information

Plans: Cityfone offers four different tiers of rate plans that mimic traditional contract plans. First is the Anytime plan. These range from $9.99 to $49.00 per month, and give you from 100 to 1,000 local anytime minutes. The evening and weekend plan ranges from $24.99 to $39.99, and include from 150 to 500 local anytime minutes plus unlimited evenings and weekends. Cityfone also offers two long distance package. Customers can get 150 anytime local minutes, 1,000 evening and weekend minutes, plus 50 long distance minutes for $19.99 per month, or get 500 anytime minutes, unlimited evening and weekend minutes, plus 100 long distance minutes for $49.99 per month. There are also two plans which favor heavy text messagers. The Quick Messaging 1000 plan includes 150 weekday minutes, 1,000 evening and weekend minutes, and 1,000 outgoing messages for $24.99 per month. The $34.99 plan includes 250 anytime minutes, unlimited evenings and weekends, and unlimited outgoing messages. Incoming messages are free with the Quick Messaging plans. Finally, Cityfone offers two Smartphone plans. The $44.99 plan includes 200 weekday local minutes, unlimited evening and weekend minutes, and 1GB of data. The $54.99 plan adds another 100 weekday minutes. Long distance calls on all non-long distance plans cost 36 cents per minute. Evenings and weekend start at 9 p.m., but can be moved back to 6 p.m. for 7 dollars per month. There is an access fee of $7.70 per month added to each plan, which includes a 911 fee.


Customer Service: You can contact Cityfone via a toll free number during normal business hours Monday through Friday. They can also be reached by e-mail.


Credit Check: None


Contract: None


Payment Options: Monthly payments can be made with credit card, or through their e-billing program.


Text and Picture Messaging: Each Cityfone plan includes 2,500 free incoming text messages. Customers can add a package of 250 outgoing messages for 5 dollars, 1,000 for 10 dollars, 2,500 for 15 dollars, or unlimited for 20 dollars. A la carte text messages cost 15 cents each to Canada and 25 cents each to the U.S, and MMS costs 50 cents each to send.


Data Plans: Smartphone users can sign up for a smartphone plan, which include 1GB of data. Otherwise, unlimited WAP browsing is 10 dollars per month, 500MB of data is 25 dollars, and 1GB of data is 30 dollars.


Downloadables: Cityfone prepaid offers ringtones, wallpapers, and games for varying fees.


International Calling: International rates are available. Contact customer service for specific rates.


Roaming Charges: Calls made with Cityfone within the U.S. are charged the base roaming rate of 95 cents per minute. Calls made back to Canada while roaming are an additional 75 cents. Calls received from Canada while you are roaming are an additional 25 cents.


Calling Features: Call waiting and conference calling are included at no additional charge. Call forwarding is available for 3 dollars per month. Caller ID is an additional 8 dollars per month. Basic voicemail is 7 dollars per month, and enhanced voicemail is 8 dollars per month. There are also a number of bundles to combine these calling features for a small discount.


Activation Fee: There is no fee to activate your Cityphone account.


Long Distance: There is a long distance plan that covers all of your long distance calls to the U.S. and Canada. With the regular plans, long distance across Canada and to the U.S. is an additional 30 cents per minute, on top of normal airtime.


411 Calls: Cityfone offers long distance for $1.50 per call.


Earliest Minute Expiration: Your Cityfone minutes expire at the end of each billing cycle.


911 Calls: There is a 911 surcharge added to every account monthly.


Phones: Cityfone doesn't have a large selection of phones, but they are of a high quality. Like with most other carriers, no subsidy is offered for prepaid users. This prices phones from 49 to 249 dollars.


Some Available Cell Models:

Motorola KRZR (shown)
Nokia 1208
Nokia 2760
Nokia 3555


Coverage Map: View the Cityfone coverage map.