Canadian-U.S. roaming service Roam Mobility has announced that it will “cease operations” on June 30th, 2020.
“We apologize to everyone who has relied on our service for US travel. Our mission has always been to help travellers stay connected and productive without the burden of expensive roaming fees or contracts,” said Roam Mobility in a recent email.
The once-popular roaming service likely experienced a downturn in usage long before the COVID-19 pandemic. Most major Candian carriers and even some flanker brands, including Rogers, Bell, Telus, Koodo, Fido and more, allow subscribers to use their mobile data allotment in the U.S. and in some cases other countries, for a fee. This fundamental shift in the Canadian wireless industry was spurred by the launch of Rogers’ ‘Roam Like Home’ offering back in 2014.
At one point, I was using Roam Mobility for every work trip to the United States. Selecting a plan, topping up data and simply just swapping SIM cards as soon as I landed, was a simple, straightforward process. Since Koodo launched Easy Roam, I no longer had a need for my Roam Mobility SIM card.
“The decision to discontinue our service was not one we came to lightly. Having made that difficult choice, our focus is now on supporting our customers and team members through the transition,” said Roam Mobility.
All Roam Sim sales and activations are suspended as of May 21st, 2020, followed by top-up functionality being halted on June 15th, 2020.
Roam’s ‘Talk+Text+Data’ plan featuring unlimited nationwide calling, global text, long-distance calling to Canada and 512MB of data, was priced at $4.97 CAD per day. The company’s $3.95 per day ‘Text+ Talk’ plan offers the same unlimited coverage as its ‘Talk+Text+Data’ plan, but with no mobile data. The company also offered a $2.97 ‘Text Only’ plan that features unlimited text and picture messaging. Roam also offered more expensive monthly and ‘Snowbird’ plans that lasted for three months.
Roam Mobility says that as of June 30th, any unused data will be refunded to customers with currently active plans. On this date the number associated with Roam SIM cards will also be permanently deactivated. Anyone who purchased a sim but that hasn’t activated it can fill out a request form prior to August 31st to get a refund. Similarly, a form can be submitted for store credit reimbursement.
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