Pay as you go phone plan

Cantel Mobile Communications Inc. has announced a "pay-as-you-go" plan for cellular telephone and pager customers. Customers will be able to pick up a working phone or pager with 60 minutes of calling or six months of paging service for a flat price from distributors in seven cities.

Rogers Cantel, which offers wireless services under the Cantel AT&T brand, launched the package through distributors in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and London, Ont. Spokeswoman Heather Armstrong said the company plans to expand it to other cities soon.

The telephone package costs $150, and includes a Mitsubishi cellular telephone and a prepaid calling card with a face value of $25, good for 60 minutes of incoming or outgoing calls. The pager package costs $130, and includes a Panasonic pager and six months of service with voice mail and unlimited numeric paging.

With either package, once the 60 minutes or six months are up, incoming callers hear a message saying the service has expired. The cellular and paging services will work anywhere in North America that is within range of the appropriate service.