Thanks Clarence. That helped. I printed both of those coverage maps and Assuming they are accurate (which they seldom are - usually wildly optimistic), it looks like their coverages are close. Even so, there is a long, long gap from North Vancouver Island all the way to Prince Rupert. And except for Barclay Sound area, the West Coast of V.I. is pretty much unavailable. Optimistically, you might have 20% of the total cruising area available and if you include fjords, maybe 5%? As for data via cell - forget it altogether. I think TWL listee Sandy Floe told me the big item to watch out for is roaming charges which can be unbelievably high, even if you just have your cellphone on. I think he said that AT&T was the way to go because of the good deal you can get for Canadian operation. Maybe he will elaborate here. Joe Engel -----Original Message----- From: CLARENCE BELL [mailto:cebell@attglobal.net] Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2001 11:00 AM To: trawler-world-list@samurai.com Subject: TWL: RE: Opinions on cruising full time and internet access Re: Cell phones in the PacNW, after long study, I opted for AT&T wireless. They claimed coverage well up into Canada. Again to my pleasant surprise, the claim proved true. I was able to call home and get a clear reception all the way up to Nainaimo The main mobile carriers in BC are Rogers AT&T and Telus Mobility. Both have web sites which you can find through Google and both have coverage maps. They don't show which US carriers have roaming agreements with whom. I just did a quick look and it shows Telus has better coverage (analog) in the inside passage. Clarence Bell Toronto