Cellphone plans in Nova Scotia 'difficult and expensive' says tourist

A German tourist who vacations in Nova Scotia says it's cheaper for him to get a cellphone in Cambodia than it is in Canada.

Horst Klaeuster says offering tourists cheaper plans could be a boost for tourism in the area.

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For the past five years, Klaeuster and his wife have been spending part of their summers in Lunenburg County.

Klaeuster says his German carrier's SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card can be used in other European Union countries, but not in North America.

"In coming over to Canada or the U.S. you face a lot of roaming charges and they're nearly prohibitive," he told CBC News.

Klaeuster said SIM cards in Canada are too "difficult and expensive," easily adding up to $100 per week, depending on the plan.

On top of that, Klaeuster says he can receive international calls but he can't call back home to Germany.

"I'd say this might be an important feature for tourists coming over to Nova Scotia," he said.

Bang versus buck

Klaeuster says in Cambodia he paid $10 US for a week of local and international calls, 500 megabytes of data and unlimited texting.

"You can go to the airport and buy from different booths very cheap SIM cards which give you a very, very good infrastructure with LTE, which is the fastest internet you can get on your cellphone."

He says the cost probably won't prevent tourists from visiting, but lowering phone and internet costs would be an advantage.

"It could make their stay in Nova Scotia more attractive and easier," he said.

"Tourists these days want to have communication means — they want to use their tablets, they want to use their smart phones. Why not give them the opportunity to buy cheap and reasonable SIM cards for their devices? I think that would be a great possibility for more tourists to come over and enjoy their stay over here."