<human>: I currently have the iPhone 5S and I am with a Canadian service provider. I received this phone back in January 2014 on a grandfather smart plan contract and it has since expired (after two years) so I'm not tied to any agreement at the moment. The plan I have is just ok: $39 per month with the usual text and call perks and 600mb of data.

I plan on getting the iPhone 7 before the year ends. I'm in my last year of undergraduate studies and will be going on Exchange in Asia January - May 2017 (possibly until August if I decide to stay and travel more) and would like to have a new phone for the duration. I know it might not make intuitive sense to bring a brand new phone abroad, but I'm ok with taking that risk.

What's the best way to get the phone, get a solid data plan while I'm in Canada, and still keep my phone number after I come back in June or September next year? I don't know too much about how contracts work (and how flexible they are), so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

The options I'm considering include signing a two-year agreement with a provider with a discounted price on purchasing the iPhone, and then I would ask to suspend the contract for the time I'm out of the country and pay like $15-20 a month to keep my number and contract active? Another alternative would be to just purchase the phone outright and stick to the plan I have right now (which isn't that great since I often find myself exceeding my data), make sure it's unlocked for my Exchange, and cancel my plan - but then how would I keep my number? 

Thanks for your help!

Can you succinctly summarize the text in 1-3 sentences?
<bot>: I want to get the iPhone 7 on a nice (cost effective) plan in Canada while keeping my number when I'm out of the country for 4 - 8 months next year. Help please