I will be arriving next week and will need to purchase a cell phone. I guess that it's time to step out of my time warp and join the rest of the world.I'm hoping that some of you can advise me - it will be my 1st cell phone, so I know so very little.

My questions are: how much can I expect to pay for a phone?
Does anyone have suggestion of where to purchase this item - MoBay or BlackRiver???

Thank you and your help is very much appreciated.

thereīs a digicell shop in Black River... I think I payed around 4-5 thousand for a nokia... canīt really remember the price ... but there was credit on it , I think it was approx. 1000 JMD, lasted a long time...

If my memory is correct I payed $3600 Ja for just the phone (borrowed a sim card). You can buy in Mobay or Black River. I bought mine up in Southfeild.

You probably know that most likkle shops around TB sell phone cards.

Take a cell phone with you (digital, not analog) and just buy a phone chip from digicell and buy a prepaid phone card when you get there.

I have a phone that will work in JA, but need a sim card. Can I buy one at the digicell shop in the airport? Do I need to order it in advance? How much will the sim card cost? Thanks for any help.

GG

The phone has to be "unlocked".

Thank you everyone for your responses - I now have an idea of what to do and where and what to budget for.

The weather here sucks.....can hardly hang on till the sun and warmth of the Jamaican sun touches my skin....

I second nurse ratchets comment. If you have an unlocked phone, you can pick up a sim card at digicel in southfield. (i think thats where i went) The sim card I bought cost 350J

I have service through Verizon in the US and when I was in TB in November, I used my phone at the MoBay airport and when I got to Viking's. I had no problem getting through or with reception. I was very amazed. I'm coming back in April, so hopefully nothing has changed and it will still work. Of course, I only had to make a couple of calls, so I wasn't worried about the expense. If you have a cell already and don't intend to use it much in JA, you might try it before you buy anything else.

Hey, Missing TB, are you saying that your Verizon service worked in Jamaica? What was the cost, if you don't mind my asking?

-Eric

My Verizon phone also works in Jamaica (switches to C & W when you land) BUT the roaming charges can get UGLY !!

Hi Eric! Yes, my Verizon service worked in Jamaica. I was very surprised. As far as cost goes, the call I made from the airport was to a number in JA and was .69US/min, the call I made from Viking's to the US was 1.29US/min. Calls that I've made from US to Jamaica have been 1.49US/min. Go figure! I've checked the Verizon website for international call info and still can't quite figure it all out. In fact, from reading their website, I'm surprised I was able to make any of the calls without special phone features - maybe I had an update to my phone service without knowing it. Works for me!

We were in T.B. last April and both our Verison and sprint phones worked! I think I used about 15 min. on the Sprint phone and the cost was around 18.00 total. The Verison was close to the same.

My T-Mobile phone didn't work at all--I could turn it on and everything, but T-Mobile has no partnership deals with any Jamaican company, so I couldn't connect to any network. Could a sim card really be as inexpensive as 350$JA as noted above? Is that just the card but with no talk-time? When I come down in the spring I don't think I'll be passing through Southfield, but I'm guessing I could buy the card at the airport. I'm just trying to gauge how much to budget for. The online sellers I've been looking at are all asking for $50-$70US for a sim card with some talk-time ... a big difference from 350$JA!

All help is welcome!

Seth

You can also rent a phone at the airport, if you don't want to buy.

yeah, I know what you mean about the big bucks for a sim card. I searched for them on ebay and they were still expensive. I actually thought the girl had made a mistake at the digicel store when she said $350, but low and behold - that was the cost for a brand spankin' new sim!

Oh, and hit up a rent-a-cell place. Sometimes they sell their old models. My friend scored one of those - and that's what I used in January. The sim card had expired in it, which is why I had to buy a new one.

I have a T-mobile and it did indeed work in Jamaica.. I think it varied between C&W and Digicel depending on where I was that my phone connected to. Maybe speak to T-Mobile direct, alternatively as everyone here says you can buy a sim card very cheaply as you step out of Montego Bay airport.

I have a T-mobile Blackberry from the UK which works perfectly in TB using both Digicel and C&W automatic connections. It always makes it seem a little surreal when I'm walking along sunny Calabash Bay answering e-mails from dark, cold England! Extra costs are only incurred when I use the Blackberry phone. Emails are 'free'.

My O2 mobile (cell) also works in Jamaica, defaulting to Digicel in TB. However, it's not cheap. The roaming rates are extortionate. As a consequence, I ended up buying a cheap Jamaican mobile for around J$2,500 and I now leave it with a friend in TB until I return.

Of course, this isn't much help for one-off visitors, but it can be a wise long-term investment for some 'returners'. Calls to the UK using a Jamaican mobile are about a quarter of what it costs me to use my UK mobile and, of course, calls within Jamaica are considerably cheaper as well.

Thanks, all. Guess I'll give the internet hucksters a pass and bring my phone when I head down in the spring and buy a sim card and some phone cards. I can always count on you guys to come back with helpful info!
Seth