I'll be traveling to Treasure Beach in March. My cell phone provider does not have international coverage. I'm trying to find a temporary cell phone and provider in the U.S. that I can use in Jamaica to communicate with my associates in the U.S. during my vacation. I would like to purchase the phone in the U.S. T-Mobile has a phone service, but I don't know how good it is.
Can anyone give me insight?

you should purchase an "Unlocked" (use any search engine for unlocked cell phones) phone and when you get to Jamaica you can purchase a chip to use whilst there

Are you referring to SIM card? i though tyou oculd only get credit card type phone cards in JA? I need this also.....

you may purchase an unlocked phone or

you may purchase a phone in a digicel shop for very little money, you can pick one up in montego bay, where the selection is usually better than black river or southfield see for an idea of what you can purchase http://www.digiceljamaica.com/en/

a sim card is approx. $500J,

with $1200JA international credit you can talk to the u.s. for 1200mins. in the next 30 days

I bought a phone in Southfield and buy minutes when I am in TB. Numerous places sell minutes. I generally get them at Jack Sprats. Jerry

Some tech info:
An unlocked phone means it will work with any SIM card

A SIM card is what you get from the phone company like DigiCell or CWJ and it allows the phone to talk to the cell tower.

Phones in JA are not cheap anymore, trust me. Oh and now you have to buy a chip separately, 650 JA$ last time I bought one a couple of years ago. I bought a cheap unlocked Samsung phone in the UK for £15 from Carphonewarehouse and it works perfectly in JA. I even top it up with Digicel online before I leave the UK so I can use it straight away when I reach Mo'bay (works out about £3 a month to keep the chip live). Be prepared to come back without the phone though! In fact you could even sell the phone in JA.

Tell me exactly how my pay as you go cell phone from the USA would work in Jamaica. I am with AT&T.

I have never taken a cell phone with me when I travel abroad.

Which is the best and cheapest way to do this.

Please help.

I bought a nokia for 3000 JA,they had cheaper ones as well. starting at about 2000 plus, the sim card was 580JA. I got it in Southfield last month.I brought it back to Canada and am topping it up on line from here.. for my next trip.. yeah!

There is no best way. The best wat is to just rent a phone here. 1000 minutes for $5 plus rental. trust me, I have been there and done that. Remnt a phone and save $100's...

I do not think renting a phone is a good idea.
A new phone I would do.
Do you know all the info on a cell phone stays there even after you change the sim card!!

During my Feb. 2010 visit, my US Verizon (very basic - still has the old pull out antennae)worked fine. I could call local and back to US. This year it didn't. Any explanation? Any ideas?

One Love has the very best advice. That is exactly the way to go. If you plan to return to Jamaica, take the phone with you when you leave. You will have to purchase a new SIM card and have a new telephone number when you come back if your phone is unused for more than 90 days. If you do not plan to come back, give it to someone as a very nice tip.

Van, we had the same problem. It worked fine in MoBay but as soon as we left the city no service at all. Thankfuly, some friends let us use their phones for the 2 calls we had to make.