I know this topic has been covered before, and I did do keyword searches in this site and actually pulled up the last 10000 topics to rummage through but couldn't find anything but the FAQ's cell phone rental question.

First, let me say that I am "cellphoneularly challanged." Things like GSM and GPS and SIM mean pretty much nothing to me. My cell is so old that it doesn't even HAVE a Sim card.

What I want to know...in the simplest way possible... is what phone can I purchase in the States, that will work in Jamaica.

I've seen the term, "unlocked." What the heck does that mean, and will I have to "do that" to whatever phone that you tell me to buy?

Remember... I'm celliterate... so speak slowly.

Any links, direction, or advice would be hugely appreciated.

Hi Mair, I'm like you cellular challenged. So this is what I do, not sure it works for everyone but you might consider it. I went to ATT and purchased a new cellphone that was supposed to work in JA, they promised! Got there and nope didn't work, when I got home I took it back and they said oh we forgot to turn the blah blah blah on....well I gave it back to them and said forget it. What I've been told is that when you use a cellphone from the States it cost a bundle for calls...something like $1.50 per minute. So next trip I purchased a cellphone in JA, cost me $50 and I got some minutes with that. Best thing I ever did. Now when I get there I just purchase a card and put minutes on the phone, if for some crazy reason I stay away too long,(sim card runs out after no use after 120 days) I just purchase a new sim card on arrival $20 and I'm on my way. I think you can even add minutes to you phone via the internet (Digicel) to keep the phone operating this only cost $300J. Sound a little complicated but if I can manage anyone can.

Here is my suggestion. Forget about buying a phone in the States, bringing it down here, getting it unlocked and blah, blah, blah. Simply go to Courts while you are in Jamaica and for less than 50 US dollars, you can get a Digicel phone that is ready to go in ten minutes. It uses prepaid phone cards so there is no bill. When you go back to the States, you put it away until your next trip to Jamaica (seeing as you seem to be here quite often). It is the most cost effective and simplest way to go about this. I have tried all the ways and this is the best.

Dear Mair,

We have visited Treasure Beach 6 times in the last 2 years. Each time, we were able to use our cell phones. Our service is Cingular.

Why not save yourself the hasle and either rent a phone when you get to Montego Bay or you can buy a reasonable digicel phone for about US$40.00.

Hope that helps.

Hi Mair
When we were over in June we bought a Digicel phone in Black River for less than $50 with minutes and some free texts..a great little Nokia....and when we return in Jan we will just buy some more minutes...really easy and saved our bills which run at £1.50 a minute from England.Essential when my bill from Christmas last year was over £200 !!Hope this helps too.

:o) that was great!
Thanks SO much!

yes i both a cellhone in England that should work any where but it didn't work in Jamaica

Hmmmmmmmm - Maybe this is an opportunity for someone in TB to set up a 'phone rental company for tourists - then if people don't want to go through the hassle of buying the 'phone/obtaining a new sim card because they've been away too long etc. they could hire out a 'phone for the their holiday period and just let friends/family know that from such & such a date, until so & so date this is the number on which I can be contacted.

I also bought a digicel phone over a year ago. LOVE IT!!
And it's only $18J per minute to call the states. Cheaper than calling JA from the US...

When you return home, if you don't return within a certain amount of time, your Sim card will expire. IF you want to keep the same number/SIM card, you can top off your minutes ONLINE at www.digiceljamaica.com

You can also add minutes to a friend's phone online, tho there is a limit as to how often and how many #'s

Also, it's always nice to run across the phone somewhere when you're back in the states and see that likkle digicel logo looking up at you!

The US GSM carriers operate using the 850 MHz and 1900 MHz frequency bands. Europe and the rest of the world use 900 MHz and 1800 MHz frequency bands. As such, it is recommended that you purchase a "quad" band handset so that you will have ocverage regardless of where you travel. Typically the selection of handsets is better and the costs lower outside of the Caribbean.
For folks in the US, they can purchase a handset and service from Cingular, add the international roaming feature and have coverage throughout the Caribbean, use of your same phone number and voicemail, and billing on your regular monthly statement. Alternativly after 90 days of continuous service and with an account in good standing, a Cingular customer can request that their handset be "unlocked" if they have a tri or quad band handset. Unlocking is also known as SIM Free in the UK and Europe. Unlocking has some advantages and disadvantages for the international traveler. The primary advantage is that you can use another carriers SIM card from the country that you are visiting. Folks often get a prepaid SIM card for this purpose. The disadvantage is that you will need to inform your friends and family of your new local phone number since it changes with the prepaid SIM. In addition, you will not have access to your voicemail. But there again, it may be a blessing in disguise that no one knows your local number!
For US customers, Cingular has service on many Caribbean islands obtained through their recent acquisition of ATT Wireless.
I hope that this brief explanation answers more questions than it raises.