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I see from ATT website that it is possible but was wondering if anyone knew of the ins and outs of doing this where I did not get a 1500.00 bill at the end of the month.
Any special tips that you have picked up on while attempting this?
Thanks,
PhilI am certainly no expert in telecommunications but I don’t think it is possible chariotdriver…..
Please search the Discussion Forum for different key phrases on this topic as we have discussed this before & I do not believe anything has changed ….
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comYes, it is possible to use your AT&T late model GSM phone in CR. But be warned, it’s $2.40 a min to call the states or the guy next door in CR. For $3.99 a month AT&T will let you call CR from the states and only charge you 25 cents a min..
Whoops,
I read that too quickly. It will cost me 1.99 per minute to call OUT of CR, I thought that this was the /25 cents or so.
I have Skype loaded on the phone so I will try that for when I’m around the apartment.If you have a wi-fi enabled phone you can call, receive/send data for free when you can pick up a wi-fi signal. I use T-Mobile with a blackberry curve. I asked a tech at t-mobile and he said this is correct, but they are not supposed to talk about it.
On our last trip I was getting my e mails, using the phone and there were no outrageous charges when I received my bill. This applies when on a wi-fi network.
My phone also works just about everywhere via regular service but yes that is expensive!
It is true that you can call the US from a US lap top in CR on Skype for 2 cents a minute? We’ll be visiting CR this summer and I’ll need some way to return US phone calls for my business.
Yes it is true. Make sure you have a good headset otherwise there is a lot of feedback. Other than that – works great!
Note that when we called our phone co (Verizon) they didn’t know the difference between Costa Rica and Puerto Rico (a U.S. territory). They told us our phone would work. . . (I knew better but my better half HAD to ask. . ).
Costa Rica’s communications system is a government monopoly and they generally do not support foreign phones. That may change but I would not count on it.
You might be able to find wi-fi connections in the Central Valley and some of the tourist destinations but there is a LOT of Costa Rica outside of these places.
You can rent a local phone with your car if you MUST be connected all the time.
I’m thinking that since my phone “could’ work here in Costa Rica, we never turned on the Roaming Feature so not sure but since they quote a price of 1.99 per minute to make a call the I would assume that it could work here.
So if the ATT Iphone has a sim card I could get a few cell phones here in Costa Rica and then at a later date, when I come back to Costa Rica I could swap the Sim card that is provided by ICE here in Costa Rica.
I will have to do some “tweaking” to the Iphone to be able to make it work in Costa Rica I think, Still checking into that.
I know that a friend of mine that lives full time here in Costa Rica uses the same phone in the US as he does in Costa Rica and all he does is swap Sim Cards back and forth as he has one for Costa Rica and one for the USA but uses the same physical phone. Any input on this?
Thanks for all the info,.
PhilATTN LOTUS – ATTN LOTUS – ATTN LOTUS
Hope I got your attention 🙂 Will you e-mail me off the board about your T-Mobile service? reevestribe @ comcast dot net I am in Playa Bejuco, just a bit south of where your property is at. We get ZERO signal with our Costa Rica cell phone in our house/neighborhood but if a WI-FI enabled US cell would work that would be even better for purposes of my business…I do have internet at my house with a wireless network setup.
And for those asking about Skype, I bought a Philips cordless Skype phone & it works perfectly. I bought a 904 area code (local to where my family lives in Florida) & all of our family can call it on a regular phone as a local call to them. We get free incoming calls with the Skype Pro & it is 6 cents a minute to call within Costa Rica & 2 cents a minute to call back to the US (all US calls are free when I’m in the US visiting).
Jessica
Edited on May 20, 2009 05:43
It’s really pretty simple. My service provider is T-Mobile and my phone is wi-fi capable.I think if you have a cell phone that enables talk over wi-fi (Iphone does not) you will be good to go, there are many wi fi phones available. Just tell T-Mobile you need a phone that can make phone calls over the wi-fi network. When I asked a service tech about this he said yes I was correct, but they were not to talk about it.
awesome – i am going to head to t-mobile today then. i am constantly looking for ways to improve my telecommuting & this is a HUGE step in that direction (usually when i am in costa rica, i leave my US cell phone with one of my employees & they answer it for me – not ideal, but no matter how many times i give out my skype number some clients always call my cell).
jessica
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