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Coming down for the first time on the 12th. I plan of relaxing like heck, but need to get it touch back here in IL. occassionaly,
Do mobile phones work there ? ( Verizon )
or are the roaming charges nuts, or should I plan on using local phones. ? Thanks

Your cell phone will work, but you'll need to set up an account with BTL, the local telecommunications monopoly (and I do mean monopoly). Believe you can still do that at the international airport.

Any calls to the U.S. will cost you an arm and a leg -- around US$1.50 a minute.

Best idea is to use e-mail if you can. There are cyber cafes in San Pedro and some hotels let you use their e-mail for a nominal sum.

--Lan Sluder

I read a couple old posts on this matter and there may be an additional catch... that being what your U.S. provider will charge for International Roaming rates in addition to the long distance charges from BTL.. Apparently these can be gruesome to say the least.

I'm thinking if you arrange for a temporary rental of a BTL cell it may be much cheaper than activating your own cell.

Lan, if you're listening I need to get some info on this rental thing for two of the couples traveling with me to SP late this month. I have tried in vain to find an e-mail address for BTL to pose the question of the rental details directly.

Thanks,

CC

[This message has been edited by CHOOCHOO (edited 03-05-2001).]

Choo Choo,

You might try e-mailing [email protected], but you may not get an answer. Might be better to just call BTL at 2-77690.

Last I heard, BTL charged a BZE$35 activation fee, plus $4 a day if you used your own phone or BZE$9 if you used theirs, plus about 85 BZE cents a minute within Belize. I had not heard of the "international roaming charges" if using your own cell phone. I thought the only long-distance charge was what BTL charges, which is outrageous enough.

Please let us know what you find out.

--Lan Sluder

Lan,
That original info came to me last August from Sandcrab. If you have Jim's e-mail addy you might want to give him note about it. (Of course we all know WHERE he lives, and they do things just a little different up there. Nothing quite like those Canadian taxes, Aaaa?)

At any rate I've got my semi-retired neighbor (who's bored out of his gourd, and desperate for a purpose) contacting Cingular here to see what their program is for activation in BZ.

Thanks for all the info. I think I'll stick with the e-mail idea. This phone thing sounds out of hand.