AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums Belize Life Living in Belize International Cell Phones

I will be returning to San Pedro to stay for the winter. Can anyone recommend a good phone for international use? Also can anybody tell me what the real rates are to call the States? I'm currently looking at Sprint. They have a couple of models that will work on the island. I just can't get a straight answer from the employees, and also have little faith in what I am being told based upon previous accounts I have had, and the inaccuracies in pricing, terms etc.

Do I need to purchase the second SIM card in San Pedro also. And if so, are any available?? Last two times I was there in the past year I could not find one.

Any help is appreciated!

Any GSM phone that operates on the correct frequencies and is unlocked will work. In practice that means tri- or quad-band. Make sure that the specific phone you buy is configured correctly - I had a phone I bought in England that was tri-band and worked everywhere I go, but it was damaged by water so when I was back in England I bought an identical phone. Only when I got back to Belize did I discover that although it looked identical and had the same model number, this one was dual-band and won't work here.

You can buy a local Digicell SIM card at a number of places. Perhaps the most obvious is the BTL office just north of town.

On choice of phone - there are some models which take two SIM cards at the same time, although they don't all work the same way. You might find this convenient - I didn't bother.

Thanks for the info, appreciate the quick response.

I bought an unlocked GSM phone on Ebay for cheap and just got a Digicell SIM card to use there. YOu can put minutes on it as you go.

I have purchased unlocked GSM phones from two good web sources: www.cellhut.com and www.celluloco.com. (Disclaimer: I have no interest or relationship to either site.) Prices are very reasonable on most models and you can choose from hundreds of unlocked phones. As Peter mentioned make sure you choose tri- or quad-band, and both sites let you put in parameters such as those when choosing your phone model.

I have an AT&T phone and it works fine in Belize. Unfortunately, even with their international roaming the cost is $2.49us a minute. Its much cheaper to buy an unlocked phone as others have suggested ( goggle unlocked phones). I've bought 6 from J&R Music over the past few years. The last one I just bought and I got it in 2 days via UPS ground. Prices for phones vary depending on style. Buy a SIM card in Belize and your good to go. It is much cheaper to call the States with that phone than your regular phone, I think its $.25us per minute. The only time I use the US phone is to see if I have messages otherwise I just keep it turned off.I retrieve messages with the Belize phone. I know Verizon doesn't work in Belize and I don't think Sprinit does either, I'm pretty sure that T-Mobile does. The phone needs to be using the GSM system same as that used in Europe.

To reinforce the point - DON'T confuse locked/unlocked with the operating frequency band. They are completely separate considerations and you must meet BOTH of them.

T Mobile does work through BTL/

Verizon also works(I've used it since 4/08), but you might need to advise your local office first, if your domestic acct is not set up properly.

Just returned from AC in September...AT&T charged 50 per call, 1.30 roaming.we kept checking our phone for bill amt...kept saying -$10.00 coverage doesn't show up for about 3 weeks....bill when we got home $1,174.36...you can purchase international coverage for something like $5.00 per month from AT&T, if that is your provider...