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Joined: Feb 2002
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NO NO NO - just so no one gets burned...AT&T does NOT charge .50 a call - the other poster is correct - its closer to $2.80 a minute. the 0.50 is per TXT. both those prices are WITH the $5.99 /mo international service, or it would be even more. we use AT&T and believe have the highest int'l rates.

the original poster appeared to want the phone for intra-bz use, and was answered well. for us visitors calling home, there are other options available out there, such as renting a BTL phone while visiting (about $1 less per minute), or skype (with conditions, of course).

Joined: Sep 2006
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Get an iphone and then call me when you get here. We'll get you unlocked and setup. No problem.

Joined: Feb 2002
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oh, and ron mentioned messages. if you use an AT&T phone, you get charged the per minute rate for any message left, and then the same amount AGAIN if you retrieve and listen to it. bruce must use his phone for work, but i have my voicemail turned OFF when i travel. just passing on info - hope it helps someone.

Joined: May 2003
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I just stopped at the Verizon store a couple days ago. They told me $1.29 a minute to call the US from Belize. Out going text messages were $.50 each and incoming texts were $.05.

Joined: Nov 2000
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As far as I know, I don't get charged for retrieving messages, if I do it from an unrelated landline.


A fish and a bird can fall in love, but where will they build their nest?

Joined: Oct 2006
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That's the same for me. I only get charged when I retrieve messages with the US phone. I don't get charged for messages left on the phone as long as my phone isn't contacted in Belize, that's why I leave it off except when retrieving messages.

Joined: Jul 2009
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Originally Posted by Niklauryn
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...



Ouch! This is probably because you didn't turn off data roaming on your phone before you got to Belize.

The AT&T customer service rep. gave me some valuable information before I left the states. He said to go into the phone menu and turn off data roaming (I have an IPhone; not sure about other phones) or I would get a whopping bill. The first time I turned on my phone in Belize, AT&T sent me a text message stating that the "international data rate of $19.97/MB applies. The unlimited domestic data rate plan does NOT apply in this location. Detail: att.com/global"

Of course I didn't have to worry because I had already turned it off. My phone menu actually reads "turn data roaming off when abroad to avoid substantial roaming charges when using email, web browsing, and other data services."

Joined: Jul 2009
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Originally Posted by sweetjane
NO NO NO - just so no one gets burned...AT&T does NOT charge .50 a call - the other poster is correct - its closer to $2.80 a minute. the 0.50 is per TXT. both those prices are WITH the $5.99 /mo international service, or it would be even more. we use AT&T and believe have the highest int'l rates.

the original poster appeared to want the phone for intra-bz use, and was answered well. for us visitors calling home, there are other options available out there, such as renting a BTL phone while visiting (about $1 less per minute), or skype (with conditions, of course).



This is true. With AT&T, any texts you RECEIVE from the states are FREE. Any texts you SEND are $0.50 per text. That is without any type of international plan.

The AT&T international plan is about $5.99 a month, but the calls are still around $3.99 or so per minute, so it is not worth it to me.

Here is what I did: I bought a local phone there at C's, across from Milo's. The cheapest they had. I then bought minutes for it at Milo's. Same thing as buying a calling card, but now they don't give you a slip of paper with a long number on it that you have to dial every time. Now they actually put the money on your phone. You can press *122 to check your balance periodically.

It has a local number, so now I can call and receive local calls there in Belize for a small amount per minute. Also, I can MAKE calls from that phone to the states for about $0.25 to $0.50 a minute (can't remember which). But it is certainly a lot less that an international plan from the states.

When someone from the states needs to contact me, they text me for free to my US phone and tell me to call them. I then call them on my Belize phone for a small amount per minute.

Some may have found a better way, but this is the best way that I have discovered to handle it.

Hope this helps.

(By the way, I tried this route first: I took three extra unused, but still working phones with me that had SIM cards in them (three different brands to try). I was told I could get one unlocked there and could then purchase a local SIM card. The same scenerio listed above would then work and I wouldn't have to purchase a local phone. However, none of the three phones could be unlocked. Apparently each type of make/model of phone requires different software to unlock it and they didn't have it. I tried at a couple of different places. So instead of unlocking my existing phone and buying a $55 BZE SIM card, I ended up having to buy a local phone for $100 or so BZE. But now I have it for all future trips there.)

Joined: Nov 2000
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So if you own a t-mobile phone it is unlocked already? I was thinking of buying a phone in SP for the 3 months we will be there but if anyone knows if the t-mobile will work and by this I mean I only want it to work on the island by buying minute cards for it.

Thanks
Denise

Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 515
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TMobile will work but it works on their international plan and of course you get charged international rates. TMobile is not as expensive as some but every international phone plan is expensive in Belize. I am on the island from time to time from a few days to a few weeks. I decided that the best thing was to buy a phone locally and get a local phone number and that is what I do even though my iPhone is unlocked and I could just put the local (in my case BTL) sim card. I don't do that though and just turn off my iPhone (TMobile) while I am there and change my voice mail to tell people to call me on my local number. You should be aware though that BTL will deactivate your account and you will lose any prepaid time if you don't use the phone at least once every couple of months.


Captain One Iron
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