www.CostaRicaTicas.com

you're absolutely right. I should have clarified that statement. I don't know anything about Rico's service, but I know that Rico would have no incentive to rip off those of us in this community.

the company we used was cell phone solutions.

read the rant here.

when we went back to the concierge back in Nov, they said they no longer had information on that company. my friend was never able to get back his deposit. since then, we use a pay as you go Cingular Razr phone and coverage is pretty good in san jose.

What do you mean by saying that a Cingular phone works fine? Do you send and receive calls to and from your U.S. phone number down in CR? Or do you plug in a local CR chip and get a CR phone number?

Cingular has service in CR. $2.29 per minute. No special equipment needed. Just call cingular to verify you have the right type of phone, and that you qualify for international calling. My understanding is that you maintain your same phone number for incoming calls. Just dial 001 + area code + phone number to dial out. I haven't tried it yet, but will do so in 9 days!

Above is correct as is the same for T-Mobile.

But would highly recommend against it. My above post as well as ID's, which I have now done twice is a great reasonably priced alternative.

Let me ask a couple more questions:

1) some of you mention quad band phones. The GSM phones on ebay are by and large unlocked tri band. Is quad band really any more useful than tri band?

2) Also, the descriptions read for example:

BRAND NEW LG F9100 UNLOCKED GSM PHONE CINGULAR TMOBILE

BRAND NEW MOTOROLA L6 SLVR QUAD BAND UNLOCKED GSM PHONE

Does it matter than it mentions a specific network or does the phone not care once you change the SIM card? The motorola is a flip phone. I don't suppose that makes it any more difficult to change cards on does it? Most of the phones in Rio seem to be regular, not flip phone and I just wondered if there's a reason.

3) Finally, many of these phone descriptions just say "unlocked" but do not mention GSM(Cell Phone- Unlocked Motorola V551/ MOTOROLA V551 BLUETOOTH VIDEO / CAMERA UNLOCKED - NEW!). Can it be unlocked but not GSM capable?

Useful or not depends on where you travel with your cell phone to.
Quad band basically covers all cell phone frequencies globally ,850/900 / 1800/1900 for the moment. In CR , is 1800Mhz.

Countries like USA , Canada for example, use a mixture of it.

Say if you travel to a country that uses 850Mhz such as Panama, your quad phone should work given it has the proper pana sim card ( On a different note, I don't know if phones with CR servies would work in Panama as in roaming. But all ticos I know told me that phones with CR cell services would not roam in Panama, maybe due to the frequency reason, or others )

My tri-band cell works in Asia( with other sim card ), North America( roams ), and in CR (with CR sim card ), but not in Panama because my cell does not cope with 850mhz



Basically, if the GSM phone you're going to buy covers the frequencies for the places in which you will be using it, you'll be ok.

So make sure:
- there are GSM networks in the places for usage
- the frequencies are compatiable.
- the phone is unlocked.

If the above are all checked, your GSM phone with a local sim card ( meaning new local number. Again , in North America, we can roam with the same number ) should work.



No, it really varies. For example, some flips have their sim on their back side, while some, like from Toshiba, actually have their sim slot on the inside ( a compartment under the lcd screen )



Just to make it simple, go to the site of the manufacturer or Google ( search on web ) the cell phone models that you are interested in. You shall be able to find out if they are GSM. When in doubt, don't buy it.
Motorola V551 is GSM as far as I know.

They will not work. I can tell you that for sure. In fact, it's incredible, almost the instant you cross into Panama,"buscando red." In other words, "searching for network."

dapanz1

_________________
Paradise= Sitting outside the Bodega in Panama City about 1 am. Drinking cool Balboas with cool friends and blazin' hot Colombianas. I want to be there..RIGHT NOW!

My cingular phones works down there with my number. Cingular has an agreement with ICE which is why the ICE logo shows instead of cingular. I used it once but be prepared for a huge bill. Charges are incoming and outgoing at international rates. Still cheaper and easier to rent from Enrico.

Thanks for confirming that. Now at least I know the Ticos/Pana's I talked to weren't shitting me.

BTW Cell phones ( for Panama 850mhz use only ) are quite cheap at the boarder. You can get one for 50USD or less, sim card with numbers and some air time is about $20. Strictly for usage in Panama.