Mobile phone rental

RickC

Member
Sep 29, 2006
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Hi ya'll
Does anyone have any information about renting a mobile phone for 3 months in Santiago? Locations and estimate of cost.
Many thanks,
Rick
 

cobraboy

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Jul 24, 2004
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Hi ya'll
Does anyone have any information about renting a mobile phone for 3 months in Santiago? Locations and estimate of cost.
Many thanks,
Rick
All the cell providers have cheapies for sale. Easier to just buy.
 

cobraboy

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Jul 24, 2004
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So do you pay for usage by the month or buy " minutes cards" for the usage?
Buy a cheap phone from Verizon or Orange, and just buy minutes as needed. Minutes are sold everywhere in 100, 200, and 300 peos demoninations.
 

JoyO

New member
Jul 16, 2006
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RickC,
What I did was purchase a cell phone for around $30. There was no activation fee. Then I just buy minute cards when I need them. Cell phone service is good in DR because of unlimited incoming calls, so if you're ever out of minutes, people can still call you, and you dont have to pay anything. I havent purchased a minute card in a month because my fam in the states always call me, its great!
JoyO
 

bigbird

Gold
May 1, 2005
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Buy a cheap phone from Verizon or Orange, and just buy minutes as needed. Minutes are sold everywhere in 100, 200, and 300 peos demoninations.


How many local minutes do you get on a card?

How many minutes do you get when calling the USA?

Or is there a flat per minute rate?
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
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How many local minutes do you get on a card?

How many minutes do you get when calling the USA?

Or is there a flat per minute rate?
You don't get "minutes". You fund an account.

I recall local calls are around 7 pesos a minute, and calls to the state around 17-22 pesos a minute. I could be off on those #'s. I use Orange because they are compatible with an old Moto V400 quad band phone.

There are tons of threads on cell phones in the DR here. A search will provide a ton of info.
 

bigbird

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May 1, 2005
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You don't get "minutes". You fund an account.

I recall local calls are around 7 pesos a minute, and calls to the state around 17-22 pesos a minute. I could be off on those #'s. I use Orange because they are compatible with an old Moto V400 quad band phone.

There are tons of threads on cell phones in the DR here. A search will provide a ton of info.

I have probably read everyone of the threads but I never recall anyone mentioning approximately how many minutes you get. So a 100 peso card will get me about 5 minutes to the USA and roughly 15 minutes local?
 
Sep 19, 2005
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my GF calls me with her verizon phone and uses up her pesos ( calling card), at about a 30 cents a minute rate.......and believe it or not it is cheaper for her to call a cell phone, than it is to call a land line.

its just the opposite from america...calls are cheaper to land lines than to cells.

I bought a used phone in Santiago for $50... there were a few cheaper.....of course it wasnt guaranteed against Sosua Beach salt water.............now ill sell it for ....make me an offer......

bob
 

HOWMAR

Silver
Jan 28, 2004
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You don't get "minutes". You fund an account.

I recall local calls are around 7 pesos a minute, and calls to the state around 17-22 pesos a minute. I could be off on those #'s. I use Orange because they are compatible with an old Moto V400 quad band phone.

There are tons of threads on cell phones in the DR here. A search will provide a ton of info.

Those rates are about what Centennial charges, but half on weekends.
 

bigbird

Gold
May 1, 2005
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Just when I thought I had this phone thing figured out I learned something new. I didn't realize it cost that much to call the states from the DR. So if needing to make a lengthy call it would be better to use a calling center (yes?).

I purchased a new unlocked gsm tri-band cell phone on ebay for $40 USD with shipping. Hopefully when I am in the DR next week things will work out.

My understanding is I just take the phone to an Orange Center and purchase a sim card and "minutes".
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
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I purchased a new unlocked gsm tri-band cell phone on ebay for $40 USD with shipping. Hopefully when I am in the DR next week things will work out.

My understanding is I just take the phone to an Orange Center and purchase a sim card and "minutes".
Yup. I got mine at the Orange kiosk in La Sirena in Santiago.
 

Beads

Bronze
May 21, 2006
607
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yea phones are cheap and you can monitor how your minutes are being used by checking the balance on the phone. Its really not as big a deal as people make it out to be. Definitely ALOT cheaper to activate a local phone and call back to the states. Do a search as theres LOADS of info on the cellphones already covered on this board. I didnt see much added in this thread except for possibly current rates. Buy 600RD in minutes and see how it lasts. Thats under $20 US and it does allow for a ton of calling time.