Codetel/Claro
I just moved to Juan Dolio this past month which is just a few miles east of Boca Chica, and thought I'd share how my internet set up went. I had to go personally to a main Codetel office as I needed to provide them with my passport. For Juan Dolio closest office is in San Pedro but I don't know about one for Boca Chica. If you don't speak spanish you'll want a translator with you as the rep's don't speak english. They wanted to know what my income was and wanted proof of it which, in my case where I'm 'self-employed' my friend had to be a reference for me. After this initial meeting, 30-45 minutes or so, they needed to do a credit check of sorts and said they would call me once this was completed and let me know if I was approved or not.
I happily was fast tracked (I honestly think this was due to my super friendly and DR savy friend) and I got the call within an hour. At this point I had to return to the Codetel office and pay the RD$1000 (about $30 US) installation fee (and no you cannot pay it during your 1st visit as you have not been approved yet & no you cannot pay via motoconcho as you have to sign the contract at this time....) and they told me someone would come to install the service within 7 working days & no they will not call ahead of time.
I got the premium DSL plan which is the fastest speed (don't ask me for numbers because I'm terrible about such things), wireless service & a local phone with a set # of minutes per month (again the number of minutes slips my mind). This plan costs RD$4000/month (~$125 US).
The Codetel guy arrived after about 5 days. He couldn't find my house so he ended up calling my reference person for directions, who luckily is a friend and lives very close by. Despite the fact that she had already split a bottle of rum with a friend that day & had a thanksgiving turkey in the oven, she hopped on her scooter to escort him to my apartment. He had to leave & come back, and although his order did not specifically say I received wireless service I was able to convince him in my very broken spanish, that it was indeed included. he did go ahead and install the wireles router with only the minor threat that if i wasn't supposed to have it he would be back tomorrow to take it away. needless to say I haven't seen him since & my service is working fabulously!!!
hope this is helpful
d
