"No tengo minutos" - why is calling so expensive in the DR?

martes_dr

New member
Dec 5, 2010
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Well, the title says it: Why are "minutos" so expensive in the DR? I have been traveling around Asia and there it everyone is using pre-paid sim cards too and it costs nearly nothing to text and call. For example in Sri Lanka: A minute costs less than two cents. A text costs not even a cent and 1MB using the internet costs like 0,2 cents! The SIM costs one Dollar.
My impression is that in the DR it is quite expensive in general...
I assume, that the infrastructure for a cell phone network costs worldwide more or less the same. If that is true, wouldn't it mean that they hold up the prices in the DR on purpose or do the cell phone carriers around asia all get subvention from the governments? I'm not an economist or something, so maybe I do over-see something important? Of course, the first idea might be, that they charge so much because they can, but if it is possible to give better prices there would be a carrier underpricing the others, right?

I am happy to hear your thoughts!
 

caribmike

Gold
Jul 9, 2009
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Monopoly? Same with Electricity...

Phone / Internet is taxed with 28 (or now 30?) %...
 

martes_dr

New member
Dec 5, 2010
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Monopoly? Same with Electricity...

Phone / Internet is taxed with 28 (or now 30?) %...

Are Claro, Viva and Orange all party of the same company? Otherwise it is not a real monopoly. They can do common pricing though...

Well, the high taxes don't do much, because if it was cheap in the first place, the taxes wouldn't be much neither...
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
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calling is cheap and so are people. specifically those who keep on asking you to "lend them" few minutes from your phone.

and i would not complain. few years ago when i left poland it cost my parents few bucks a minute to call me here. now the thieves that monopolize polish telecommunication have generously lowered to prices to just 1 euro a minute.
 

caribmike

Gold
Jul 9, 2009
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True...

I'm not an expert, so maybe not Monopoly but for sure these companies agree somehow to offer more or less the same prices which would not be legal in say Germany?

Are Claro, Viva and Orange all party of the same company? Otherwise it is not a real monopoly. They can do common pricing though...

Well, the high taxes don't do much, because if it was cheap in the first place, the taxes wouldn't be much neither...
 

Castle

Silver
Sep 1, 2012
2,982
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It's volume, guys. DR has only about 10 million cellular lines, and there are 4 companies. And each company needs to have roughly the same headcount and departments no matter how many clients they have. And they need to get all the equipment even if they use it only partially. So it gets expensive to provide the service if your return rate is slow. International carriers won't negotiate with you if you can't guarantee a fixed amount of minutes per month, so in some cases the smaller companies have to run traffic through a competitor's network and pay unfair fees for every minute.
You can't compare the price per minute you get with a company that has 100 million clients.
 

Criss Colon

Platinum
Jan 2, 2002
21,843
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yahoomail.com
I stopped using my cell phones last August.
If anyone wants to call me, I'll be at home.
I have a "Claro" card if I need to call a cell.
Saves me a lot of wasted money, and even more TIME!
I highly recommend it!
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
 

NALs

Economist by Profession
Jan 20, 2003
13,370
3,150
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Its expensive because the telecomunications industry functions as an oligopoly.

Actually, many Dominican economic sectors function like this. This is obvious by the way things are marketed (not so much the commercials, but the events.)

In a small economy like the Dominican one, this is almost the natural course of things and should be expected. The alternative is usually a monopoly, which is worst for your wallets.

Same thing in Puerto Rico. In fact, that is the reason US chains in Puerto Rico register the highest sales volume on a per square foot basis and the highest profit margins, with many US retail chains having their most profitable stores on that island. Its not that Puerto Ricans buy more, they simply pay more for almost everything, despite buying at Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Sam's Club, Macy's, whatever else. Its always much more expensive than on the mainland.
 
Last edited:
Jun 18, 2007
14,280
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www.rentalmetrocountry.com
It is absurd here!!
In Panama I paid $3,- to call the DR for 30 minutes on my cellular.
$0,11 per minute to call. On special days you buy a $10 card and get $40,-!!
Paid $15 per month for internet etc, full package, here it's RD1500
Taxes are only 7%
 
Dec 26, 2011
8,071
0
0
I stopped using my cell phones last August.
If anyone wants to call me, I'll be at home.
I have a "Claro" card if I need to call a cell.
Saves me a lot of wasted money, and even more TIME!
I highly recommend it!
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

T yamo n 5 papi!
 

SKY

Gold
Apr 11, 2004
13,470
3,604
113

SKY

Gold
Apr 11, 2004
13,470
3,604
113
Yes, it may work, but when you get home you will get a bill for $300 or so. It is caled roaming charges. Someone on this site, I think it was, said they don't do that anymore, but I don't think that is correct.

They do it and worse. If you leave the data on you will be buried when you get your next bill. Take the Sim card out of the phone when you leave the US.
 

DOMINCAN JOE

Bronze
Aug 15, 2006
1,992
38
0
They do it and worse. If you leave the data on you will be buried when you get your next bill. Take the Sim card out of the phone when you leave the US.

When i was away my son got in touch with orange they told him there was no charge
then i had my bill it came to ?300.00
when i phoned about the bill they told me they had no record of my son getting in touch
 

SKY

Gold
Apr 11, 2004
13,470
3,604
113
When i was away my son got in touch with orange they told him there was no charge
then i had my bill it came to ?300.00
when i phoned about the bill they told me they had no record of my son getting in touch

You should have never paid it. They can "Whistle Dixie" trying to collect from you.
 

CFA123

Silver
May 29, 2004
3,512
413
83
I'm not going to do the calcs now... but I did a few years ago comparing cost/minute in DR vs the US.
The comparison wasn't all that different at the time as I recall.
The big difference was in the U.S. the cost is split 50/50 caller & recipient.
Here, the caller pays 100%, which makes it seem expensive - if you are the one placing the call.