Cell Phones in US

Hi, I received an ad. in my mail that said you can rent a phone here for use in USA. the number is 809-334-1684 / 85. The company is USA Mobile Dominican Republic.

There are cell phone plans that you can use a card with, but they are a complete ripoff. They cost a lot more per minute and also remember that unlike The DR here you pay both when you call and when someone calls you. So they double dip you.
You could buy a cell phone from e-bay and have it activated, but if you activate it with one of the large companies (Cingular, Sprint or Verizon) they normally require a minimum of one year contract and you'd have to pay a penalty if you cancel early (about 150 USD). Either way I don't think you have any cheap alternatives here.

If you have a cell phone from either verizon or Orange in The DR they both have a service that allows you to use it while traveling (In The US, for instance). It cost about 55 cents a minute. I would just get this added to my cell and then would buy a 5 or 10 USD calling card Uniontelecard to make any non-emergency calls.

You can.....

Ken said:

Is it the same in the US, or must you have a contract with Verizon or one of the other companies? Since I'll only be there a month, that wouldn't be practical.

Assuming cards are available like they are here, I'm thinking of buying a cheap phone from eBay or some other online source so that it will be at my first destination when I arrive.

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There are all types of "pay as you go" phones here. They range from 39.99 and up. They are ripoffs because, as suarezn said, you will be charged for incoming and outgoing calls. Some of them have free nights and weekends so if you are not going to use it much, you can get one of those.

Also, some of them look pretty nice and you can even bring it to the DR and have it activated over there. I bought one of them from verizon(for my nephew which I never gave it to) and I gave it to AZB and he activated it and he is as happy as a clam with it.

Unlock phone

Ken said:

I have another question about going to the US. This time about cell phones.

Here I have the choice of having a plan or a phone card. If I choose the latter option, I can use my phone anywhere in the country, just buying another card when the minutes on previous card are used up. Visitors not able to use their own cell phone can buy a cheap phone, or rent a phone, and use cards during the period of the visit.

Is it the same in the US, or must you have a contract with Verizon or one of the other companies? Since I'll only be there a month, that wouldn't be practical.

Assuming cards are available like they are here, I'm thinking of buying a cheap phone from eBay or some other online source so that it will be at my first destination when I arrive.

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If your phone is GSM (the one with the little chip) then you should be able go online and pay to get it unlocked for use with any service provider. You can then go a buy a prepaid chip, pop it in, and be good to go. Just throwing that out there as a idea. You can also go in and change your NAM settings on your CDMA phone, but that gets kinda tricky if you don't have all the information.

Us Cell Phones

AS HE SAID,IF YOU HAVE VERIZON OR ORANGE YOU CAN GET YOUR PHONE ACTIVATED FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. JUST GO TO ANY SEVICE CENTER WHEN YOU GET THERE...ITS NOT ALOT OF MONEY

suarezn said:

There are cell phone plans that you can use a card with, but they are a complete ripoff. They cost a lot more per minute and also remember that unlike The DR here you pay both when you call and when someone calls you. So they double dip you.
You could buy a cell phone from e-bay and have it activated, but if you activate it with one of the large companies (Cingular, Sprint or Verizon) they normally require a minimum of one year contract and you'd have to pay a penalty if you cancel early (about 150 USD). Either way I don't think you have any cheap alternatives here.

If you have a cell phone from either verizon or Orange in The DR they both have a service that allows you to use it while traveling (In The US, for instance). It cost about 55 cents a minute. I would just get this added to my cell and then would buy a 5 or 10 USD calling card Uniontelecard to make any non-emergency calls.

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This is not true. You cant get your DR phone to work locally without downloading the PRL's into the phone. Not as easily done in the US.

I use Virgin Mobile in the US now that Sprint in their wisdom after 5 years realized I am no longer a dealer and shut me off. 25 cents a minute and 10 cents after the first 10 minutes.

If you are going to be going while I am in the DR I will loan you the phone.

Let me know your dates.

Escott

Dr Phones

Escott, let me correct you on a couple of things Verizon is Verizon no matter where you go, the Orange system which took over Codel is compatable with Cingulars format if you are using a CDMA phone. When I go to the DR I go to the local Verizon office and have it activated, I'm sure this applys in reverse. I work for Motorola, 22 years....we MAKE the phones......

ggn420 said:

Escott, let me correct you on a couple of things Verizon is Verizon no matter where you go, the Orange system which took over Codel is compatable with Cingulars format if you are using a CDMA phone. When I go to the DR I go to the local Verizon office and have it activated, I'm sure this applys in reverse. I work for Motorola, 22 years....we MAKE the phones......

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No wonder, you work for Motorola, the dinasaur of the Cell phone business. No one I know has a motorola if they don't use it as a door stop to hold the door open. LOL

Verizon took over Codetel not Orange. You still have to download the prls into the phones. Same thing when you bring a cdma phone down from the states. Orange will work on Cingular and TMobile but you still need to download the tower info so the phone knows what to look for and what to do.

Escott

Just a little TELCO history

.....Verizon Dominicana is the new name for the old Codetel.
Codetel was a wholey owned subsidiary of GTE.
Verizon was incorporated in 1983 under the name Bell Atlantic Corporation. The company changed its name to Verizon Communications, Inc. in 2000 following a merger with GTE Corporation.

Verizon/codel ???

[Escott, Keep that in mind a couple of years from now when your cheep prepaid phone is accessing Motorolas satellites as all phones will be doing when the technology catches up with the states. I realize that Motorola was sleeping when Nokia and others took advantage of the cell phone industry, but Motorolas recent buying of Nextel and currently the only owner of the 12 satellites that were employed in the past couple of years will put everyone at their mercy in the future. I don't work for them anymore, I just keep cashing in on the stock that split several years ago and live the good life in the DR. QUOTE=Escott]No wonder, you work for Motorola, the dinasaur of the Cell phone business. No one I know has a motorola if they don't use it as a door stop to hold the door open. LOL

Verizon took over Codetel not Orange. You still have to download the prls into the phones. Same thing when you bring a cdma phone down from the states. Orange will work on Cingular and TMobile but you still need to download the tower info so the phone knows what to look for and what to do.

Escott[/QUOTE]

Hahaha, I got you going.

Motorola's stock has been in the toilet for a long time and not likely to poop back out Sorry had to say it. I hope you have other income so you can live decently rather than in Poverty!

We aint gonna be using your birds in the DR! Maybe to uplink from towers that can't be reached from another tower but NOT from the birds exclusively. When I was in the paging business we did make the jump to the bird and back down to get to remote towers on occassion. I seem to remember two companies who had this same vision with Cell phones off the bird. They happen to be both out of business now.

Motorola had their lunch eaten by Nokia because Motorola was way too confident and didn't plow money back into design and convienence. I always look at people with Motorola phones like I would at an Alien.

Now Nokia is having their market share eated in turn. Korea is the up and coming provider of handsets.

I happen to have a cellular phone with a plan in the DR on Verizon. I only use the prepaid when I go to NY on occassion. Mostly I use Skype to make calls so it is very inexpensive for me in NY. My way is the best way for me.



Escott

Not Too Smart

Obviously you don't know much about the industry, pageing, that figures. Motorola stock split at 67US dummie, I paid 14 and 15US in the 80's. I put one girl through college at BC, not a bad return, maybe she will be your pilot for AA on your next trip home te he hee Open up your Qualquam or whatever you have for a phone and guess what ? All the ic's are Motorola. Motorolas stock has nothing to do with celluar or pageing, they focus on their land/mobile two way radio systems. They dominate the market in the public service radio market, ever watch cops ? GE took the bath there..................I'd stick to growing your vegetables.......................UOTE=Escott]Hahaha, I got you going.

Motorola's stock has been in the toilet for a long time and not likely to poop back out Sorry had to say it. I hope you have other income so you can live decently rather than in Poverty!

We aint gonna be using your birds in the DR! Maybe to uplink from towers that can't be reached from another tower but NOT from the birds exclusively. When I was in the paging business we did make the jump to the bird and back down to get to remote towers on occassion. I seem to remember two companies who had this same vision with Cell phones off the bird. They happen to be both out of business now.

Motorola had their lunch eaten by Nokia because Motorola was way too confident and didn't plow money back into design and convienence. I always look at people with Motorola phones like I would at an Alien.

Now Nokia is having their market share eated in turn. Korea is the up and coming provider of handsets.

I happen to have a cellular phone with a plan in the DR on Verizon. I only use the prepaid when I go to NY on occassion. Mostly I use Skype to make calls so it is very inexpensive for me in NY. My way is the best way for me.



Escott[/QUOTE]

ggn420 said:

Obviously you don't know much about the industry, pageing, that figures. Motorola stock split at 67US dummie, I paid 14 and 15US in the 80's. I put one girl through college at BC, not a bad return, maybe she will be your pilot for AA on your next trip home te he hee Open up your Qualquam or whatever you have for a phone and guess what ? All the ic's are Motorola. Motorolas stock has nothing to do with celluar or pageing, they focus on their land/mobile two way radio systems. They dominate the market in the public service radio market, ever watch cops ? GE took the bath there..................I'd stick to growing your vegetables

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First of all Pageing is Paging. Cheep is Cheap. Qualquam is Qualcomm and last but not least Dummie is YOU.

Your motorola stock in the last 5 years after all your BS looks like this.



If you had bought a six pack of Presidente beer or a used car and held onto it you would have done better in 5 years.

If I were you I would stick to being a vegetable!

Stocks

You seem to be an authority on everything. Reminds me of a guy in the service He knew everything about nothing. Sounds like you Escott(that is your real name is it ?) You should start a new thread on the stock market, if you look at your graph, it's going up, eh ? Everybody has had there hard times, Motorola as well, they matched me shares at the time, sent a daughter to school, a good one at that, BC and bought myself a little place in Otra Banda. Didn't do me too bad.......You should be an invester with your knowledge instead of this sankiepankie or bankie sakie nonsence, That is just a joke, right ?????

ggn420 said:

You seem to be an authority on everything. Reminds me of a guy in the service He knew everything about nothing. Sounds like you Escott(that is your real name is it ?) You should start a new thread on the stock market, if you look at your graph, it's going up, eh ? Everybody has had there hard times, Motorola as well, they matched me shares at the time, sent a daughter to school, a good one at that, BC and bought myself a little place in Otra Banda. Didn't do me too bad.......You should be an invester with your knowledge instead of this sankiepankie or bankie sakie nonsence, That is just a joke, right ?????

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SankyBanky is NOT a joke, it is listed on the NASDAQ and Toronto Stock Exchange. I am not an authority on everything but I am familiar with Motorola and have been for a while. I have actually owned the stock from time to time but got out before they took the swan dive.

No Gordon that isn't my real name. Do you want my real name, phone number and anything else? Just PM me and I will be happy to give it to you.

I am also an investor. One doesn't have to be completely tilted in one direction. That is one of the reasons I knew Motorola has lost 50% of its value in the last 5 years. Hell I thought getting 3% in the bank was bad till I look at the chart you lived through and bragged about it. I guess you are optimistic because it went from close to 40 to about 8 bux and now back to 18 bux. Anything to make yourself feel good about your investment is ok with me. I was into REITS for that time period. TMA, AHM, HOT, HRP, NHI and I also was into Real Estate in NY. Now I am into NADA in the market.

I invested my daughters College money in US Savings Bonds at 6%. They never went down in value and are 100% tax deductable when used for childrens higher education.

Just out of curiosity what is BC? Boston College is what it probably is but I was thinking Bard College also.

You ought to get to know someone a little better before you make statements like the one you made above. Easier not to make an arse out of yourself.

Escott

Target!

Ken said:

I have another question about going to the US. This time about cell phones.

Here I have the choice of having a plan or a phone card. If I choose the latter option, I can use my phone anywhere in the country, just buying another card when the minutes on previous card are used up. Visitors not able to use their own cell phone can buy a cheap phone, or rent a phone, and use cards during the period of the visit.

Click to expand...

Ken, I just read a Target Store's ad and they have a "pay as you go" phone for $89.99 and it comes with a $20 Gift Card. Airtime rates are 10 cents a minute with a 35 cents daily fee.

So you are basically paying $70 for a nice flip phone that you can bring to the DR and activate if you wish.

Stocks ?

[Escott, How do they say.....If the shoe fits...wear it. I will try and not make ant errors in my spelling, sorry, maybe I didn't have the education you have had. OK Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, Motorola did well for me at the time, I had over 2000 shares, but got matched, so really only paid for half. Not a bad deal, I cashed out at the split so I made out well. I have not worked for them for 12 years now and to be honest with you I'm glad to get out of a commie pinko company that likes to CONTROL it's employees, I could tell you more but this thread is not about stocks.....Maybe someday I will send you a ticket to fly down to my place for supper, and a return flight up north, Hows that sound ? then you can tell me all about yourself.....Adios QUOTE=Escott]SankyBanky is NOT a joke, it is listed on the NASDAQ and Toronto Stock Exchange. I am not an authority on everything but I am familiar with Motorola and have been for a while. I have actually owned the stock from time to time but got out before they took the swan dive.

No Gordon that isn't my real name. Do you want my real name, phone number and anything else? Just PM me and I will be happy to give it to you.

I am also an investor. One doesn't have to be completely tilted in one direction. That is one of the reasons I knew Motorola has lost 50% of its value in the last 5 years. Hell I thought getting 3% in the bank was bad till I look at the chart you lived through and bragged about it. I guess you are optimistic because it went from close to 40 to about 8 bux and now back to 18 bux. Anything to make yourself feel good about your investment is ok with me. I was into REITS for that time period. TMA, AHM, HOT, HRP, NHI and I also was into Real Estate in NY. Now I am into NADA in the market.

I invested my daughters College money in US Savings Bonds at 6%. They never went down in value and are 100% tax deductable when used for childrens higher education.

Just out of curiosity what is BC? Boston College is what it probably is but I was thinking Bard College also.

You ought to get to know someone a little better before you make statements like the one you made above. Easier not to make an arse out of yourself.

Escott[/QUOTE]

I will leave my cell phone in the US that I was going to lend you since you seem to have made other arrangements.

Escott