Any phone you buy in the United States will be “locked” so that the SIM card is only compatible with the phone company that you have a contract with. The United States is one of the few countries I know that does this. Therefore, if you want to use your cell phone from the states abroad, you need to get it unlocked. Otherwise, you can buy an unlocked phone here on the island.
Some American phone companies do have an unlocking service for customers who have been with the company for over 2 years or so, or whenever your contract has ended. In the states, I used T-mobile. Before my trip down to the island, I called T-mobile and asked them to unlock my phone for me. I told them I was going to be traveling and that I was a loyal customer for many years. They then gave me a code to punch in my phone, and then afterwards, my phone was “unlocked” so that I could take out the T-mobile SIM card and insert another one (like Chippie) into my phone to use. T-mobile was fairly nice about it, but some other phone companies may make you pay a fee or may not even allow it at all. As of April 2012, AT&T has also started allowing customers to unlock their phones once their contract has ended (which for most people would be after 2 years, or after paying an early termination fee if you have not reached 2 years yet). But as always, there are “unofficial” ways to unlock your phone, like through software or through people who know how to do it.
I’d recommend using your unlocked phone in St. Maarten, mainly for local calls and short calls since minutes are a bit pricey with the popular prepaid plans that students here like to use. Here are the two most popular pre-paid phone options among AUC students:
- Tel Em (aka Telcell): As low as $0.24/min local. $30 to activate new account, of which $20 goes into credit. Text messages to other Telcell users are $0.10 each. $0.25/10 min to check voicemail. Free caller ID and free GPRS (data plan). You can buy the SIM card during at the Business Fair during Orientation. You can refill on your minutes at the coffee shop next to campus (as of January 2010).
- Chippie (aka UTS): $0.20-$0.40/min for local calls, depending on the receiving caller. It has call waiting, caller ID, and voice mail. All incoming calls are free. You can buy the SIM Card at the Business Fair during Orientation on campus, which you can get for a student discounted price of $20, which includes $11 worth of minutes. You can also get a Chippie SIM card at The Mailbox in Simpson Bay if you wish to get a SIM card before orientation.
For longer calls back to the states, I’d recommend signing up for Google Voice and getting a local US phone number for free. With this number, you can call and send text messages from your computer to any other phone in the United States for free. And other people can call your number, as if it were a local US number, and you can receive the phone calls (or voice mail) from your computer.
If you are interested in video calls, I’d highly recommend downloading Skype onto your computer, and tell all your family and close friends back home to also get Skype. It’s free, it’s easy, and you can see your friends and family back home as long as you both are on Skype at the same time. The video calling function is especially helpful for long-distance relationships. You can also do instant messaging on Skype. Skype is so popular here at AUC that it is also a very popular way of communicating with your classmates and friends here on the island.
Another option you may consider is Magic Jack. I’ve personally never had much experience with it before, but I know that there are some people that use it and are happy with it. Unlike Skype or Google Voice however, it is not free.
**UPDATE 1/1/2010**
- Vonage does not work in the AUC dorms.
- Magic Jack works in the AUC dorms.
- There are no land-line phones in the dorms.
- Also, here are the calling rates for Chippie!
