Doin' Costa Rica: Using YOUR Cell Phone in Costa Rica

Friday, April 5, 2013

Using YOUR Cell Phone in Costa Rica

I don't have the foggiest idea about using your cell phone while traveling in Costa Rica. Luckily, D'Angelo does. Check it out. After the video, I quoted a guy who commented on the video for added information. Hopefully, the video and comments explain what it is you need to do.

GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) are the phones with the "smart chip." If you're from the USA and want to purchase a prepaid Subscriber Identity Module (SIM card) from a Costa Rican cellular provider, you need an UNLOCKED phone from AT&T or T-Mobile. If your phone is uses CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) such as Sprint, Verizon or MetroPCS, then your phone does not use a SIM card and will NOT accept a pre-paid SIM card from a Costa Rican cellular provider.

In the USA, AT&T and T-Mobile sell their phones locked to their networks. A SIM-card from a different cell phone company will not work in your phone until you get your phone unlocked. AT&T will usually agree to unlock your phone at the end of your 2-year contract. T-Mobile will allow you to unlock your phone once your phone is fully paid for. AT&T and T-Mobile do not sell unlocked phones and they do not unlock them automatically, you must specifically request to have your phone unlocked.

Feel FREE to add your own INFO in the comments if you think it will help.
TONS of Costa Rica Travel Info and VIDEOS on our website: Travel Costa Rica NOW and if you want to visit our YouTube Channel: iCostaRica24 ENjoY!

Comments (11)

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Rob · 625 weeks ago

I have Sprint and was wondering if I bought an iphone which accepts SIM cards if iphones have the ability to work on both GSM and CDMA?? Sprint says they will unlock my a phone for international us so I am ASSUMING it would work simply by adding a SIM card in CR?? That was, I could continue to use Sprint but have a more versatile phone.

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clemsonaj · 625 weeks ago

The comment in the post is not entirely true. If you have a verizon iphone 5 one can use it on both GSM and CDMA netrworks out of the box, and you don't have to switch the sim card in costa rica (though it is advisable because verizon charges some pretty high rates for international roaming).

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michael alan · 625 weeks ago

not sure about the Iphone Rob, I have a Galaxy S3 and love it! =)
if you end up getting the Iphone and it works for you, please let us know about it in a comment.

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movin2crsoon · 625 weeks ago

I have verizon droid 3, which is a "global phone" supporting multiple GSM bands, and it works in Costa RIca. You have to call to get international roaming enabled and the verizon rates are very expensive. On my recent trip to Costa Rica I purchased a prepaid SIM card for a few bucks at the Kolbi location in baggage at the SJO airport. I had to get an unlock code prior to the trip to allow the use of the Kolbi SIM. You can also buy a prepaid phone from Kolbi at their SJO locations (baggage claim and upstairs near a departure gate) for $20, $42. It's robbery to rent a cell phone for $10/day!

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Lisa · 621 weeks ago

This is so simple. I was recently in CR and what D'Angelo says is true. You people in the U.S. (where btw I live) need to wean off the contract plans. Here is what I have done: I bought an unlocked GSM Galaxy III (with SIM chip) from Amazon (but you can buy them anywhere) and signed up for TMobile's no-contract plan (but there are plenty of other US NO-contract providers besides TMobile that will allow you to sign on with your already purchased unlocked SIM GSM phone), got a SIM chip from TMobile and am good to go in the US. When I travel to CR (or elsewhere) I just switch out the SIM chip. How easy can it be? I am no tech geek but this is easy-peasy.

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Prepaid Tmobile · 587 weeks ago

Great analysis. I live in the states and ever since I have been a prepaid subscriber and love the flexibility that comes with it. Nowadays we have unlocked cellphones that are both compatible to GSM and CDMA, and even dual sim, therefore one can use this phones in other countries like in this case Costa Rica without problem. One can check sites such as Amazon.com for affordable unlocked phones.

Whenever I travel to other countries, I just buy a gsm simcard in that country and add some units to my US unlocked phone and am ready to go.

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Home Page · 575 weeks ago

Great video! With had the same problem when we went to Kuala Lumpur, we had trouble setting up a local sim card before we could use it. This is very helpful. Thanks!

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Landon · 565 weeks ago

Some phones are dual-band CDMA and GSM, so even though they are married to a CDMA carrier like Sprint or Verizon in the US they can also accept a SIM card in Costa Rica. Just be sure the phone is unlocked! Here's a list of GSM-compatible phones: http://www.gsmarena.com/makers.php3

I currently have an iPhone 4S and HTC One S, and have also used a Blackberry and a Samsung Galaxy Note 2. Any GSM unlocked phone will work - from the oldie but goodie Nokia brick phone or the latest iPhone. Most locals have Samsung smartphones anyways, so they know how it all works.

Just go to any convenience store that has a cell phone logo outside and buy a SIM card from Movistar, Kolbi, or Claro and have someone at the store help you set it up for a small tip. Then, you can call anywhere within the country for 34 colónes ($0.06) per minute or send a text for only 3 colónes (about half a penny) per text within the country (or 85 colónes (~15 cents) for international texts).

The best idea for international calls is to buy an internet packet from the carrier you choose and use Skype to call your friends and family. It's cheap and easy once you understand the game of it all!

Good luck and have fun!
-Landon

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website 12p · 561 weeks ago

Top rated blog. It was basically hard to run across generation line dispatched unlocked iphones in the US long ago. The contractual seeing amidst Apple and At&t kept Apple from offering unlocked iphones around then. In like manner, the iphone was continually blasted to At&t, until the iphone 4s transformed out, and transformed into a world phone, more bearers started to offer iphones. Good day~ Jessica T.

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dual usb car charger · 561 weeks ago

The dual USB car charger provides a flexible charging solution that is perfectly matched with the underlying concept of portable electronic devices. Cell phones and tablets require constant charging, regardless of whether or not you use them for business or pleasure.

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Sam · 556 weeks ago

I have T-Mobile and they helped me do this and it worked fine. I didn’t know I had to pay for the phone in full first, that was an unpleasant surprise. I wish I had read this article first. But if you do have problems, T-Mobile helped me through it.