Traveling to Jamaica and want to learn what the best way to use your cellphone in Jamaica is? You are on the right page. In fact, I will show you the best way to use your cellphone in Jamaica for free too.
Before we talk about the best way to use your cell phone in Jamaica, first let’s answer a few questions:
What cell phone service works in Jamaica?
The Jamaican cell phone companies are : Flow (aka LIME, aka Cable and Wireless Jamaica aka Bmobile), or Digicel. With this said, all the Canadian cell phone phones will work in Jamaica as long as they are unlocked cell phones.
How To Unlock Your Cell Phone?
Easy. Call your cell phone provider and ask them to unlock it for you (usually for free, if you have been a customer with them for more than 3 months, and you have purchased the device through that same carrier). Or you could go to any mobile store and ask them to unlock the phone for you and they would charge you a small fee for that.
Which Cell Phones Will Work In Jamaica?
As long as you use an unlocked GSM cell phone, it should work in Jamaica. If you are from Canada and you unlock your cell phone before you leave to Jamaica, it should work with no issues. If you are looking for unlocked cell phones to use while in Jamaica, please do check out Amazon for their list of unlocked cell phones. Not to mention, they are affordable. To see a list of affordable unlocked cell phones, please click here to be redirected.
On the other hand, US citizens that have locked cell phones with Verizon and Sprint (phones that run on CDMA networks rather) might have issues with their phones working in Jamaica.
The Best Way To Use Your CellPhone In Jamaica?
You have a few options. First of all, you could take advantage of the island phone rentals, which is an online phone rental company that operates from the Montego Bay airport. And so you would get a cell phone with unlimited international calls included. They are some what affordable (cost approx $50 CAD).
The second option is using the resort room phone. So if you are staying at a resort room, you can use the phone there in order to make phone calls back home. In fact, there are some resort rooms that offer you call back home to Canada and the US for free. You need to check with the resort before placing calls.
If on the other hand, the resort you are staying at does not offer that free calling back home feature, and you will only be making a couple of calls back home while in Jamaica, it’s still an affordable option for you.
The Best Way To Use Your CellPhone In Jamaica?
The third option is to actually use your home cell phone in Jamaica. Many cell phone companies in the US and Canada will allow you to take your home phone plan with you to Jamaica. Most Canadian cell phone companies will charge $12 per day if you want to take your domestic plan with you to Jamaica. So you would use your phone in Jamaica the same way you would use it back home (Canada).
With all this said, this is not the best option (in my opinion). Again, depending on your mobile needs, you could either rent a phone or if you just want to stay connected with family and friends, you could just call from the resort for a couple of minutes every couple of days.
Lastly, purchasing a SIM card online to use in Jamaica is not the option for you. The reason is because these SIMs do not work in Jamaica.They work in other parts of the world, but not Jamaica (as of yet).
The Best Way To Use Your Cell Phone In Jamaica?
For this reason the best way to use your cell phone in Jamaica if you want data, text and voice is to purchase a local SIM from Jamaica through the two major mobile service providers: Digicel and Flow. You will be able to use their network and avoid the high roaming charges.
The second best option you have if you want to be able to use your cell phone in Jamaica and avoid roaming charges is to use a free WiFi network. And so if the resort you are staying at offers free WiFi, simply put your phone in airplane mode or flight mode (see video for further instructions) and connect to the WiFi network, and you can then make calls back home using VOIP apps such as Whatsapp , Viber, SKYPE, and etc. All at no charge to you.
Conclusion
There you have it the best way to use your cell phone in Jamaica. Make sure you first check if you will have free WiFi in your resort room, and if you do connect to it and make phone calls using VOIP apps. But you must put your phone in flight mode or airplane mode to avoid data charges.
The second best way to use your cell phone in Jamaica if you don’t have access to a free WiFi is to purchase a local SIM in Jamaica and you can pick the plan that best fits your mobile needs.
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