Smart Phones in Ecuador

[CHARLES E CARROLL]

I have used a smart phone for years. My plan is to use one in Ecuador. Does anyone have experience returning to the US for visits with one? Is it possible to turn off the service in Ecuador and temporarily activate service in the US and then switch back to Ecuadorian service upon your return?

[EI EXPERT – EDD STATON]

I would ask your service provider. I use a pay-as-you-go phone so I am not familiar with how the service plans work.

[JOHN BUCHANAN]

I’m also planning to take an i-phone for some of the information and translation function to Ecuador. Can I access the internet with my 4G i-phone? anyone? hoping to not take my laptop…
jbjohnny

[SUZAN HASKINS]

John, that will depend on your service plan, but you should be able to….ask your provider how much it will cost you, though…

[ANGELA SWOPE]

John and Charles,

You can use your smart phone in other countries but as stated check with your service provider. Even though you get an international plan I have found it to be expensive. There are always hidden charges. Data roaming is very expensive, even though you have an international plan. However, if you can jump on a WIFI network then that would be ideal.

Charles,

Typically Smart Phones have to be broken to work on another countries cellular network. I live in the Dominican Republic, I have an IPhone and before we could use it here, I had to break it. I am not sure if it will work in the states. We are going to the states in December and we are going to test it then.

[SUZAN HASKINS]

“unlocked” is another way of saying “broken”…

[CHARLES E CARROLL]

I have been told that, if you have an unlocked GSM phone, you can use it anywhere without a contract by inserting a simcard from a provider in the country you are in.
Charlie

[ANDREA LYMAN]

Charles, That is correct. I took an unlocked iPhone to Colombia and Ecuador and simply purchased a SIM card when I got there and it worked fine! And when I was in a wi-fi zone, I could use that instead of it being part of the data I was using on the SIM card. But you have to turn on the ‘Airplane Mode” so you are only using the wi-fi. One can only unlock the phone after service contract is up, otherwise, you DO have to ‘jailbreak’ the phone and this negates the warranty on it. I was finished with my 2-yr contract and unlocked it through AT&T.

[Author]

Posts