Telephoning in Belize

[WILLIAM M.]

Okay, you have the least easy forum I have ever tried to maneuver. Question is. I am here for three weeks I need a cell phone to use while traveling around. Can I just buy one. My trac phone from the states won’t deal with a sims card and smart phone was no help.
Bill

[COUNTRY EXPERT ANN KUFFNER]

Bill,

Sorry that you are having problems navigating this forum. It is relatively new, but I’ll pass the info on to the web developers if you can give more specific examples of the problems you have had.

Yes, you can buy a fairly inexpensive phone and then sign up for Digicell or Smart. Digicell uses the SIM card technology and Smart uses GSM technology. Both companies also sell phones. You can then buy “pay as you go” service and add minutes to your phone when you run out. There are also businesses in towns like Belize City and Ambergris Caye that sell only phones. Digicell regularly has double up and triple up Fridays where you get double or triple minutes for the normal price on your pay as you go account.

I am not an expert on phone technology, but my experience has been that phones brought into Belize need to be “un-locked” in order to work here. Most cellphones in North America are sold “locked”.

The other option is to find a business where they can modify a SIM card as needed to fit your phone, if necessary. I bought a new IPhone last year that has a very small SIM card slot. I had to have my existing Belize SIM card cut down to fit into the newer version IPhone card slot.

[DAVID L.]

When we visited Belize last year, we had a Version Maxx cell phone which we were told by Verizon could not be unlocked. I am not so sure that is correct having Googled Verizon Maxx / Unlock. Anyway, we bought a cheap cell phone at Wal-Mart’s in the States (T-Mobile Sqarq II). I think it as $32 US. We took it to Belize and had it unlocked at a computer shop in Corozal ($50 B). Bought a new SIM card and had minutes added to it (DigiCell). Kind of a pain the first time thru but it is done now. When we go back in June, we just need to have minutes added and we are good to go. I asked everyone just to text us because I think that is cheaper than a voice call.

Hope this helps.

[COUNTRY EXPERT ANN KUFFNER]

Thanks for sharing your experience using an inexpensive Walmart phone in Belize. Yes, it is a pain the first time you need to have it locally “unlocked”. But once you have that done and get a Belize SIM card, you are good to go. You just add minutes when you return to Belize, at Digicell or Smart, depending on which technology your phone has.

[CONNIE B.]

Hello,

My husband and I are visiting Caye Caulker in early September. Can you give me an idea of what the weather will be like? I hear it will be hot…but how hot? I hear it will be humid….but does that mean raining everyday? I hear it will be buggy…but does that mean get a malaria shot before we come? I would like to be prepared for it one way or another.
Secondly…we are actually visiting as a first look at living in Belize, will we have enough time to see Placencia, and Ambergris on our 8 day trip?

[DAVID L.]

For the question about temps in Belize, I suggest a separate string. You may get a better response using a title such as “Temps in Belize”.

[COUNTRY EXPERT ANN KUFFNER]

Yes, the heat and humidity in Belize have little to do with telephones. So please start a new thread so that everyone can benefit from it. But, in short, yes, September it’s very hot, humid and there are mosquitoes. To me August – October are my least favorite times. But it doesn’t rain daily in September. It can in October, though.

[DAVID L.]

I was just told that if you don’t use your ‘Belize’ phone at least 1 minute (?) a month, the SIM card will be deactivated. Getting a new SIM card is no big deal and comes with free minutes. Down side is a new phone number comes with it. We are returning to Belize on June 2nd (in 2 days!) and I can find out for sure what happens. I will let everyone know. At least I won’t go through the hassle and expense of unlocking the phone.

David

[COUNTRY EXPERT ANN KUFFNER]

I’ve never had my SIM card that quickly deactivated, nor have my friends. We keep our friends phone for them while they are gone. They are here only two months out of the year. They went into the BTL Digicell office and explained their situation and they have kept their same number even though they only use it a few months a year.

I don’t use my phone one minute, since we have a hardline phone, and poor reception with our cellphone in our house. So I seldom use my cellphone but my SIM card has not been deactivated. But I have often lost minutes that I didn’t use, if I forgot to add more minutes before the end of one month, to maintain the existing minutes.

[DAVID L.]

Good news. When my wife and I arrived at Belize International Airport two weeks ago, I walked across the parking lot to the Digicell office and added more minutes to my Belize cell even though I had not used it in 15 months. Maybe the comments I heard were about the minutes expiring after 3 months and not the phone number. Either way, the phone continued to work fine with the same number even after 15 months of inactivity.

David

[COUNTRY EXPERT ANN KUFFNER]

Glad to hear that worked out so well for you. It appears that, at least for Digicell, the number is permanent. I’m not so sure it works that way for Smart, though. For Digicell you can add minutes to your phone at any time. But those minutes only last for 90 days. If you add more money/minutes to your phone number before the end of the period, those minutes are carried over, so you don’t lose them. And if your phone is lost or stolen, you can go to the BTL/Digicell office and supposedly get the same number/SIM card again. They started tracking phone numbers/SIM cards a year or so ago so that people could get their number back if their phone disappeared, whether due to a loss or theft.

Digicell also has double up and triple up Fridays, which they announce. On those days you get 2-3 times the normal minutes if you buy $20 or $50 BZ of minutes.

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