Cell Phones

Need advice on international cell service - specifically Dominican Republic

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  • Jul 22nd, 2014 2:57 pm
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Deal Addict
Jul 29, 2014
1506 posts
1106 upvotes
Toronto, ON

Need advice on international cell service - specifically Dominican Republic

Going with a group of half a dozen families to Dominican Republic for a week

I currently have an unlocked GSM phone with Speakout (prepaid) SIM

I also have a T-mobile SIM pay-as-you-go that I use when in the USA

I'm looking for a cheap solution that allows texting between me and the other members of the group that would be at the same resort (ie both sender and receiver would be in DR)

Being able to set up before leaving Canada would be a plus

I expect that I have some influence over what other members of the group do, in that they would also be interested in a cheap solution to achieve the same service
4 replies
Sr. Member
Jun 1, 2008
721 posts
245 upvotes
Richmond Hill
You can buy Claro or Orange SIM's in Dominican. You might need to go into town for it.
Deal Addict
Jul 29, 2014
1506 posts
1106 upvotes
Toronto, ON
I saw reference to those and might do that but::

1. I would prefer to not have to leave resort or spend time on vacation arranging cell service (not a huge deal though if it's the best option. I read somewhere that it would take about an hour per phone)

2. I couldn't find out what they cost

3. I couldn't find out what they charge for sending/receiving texts
Deal Expert
Aug 22, 2006
31271 posts
17295 upvotes
I picked up a Claro last time I was there and kind of wasted it because there was no reception where I was. Apparently Orange is FAR better.

1) It's not really happening unless you leave town. You may be able to find a SIM available for shipping to Canada, but it won't be cheap.
2) It took me all of 3 minutes to Google it.
3) Also negligible in terms of time it took me to find it.

Since I'm nice today, I'll post the answer.

1) Most stores sell SIMs and refills. Walk up to them and ask them for it.
2) 100DOP/$2.46CAD for a SIM that lasts 10 days unless you refill. You get 60DOP worth of credit (so the SIM technically costs 40DOP)
Calls are 6DOP/minute billed at 1 second increments for orange to orange and 7.8DOP/minute for Orange to others.
3) SMS are 1DOP/$0.025CAD per message for Orange to Orange, 1.5DOP/$0.0375 per message for Orange to Others and 3DOP/$0.075 for an international message.
Receiving messages are free.

In case you were wondering, you can get data too. 500MB/250DOP seems to be the sweet spot since 700MB and 1GB have some stupid rates that scale far higher than they should.
Deal Addict
Jul 29, 2014
1506 posts
1106 upvotes
Toronto, ON
Thanks bud. I kept finding info on calling to US or Canada from DR but couldn't find DR to DR text pricing

I guess I should try to find some coverage maps too

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