Cell Phones in BAQ, jediknight, et. al.

[Looking4Wife]

Posted by jediknight on 3/6/2005:

"when i was in barranquilla in jan, this is more or less what some things cost me:
cell phone activation: $10 for SIM card plus $20 for a 50,000 peso prepaid card. calls made to another cell or a landline comes out to about 1,000pesos/minute,at the time they were doubling the minutes so instead getting 50 minutes i got almost 100. i got it through comcel and calls to other comcel users are about 300pesos/minute,also remember that you get charged for outgoing calls NOT incoming. my girlfriend had comcel so my minutes weren't used up as quickly."

NOTE:  I have a Nextel phone that I use in the USA, but have been informed that it won't work in SA.

My questions:

1. Do I get a Comcell phone online (or at a store) before I go, or when I get there?

2. Is this a prepaid cell phone?

3. What is a SIM card?

4. I'm surprised jediknight's girlfriend had a cell phone, surely that isn't normal is it?

Gracias

[WS244]

... in response to Cell Phones in BAQ, jediknight, et. al., posted by Looking4Wife on Apr 1, 2005

The newer phones are quad band (4 frequencies) gsm phones.

If you plan on colombia a lot, you might change over to cingular.
Go to a site like www.wirefly.com etc. as you get a better deal for service and an included phone than at a cingular store.  There are unlocked phones for sale without a service, but quite expensive.  In any case get a quad band, which will work anywhere in the world except parts of japan, and are the new coming group of phone types anyway. They are more expensive than the 2 and 3 band phones however.  but going to colombia is expensive also.

With your quad band, like a motorola v400 for example, once you have one, go to a site like www.unlockmyphonenow.com and for twenty dollars they will send you the unlock code for your model phone. (you just dial in the code to your phone they sent you to unlock it)

Now when you get to colombia, go to the main comcel store that serves the city you are in. Take your phone and they will put in a colombian sim card (keep your US sim card ) for xx dollars, and a phone card for xx dollars. (maybe 30 dollars total) The easy way is have your girlfriend do all the talking and signing. Comcel should take her ID picture right then and there as they do in bogota, and you do not have to do anything.  The only thing about colombian phone cards is that they expire every few months.  the sim card never expires however, and you will always have the same colombian number assigned to your colombian sim card, and all that is necessary from then on, is to buy a phone card for xx minutes) Now with your colombian sim card and colombian phone number, anyone can call your cell from the states, and for free at your end.  With comcel it costs about .43 cents a minute from your cell to an ourgoing call to the states.

When you get back to the states, just change your sim card back to cingular, etc. and you are back with your US number.
As i use cingular here, and comcel there, this is the way i went.  Remember a good colombian girfriend can make life a lot more simple for you.

Once again get a quad band, and wherever you go, it will have the 4 frequencies used in the world today.

[jediknight]

... in response to Re: Cell Phones in BAQ, jediknight, et. ..., posted by WS244 on Apr 1, 2005

unless comcel charges have changed or they charge different rates at different hours, a couple of weeks ago comcel told me that calling the US would be 2,000 pesos/minute, about .85/minute.

[WS244]

... in response to Re: Re: Cell Phones in BAQ, jediknight, ..., posted by jediknight on Apr 2, 2005

You may be correct on this.  I just recall last week during the day I was paying about .45 per minute.  There are many different phone options for people, one of which you related to in a previous post.  As you have availability and offer of a reasonable price, of some good used unlocked phones with compatible frequencies for colombia, it might be a better deal for some on this board, particularly with a new girlfriend.
I also have an account with colombia bellsouth, which I am going to cancel in a couple of months, and go strictly with comcel.  It works as well as comcel around the bogota area, but i just bought another motorloa like mine up here for my girlfriend, and will just go cingular and comcel to keep things simple.
Another friend of mine has a T-mobile "blackberry", but comcel could not get it to work.  Maybe it was locked, so he is going to persue it further.
ws

[pablo]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Cell Phones in BAQ, jediknig..., posted by WS244 on Apr 2, 2005


You may have heard, Bellsouth merged with Telefonica recently.  With the acquisition they might be the new top dog in Latin America.

[WS244]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Cell Phones in BAQ, jedi..., posted by pablo on Apr 2, 2005

Yes I heard, and believe they are a spanish company. We have had Bellsouth and nokias for 4 years with no problems, but just decided to do comcel now, and go with motorola quad bands for there, here, and elsewhere for compatability.
ws

[pablo]

... in response to Re: Cell Phones in BAQ, jediknight, et. ..., posted by WS244 on Apr 1, 2005


WS or anyone else,

Where is a good source to buy some of these newer GSM phones without the one-two year contracts?  Wholesale info would be great.  Thanks

[WS244]

... in response to Re: Re: Cell Phones in BAQ, jediknight, ..., posted by pablo on Apr 1, 2005

look on e-bay but be careful, www.220-electronics.com has pretty good prices. Another poster indicated the frequencies for comcel i recall, but if you just buy a quad band gsm, you have nothing to worry about no matter who you go with.  As a rule at&t gsm phones are difficult to unlock so stay away from them new or used.  It is cheaper to buy cell phones up here also.    
ws

[jediknight]

... in response to Cell Phones in BAQ, jediknight, et. al., posted by Looking4Wife on Apr 1, 2005

buy the phone here, in colombia they're expensive for the good ones.my girlfriend got one from her uncle last year and she has a prepaid plan so even though it comes out more expensive per minute, she doesn't use it that much, mostly to recieve calls(she isn't charged for that) and not locked onto a longterm contract, most people i've met in colombia use prepay(prepago).

you have to get a gsm phone. i used COMCEL because i was told that they have better service than OLA(the other GSM provider in colombia).there are a few important things to watch out for when looking for a phone:

1. make sure it is a dual band phone having the 800(850) and 1900 bands, comcel uses 800(850) while OLA uses 1900, the 800(850) is better becuase the signal pentrates buildings so you have better reception indoors, but if you decide to use OLA then your phone will work with them also.

2.make sure it is completely unlocked othewise it won't work in colombia, on the sony ericssons that means network and service provider. the phone i bought was not unlocked so i had to get it unlocked here in nyc, cost me $10.

3. A SIM card is a little card, a bit smaller than a stamp that slips in underneath the battery, you have to buy one, as i mentioned it was $10 for the SIM plus you have to buy minutes because this is prepaid(prepago). the prepaid minutes card was $20 but they also have higher amounts, they gave me 50 minutes to a land line and more to another comcel user if you put them on your buddy list(elegidos) by dialing *400 and entering the comcel number of the people you'll be calling. my girlfriend has comcel so this made my calls to her cheaper.

before getting service you have to get 2 passport type pictures taken, at any one hour place like FOTOJAPON and comcel will probably ask for some ID like a passport.

if you need a cell phone let me know or email me, i have sony ericssons T226's and T237's in brand new condition that i guarantee will work in colombia and not expensive, you can buy one for yourself and another for your girlfriend as a gift. email me and i'll tell you how much.

good luck
JK