Calling Home
The phone system in the Dominican Republic operates similar to that in the United States or Canada. In fact, the largest local company, Codetel, is a Verizon company. The second largest company, Tricom is the only Dominican company to sell shares on the New York Stock Exchange (TDR).
In most tourist areas and cities, either Codetel or Tricom, or both, will operate calling centers where many telecommunications services will be available from 8 to 10 pm. Some of these centers offer Internet service, but not all.
Calling Cards
Upon arrival to the Dominican Republic, it is a good practice to purchase a calling card from one of the two leading companies, Codetel and Tricom. The cards come in multiple denominations. These cards will make it easy for you to use a public phone (otherwise you need coins) for national or international calls or make international calls from most any phone in the Dominican Republic or the United Staes/Canada. The cards are especially handy if you will be visiting friends and want to make a phone call from a private phone.
Can a person make a toll free call from the DR to the United States dialing a 800 number?
No. You need to dial 880 and then the number number. You will be charged RD$10 per minute.
MOBILE PHONES
Renting a mobile phone
Codetel telecommunication centers at major airports and commercial offices enable you to rent a mobile phone upon arrival. For more information, call 809-549-0448 for the Codetel Telecommunications Center at Las Americas Airport. You should reserve your phone if you will be traveling in a peak season. A major credit card will be required. Codetel will rent a Qualcom 2700 with an AC charger for RD$21.60 per day. Incoming calls are free of charge. Outgoing local calls are billed at RD$16, calls to the US and Canada are RD$26 the minute, and calls to Europe, RD$36 the minute.
Using your own phone
If you have a cellular phone that is compatible with the systems in the United States and Canada, you can now use your phone when on vacation in the Dominican Republic. There are two companies offering services as follows:
Codetel
You can activate your own mobile phone for outgoing and incoming
calls if it uses CDMA frequency. That is, most US and Canadian
phones will work here, not so for European phones. Digital (digital
PCS 1900 Mhz) and digital/analog phones will be activated for
free. There is no charge for incoming minutes. Codetel (a B type
carrier) promises to activate the service in half an hour. Airport
telecommunications centers do not offer the service of activating
your mobile phone. You will need to visit a Codetel office. These
are located in the main cities.
You also have the option to activate the phone for use with prepaid
cards. In this case they will give you a code number so when you
return to the US/Canada you can activate back to your carrier.
This option is a good one if you will be making frequent trips
to the DR.
Tricom is another option to activate your mobile phone. They sell
two different kinds of cards, the Amigo and the CellCard. An Amigo
card will be recommended if you program your cellular phone. The
CellCard requires that you set for phone to an A type carrier
to make calls. You will be prompted to enter the card number.
Learn
more by visiting Codetel's website
Tricom
Option 1: Purchase the Tricom Cellcard. To place your call, you
dial the number you want + a PIN number associated with the card.
This option is good for outgoing calls only. You cannot receive
calls using this option.
Option 2: Purchase the Amigo pre-paid calling card in increments.
Take your phone to one of the Tricom principal offices (currently
located in Santo Domingo, San Pedro de Macoris, and Santiago and
soon to open other locations including Boca Chica, Puerto Plata,
La Romana, and Bavaro) and pay to have it programmed.
There's no cost to receive calls. You will be given a new phone
number. Your phone will then be activated for use in the DR for
both making and receiving calls.
Two new companies are also offering service.
Learn more by
visiting Tricom's website
Orange Dominicana
The expansion of Orange Dominicana is having and will continue
to have direct benefits for consumers and businesses by increasing
wireless penetration in the country, introducing new services
and fostering further competition in the telecom sector through
the introduction of new GSM cellular technology to the market.
After just two years of operations, Orange Dominicana has become
a major player in the Dominican Republic.
Learn
more by visiting Orange's website
Centennial
Centennial Dominicana's deployment of CDMA2000 1X places them
in a strategic position within the telecommunications industry
in the Dominican Republic. They are now the only operator in that
region to be able to offer exciting and high-quality 3G services
and products to their consumers.
Learn
more by visiting Centennial's website
Keeping your mobile phone activated
I know that I can have my cell phone activated in the DR for about $700RD. This will enable me to both receive and make calls (with the purchase of a phone card for out going calls). Also I am told that I must make a call at least every 60 days in order for me to keep my DR phone number. How can I keep my DR phone number and avoid having to reactivate the phone if I am away from the DR for more than 60 days?
1) Activate your phone with a monthly bill, pay 275RDS$ monthly, and you'll never lose it or
2) Reload your pre-paid cards from the US using 1 800 644 9942
INTERNET SERVICE
Can I use AOL in the Dominican Republic?
You can get AOL access here, but it's slow and expensive. There
is a local number, 809 533-9181. Check on the company web page
for the up to date rates.
What are my options to staying connected?
Many hotels in cities and tourism destinations are now offering Internet service for their clients. If this is essential for you, check with your hotel prior to making reservations.
Internet service in the form of Internet Cafes are available at
the commercial areas in the main tourist destinations and main cities.
You can also go on line at the Telecommunications Centers of Tricom
. Tricom operates this service at the Las Americas International
Airport and in select centers in the city of Santo Domingo.
One of the easiest ways to stay communicated is to sign up with a free internet email service (like yahoo or hotmail) that allows you to pick up your messages from external services as long as you are using a POP3 type account. Just configure that in the preferences settings and then you can access your mail from any browser anywhere in the world. Test it out before you go, however.
