If you're going to be living in the Dominican Republic for an extended period, you'll probably want to obtain service for your cell phone. First, I'll break down the two parts of this: 1) buying a cell phone, and 2) setting up a voice and/or data plan for that phone.
First, it may be to your advantage to purchase an unlocked phone before arriving in the Dominican Republic. This is because the DR has an 18% value added sales tax on top of prices that are already inflated as with most island economies. You can't just purchase any unlocked phone however. You should check a website such as GSMarena.com or WorldTimeZone.com first to make sure that the phone you want to purchase uses one of the frequency bands that is serviced by any of the cell providers here in the DR. The two primary providers are Claro and Orange. If you buy an unlocked cell phone that uses the wrong band, you may end up paying for fast 3G service while your phone only operates on a much slower frequency band.
Once you arrive in the country and have your phone in hand (or want to purchase one locally), you must venture into a cell provider's store. Note that not all of the stores that appear to be representatives of Claro, Orange, or any other carrier can set up your original contract for service. To set up the account in the first instance, you need to find a "main" branch which are larger and have the look of a bank. They have the words "Centro de Atención a Cliente" on the facade. You will need your passport together with evidence of your employment or residence in the country. You must complete an application form, and then wait for it to be approved (this happened in about 4 hours for me).
There are a range of voice only plans, or plans which include both voice minutes and data. For an example of pricing, Claro provides 300 minutes of voice plus 3 gigabytes of data for US$49 per month. The plans must be recharged each month at any of the company's stores (which are all over town).
First, it may be to your advantage to purchase an unlocked phone before arriving in the Dominican Republic. This is because the DR has an 18% value added sales tax on top of prices that are already inflated as with most island economies. You can't just purchase any unlocked phone however. You should check a website such as GSMarena.com or WorldTimeZone.com first to make sure that the phone you want to purchase uses one of the frequency bands that is serviced by any of the cell providers here in the DR. The two primary providers are Claro and Orange. If you buy an unlocked cell phone that uses the wrong band, you may end up paying for fast 3G service while your phone only operates on a much slower frequency band.
Once you arrive in the country and have your phone in hand (or want to purchase one locally), you must venture into a cell provider's store. Note that not all of the stores that appear to be representatives of Claro, Orange, or any other carrier can set up your original contract for service. To set up the account in the first instance, you need to find a "main" branch which are larger and have the look of a bank. They have the words "Centro de Atención a Cliente" on the facade. You will need your passport together with evidence of your employment or residence in the country. You must complete an application form, and then wait for it to be approved (this happened in about 4 hours for me).
There are a range of voice only plans, or plans which include both voice minutes and data. For an example of pricing, Claro provides 300 minutes of voice plus 3 gigabytes of data for US$49 per month. The plans must be recharged each month at any of the company's stores (which are all over town).
Hi thanks for your post very helpful. I'm visiting santo domingo in two weeks and would like to bring my fiance a cell phone. Uncertain about what type to bring. Any suggestions or information? AJ visualmusicideas@outlook.com
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