Getting a Cell Phone in Costa Rica
If you are going to live or spend allot of time in Costa Rica, you will more than likely appreciate having a cell phone.
Unlike many other countries, Costa Rica does not allow private companies to operate cell phone systems. In Costa Rica you have one source for cell phone lines or numbers - Costa Rica's own Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad or ICE (pronounced - "E-say"). "Grupo ICE" consists of three divisions; ICE and RACSA (Radiográfica Costarricense) provide the sometimes overlapping services of landline phones, cellular phones and Internet while CNFL (Compañía Nacional de Fuerza y Luz) provides electric service.
Types of Costa Rica Cellular Phone Services - TDMA vs. GSM
Costa Rica offers two types of phone service; TDMA and GSM. There is no difference in the basic service fees between these two systems - choosing one service over the other basically comes down how quickly you want a phone line and what kind of phone and features you desire.
TDMA is the older 'phone and text only' service that supposedly has better connectivity throughout Costa Rica. The phones are much cheaper and ICE can provide same day delivery on available phone numbers.
GSM is the newer and more exciting service that uses the latest and fashionable SIM microchip phones that play music, surf the Internet, etc., etc. The GSM phones are much more expensive($300 GSM vs. $100 TDMA) and any extra services such as Internet come at additional monthly fees. GSM phone numbers are currently on back-order and being rolled out according to a published schedule. At the time of my acquiring a same-day TDMA number, I was advised that a GSM number would take approximately 3 weeks to deliver.
Being that the Costa Rica cellular system is government owned, it reserves the limited (but growing) amount of lines for its own citizens and residents. Options on getting a cell phone line or number in Costa Rica currently are as follows:
- be a Citizen
- be a Resident
- be the principle of a Costa Rica Corporation (see: Establishing a Costa Rica Corporation)
- Rent a phone from a company or individual
There is a different cost associated with each of these options if you are not a natural born Costarricense or 'Tico'. Renting a phone is fine for the short term, but watch the fine print! Readily available calling cards and public telephones are a simple solution to the sometimes complex and costly problem of making calls while on the move in Costa Rica.
How to get a Costa Rica Cellular Phone Line and Number (non-resident/citizen version):
- Get a Costa Rica corporation (see: Establishing a Costa Rica Corporation).
- Buy a phone in Costa Rica or bring an unlocked phone into Costa Rica (TDMA or GSM based on your preferred system - see below for phone requirements).
- Get 2 copies of; all your corporation papers, passport and original phone purchase receipt.
- Take your original corporation documents, original passport, all copies and your phone with original purchase receipt to a local ICE office.
- Take a paper number from the dispensing machine.
- Wait - sometimes for hours and hours (many people take a number, leave and come back periodically to check their numbers status)
- It took me 6 hours start-to-finish to get my TDMA cell phone, but the service at the Coronado ICE branch in the MasXManos grocery store was courteous and helpful with English spoken
- Present your paper number when called along with; all your original documents, all your copy documents and phone for programming.
- Make sure ICE doesn't keep your original corporation documents - these cannot be replaced and will be needed for any future uses.
- Pay the activation fee.
- Walk out with your new phone service.
Basic Costa Rica Cell Phone Costs:
Line Activation ¢12,500 colones ($ 25.25 USD) Monthly Fee (billed every 3 months) ¢2,900.00 colones ($ 5.86 USD) Incoming Talk Time FREE - unlimited 60 minutes Outgoing Talk Time FREE (includes all outgoing calls to anywhere within Costa Rica) Additional Outgoing Talk Time
(after monthly 60 minute allowance)¢30,00 colones ($0.06) /minute during peak times of M-F, 7am-7pm
¢23,00 colones ($0.046) /minute, off-peakVoice Mail (ICEVoz) FREE Call Waiting (llamada en espera) FREE Call Forwarding (transferencia de llamadas) FREE Conference Calls (conferencia tripartita) FREE Caller ID ¢250,00 colones ($0.50) activation + ¢250,00 colones ($0.50) /month Text Message ¢1,50 colones ($0.003) to send, no cost to receive Switch from TDMA to GSM ¢760,00 colones ($1.52) + change of phone number 'Vanity' or requested number ¢7.560,00 colones ($15.27) based on availability Internet & Other Cellular Services costs vary - call ICE for details
Billing
A Costa Rica cell phone bill or "factura" will conveniently come via e-mail if you provide ICE with your e-mail address. You can also pay the bill on-line and as you will see below, the cost is far cheaper than U.S. cell phone plans!
Read it and weep, that is not a typo ... it's a genuine $12.00 cell phone bill!
Compatible Phones
In the U.S. phone companies offer phones for less than their true cost and recover this initial loss by enforcing lengthy cell phone contracts that penalize subscribers with early termination fees. Being as there are no cell phone contracts in Costa Rica, each cell phone user owns their own phone - and buying a GSM cell phone in Costa Rica can be very expensive at $200-$700
TDMA is much less expensive - my Costa Rica purchased Motorola V60i flip phone cost $91
vs. GSM phones at $200-$700
CAUTION: With cell phones costing as much or more than the average Costa Rica monthly salary, they are highly valued ... meaning you make yourself a good robbery target by flaunting your $500.00 phone as you walk and talk. Be smart - let your phone go to voicemail if your not in a position to have a safe conversation. (if your phone is lost or stolen - call ICE by dialing 193 on any landline phone to get the line shutoff immediately)
Buying a used or new phone outside of Costa Rica at a discount and bringing it into Costa Rica is an option, but; a) bring it in as an existing/used phone [ie: lose the new box or be prepared to pay import taxes], and b) make sure it is compatible with the Costa Rica cell phone system while making sure you bring your original sales receipt - which is required for activation!
ICE has a list of recommended phones for both the TDMA (click here)and GSM (click here) services.
GSM Phones - ICE Suggested Requirements
- 1800 Mhz's of bandwidth
- SIM of 3-5 volts
- SIM [Subscriber Identity Module] unlocked (ie: phone needs to be unlocked)
- ADN, FDN and SDN compatible
- GPRS [General Packet Radio Service] with GPRS4:1 and WAP 1.2.2.0 - required for Internet access
- Tri-band 900/1800/1900 Mhz - required of roaming is desired
And finally, once you have your phone ... the following are your basic Costa Rica Phone Access Numbers:
Voice Mail (ICEVoz) - dial 190, enter PIN #
Listen to Voicemail - press 1
Re-listen to Voicemail - press 1 again
Save Voicemail - press 2
Delete Voicemail - press 3Voicemail Set-up:
- dial 190
- enter 4 digit PIN #
- press 3 for personal options
- press 1 for message options
- press 1 to record a greeting (press 2 for standard greeting)
- record greeting, press # when finished
- press 1 to keep recorded greeting
- press 2 to re-record personal greeting
Invoice/Amount Due - dial 187, press 4, press 1, enter your cell phone number
Customer Service - dial 193
I gotta go, my Costa Rica cell phone is ringing ... I think it's news about my Costa Rica car purchase - talk to you soon!
Categories: Travel in Costa Rica, Residency in Costa Rica, Cost of Living in Costa Rica, Internet in Costa Rica, RACSA, Laws in Costa Rica, Phone Service in Costa Rica, Legal Matters in Costa Rica, Life in Costa Rica, Shopping in Costa Rica, Vacation in Costa Rica, Immigration in Costa Rica, Moving To Costa Rica, Cell Phone in Costa Rica, Corporations in Costa Rica, ICE, Living in Costa Rica, Attorneys in Costa Rica
I need to call CR from states, what is the prefix needed before the phone #,both land and cellular???
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Salud,
When calling from the U.S. to Costa Rica you need to dial: 011-506-____-____
Note: Costa Rica added a digit to all phone numbers earlier this year and not all published numbers reflect this change. All numbers are
now 8 digits long.
Landlines now have an additional "2"
Cell phones now have an additional "8"
Examples:
Old land line number 555-1212, New land line 2555-1212
Old cell number 555-1212, New cell 8555-1212
Hope this helps.
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Great blog.
I've been reading up on Costa Rica since my brother went for vacation...and didn't come back. He bought a house and everything.
Although lately he's been lamenting that it has been year and he's still having more difficulty than he thought he would.
He told me something strange though. He said none of the utilities are in his name. I guess he had to put them in the name of a citizen and he doesn't even know the people that the bills come to. I read your post about cell phones. Are other utilities the same?
Thanks,
Mimi in Rochester
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Mimi,
I understand how such a system does sound foreign ... but utilities in other people's names are a common practice in this country of no property addresses and many other quirks.
Although I can't speak to your brother's exact situation, I am personally a Permanent Resident of Costa Rica that is currently renting. My condo came with a home phone, electric and water service that are all in different names - passed down through time of property ownership and renters.
My cable television, Internet and cell phone accounts are all in my name. The differences of how things work is part of the culture shock everybody experiences when moving to Costa Rica. But in the end, it makes no difference to me what name my utilities are in. As long as the bills get paid, the lights stay on and I stay connected ;o)
-Bill
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Bill, I am enjoying looking over some of your articles, and this one is very valuable!
One question: I often call someone in Costa Rica from the U.S. and he mentioned that it costs him money when we call his cell phone. How does that work and do you have any idea about how much it is?
I thought it cost money only if he called us, not if we call him...?
Also: the links above to GMA and TDMA phones seem to go to a different page. Can you renew to the correct links? I'd like to find out what kind of TDMA phone to buy for my next trip down. And what does it mean "Unlocked"? Does that just mean that I have not had anyone put any service on it? or ?
Thanks for the informative article!
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I am not sure what "cost" your friend with the Costa Rica cell phone incurs when you call them ... my own cell phone plan from the current ICE state monopoly is free incoming calls. I am only charged time usage for outgoing calls and international fees when those calls go outside Costa Rica.
As for the links, it is almost a full-time job keeping up with Costa Rica government web sites. They change content, change web service companies and change formats often without being concerned about re-directs from old web page addresses.
The ICE TDMA service was supposed to be phased out by the end of 2009. However, in tipico Costa Rica fashion this deadline keeps getting delayed as the installation of the newer 3G and 4G systems hit technical snags. But the bottom line is TDMA cell phone service is definitely going to be discontinued - so an investment in any such phone is not advisable.
An unlocked GSM phone refers to a unit that is not set-up for only one provider. U.S. phone companies have cell phones manufactured for use with only their service and have no removable SIM card. Any GSM phone being brought down to Costa Rica for use must be unlocked (not set-up for any one service provider such as Verizon) and have a removable SIM card slot, usually located under the battery cover.
eBay has thousands of such phones for sale. Just ensure the model you buy is on the approved ICE list, is "unlocked" and has a removable SIM card slot.
The current link to approved ICE GSM phones is here: ICE Teléfonos certificados GSM
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Thanks for the update and further info.
I do not yet own a phone in Costa Rica although I have owned property there for some time, so I am thinking of getting cell phone service in the near future.
This is the first good info I have seen on telephones in Costa Rica, so thanks.
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