Can I bring my own Cell Phone there? Also, re: DSL?

[batraa01]

Hi! I was wondering if I can bring a Sprint telephone or Nokia phone and use it at Dominica? Will it work? What kind of phones do they have there and whats the rate? Are there apartments that come with DSL there so I dont need to get on a waiting list to have internet access? And which are the best apartments if I want DSL, nearby campus, laundry service, generator, and US converters for my electrical items? Where or who can I ask to get my laundry done for me and how much does it cost?

Thanks for all your help.

[MitchDC]

Batraa, I'm telling you this so that you won't be dissapointed when you get here. For months I've been telling students to get here 3 weeks early to get the best housing and to be comfortably settled before classes start. 1 week, while clearly enough to time get things done, is not early enough to get housing close to what you described. Its very likely that you won't find any apartments like you mentioned anywhere close to campus. VERY FEW apartments have ADSL service already installed because of the costs of the modem and the need to leave a large deposit at the phone company to set up your account. VERY few apartments have a generator - in fact I personally only know of one complex. Few apartments have converters pre-installed to step your electricity down from 220. Most apartments have laundry service at least nearby, but none come with included laundry service (I know you didn't say that, but I want to make sure you understand that). Almost no students do their own laundry - so you won't have any problem with that. When you arrive this week, you will get housing, but you probably won't immediately find everything you desire. You can stay somewhere for one semester while looking for a more desireable place.

They do use some Nokia here, also motorola, and samsung. However, I think they can only use certain models. Sprint is a phone service and will not work here. As far as prices, there are tons of pricing plans. You'll be down here soon enough and can check.

Hope this helps!

MitchDC

[remROM]

the crunch has begun


I was at the bank this morning and it was a long wait.

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"I'm squeeeezed, in the middle,
Smack daaaaab, in the middle..."
- tv commercial

[doc4kids2b]

IF YOU BRING A cell phone that is nokia from at and t they should be able to activate it for you at cable and wirless

[VanessaWI]

I've seen most students buy one of two kinds of cells phones. I know one is a nokia for 50EC, (2.6USD=1ECD) while the other one costs 55EC and looks a little bit fancier. The way that cable and wireless have it set up it that you buy phone cards in denominations of 10/25/40/80, etc and you punch in the pin number for that phone card. They keep track of how much of that phone card amount you have used and you just buy a new phone card when you need it (but the minutes do expire in about 4 mos.) I'm still not sure exactly how much they charge per minute for US calls, but it's pretty cheap for local ones.
I had some issues about other people doing my laundry because I was afraid about it getting ruined-and I'm just not used to paying other people to clean and do stuff for me. I decided to take the plunge and try and was pleasently surprised. I had my laundry done by the lady that cleans my apartment and she charged me 10EC for one load. She said that she had no problem with hang-drying items that I didn't want to go through the dryer.
The place where I moved into has a lot of first semester students. We found that if we went in a large group (8 people) to places to get things set up, we usually got a better deal and it was less confusing. We all bought our transformers from the "Muslim Store" in Roseau and negotiated with the guy so that we got 20% off everything in the store. The Muslim store is actually called something else (that I can't remember), but if you ask someone in the street where it is they will direct you.
Good Luck,
Vanessa

[medNoir]

I'm so glad I got the C&W cellphone. I've made and received several calls while on the run, while not once yet, have I wished I had a landline.

The other day I went down to CW and had the voice mail service activated. The activation is free, just fill out a request form. But checking your voice mail is 30EC cents per minute.

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"i am not lonely... not with all these voices in my head"
- room9

[Kirst]

I've seen most students buy one of two kinds of cells phones. I know one is a nokia for 50EC, (2.6USD=1ECD) while the other one costs 55EC and looks a little bit fancier. I had my laundry done by the lady that cleans my apartment and she charged me 10EC for one load.

I'm a little confused here with the currency conversion :oops:, but if 2.6USD=1ECD... isn't 10ECD=26USD=~40CAD?

I dunno, but $40 for one load of laundry sounds ridiculously expensive to me! :shock:

[preppystud]

so why do you need it?

it is a small island. and i suppose that it would be very expensive to call people in the states?

and most people you will see daily during classes. so what is the use of a cell phone?

[VanessaWI]

I got my cell phone for a number of reasons. My internet will not be set up for a while and I wantedto be able to call home. We cannot use dialpad and the like in the laptop lounge. I also carry my cell phone for safety reasons. If I'm out at my apt and something happens, there is no other way of getting help (unless you have observant neighbors). It is also convenient to be able to call the stores in town to set up appts for internet connection, etc. I've barely used my phone, but the few times that I have made calls I've actually needed it.
For the $ conversion:
For example: $100USD will get you $260ECD. People have all sorts of ways of figuring it out. I bought a really small calculator that I carry with me when I'm shopping for the first few times so I don't get ripped off.

[bevo]

the motorola phone has a cool conversion utility built in. It'll convert from EC to US dollars if you set it up.

[medNoir]

I rarely use my cell to call home.
My parents have been well advised to keep their communiques to email only, except for special occasions like mother's day. My father had a great idea, if important looking snail mail arrived for me, he scanned it then emailed me the image. If I needed it I'd then ask him to snail it here.

Cell phones are quite usefull locally. To call friends and coordinate meeting times/places for food, study and to coordinate with deliveries from groceries and taxi pickup of packages. You don't want to miss those calls.

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"These words are lovely dark and deep.
But I've got promises to keep.
And miles to go before I sleep.
So leave a message at the beep."
- rec.humor