Cell Phone companies

Hi,

I am also curious as to the answer to this question. I am thinking of getting an ATT GSM plan because they seem to offer service in the VI. Can anyone speak about the service/ reception from ATT??

Thanks so much.

Ryan S.

Hi,

Sprint and Cingular offer service in the VI and then there is the local provider. I use Sprint. Last week, during my pre-mive visit (STT) , I used my phone with no problems. I also did not have a problem on STX in Dec. Of course there are areas where the reception and or service does not work but it is what it is.

I have a Cingular phone and used it lots when in St. Thomas at the end of April. I had great service, with a few minor exceptions like mentioned above.

I used Cingular, as well, in April....no problems from the East End....(even after spending about 15 minutes in the washing machine) lol.

With the Cingular nation wide plan I did not incur roaming charges while on STT. Actually in January, while off of Tortola (on a cruise ship) I was able to use my Cingular phone, too.

Future Islander

I use Sprint. Have always had great reception and free long distance to the states with no roaming charges. My wife and I used it as a two-way radio. No charges or minutes between sprint customers. Only lost the signal at the Divi (it's behind a mountain. Worked great on all of the islands too.

Future Islander wrote:

> I used Cingular, as well, in April....no problems from the East
> End....(even after spending about 15 minutes in the washing
> machine) lol.

Hey, F.I.: What were you doing in that washing machine?? 😉

East Ender:

Trying to get a better signal....what else?

F.I.

Cingular has a GSM service. AT&T also has GSM, but Cingular is buying them. GSM works best on the island. Our Sprint service works well one day and not so well the next. We tried Cingular GSM and were impressed. Just my two cents.
Teresa

Does anyone else who lives on island have a preference?

I have Sprint, which worked great when I lived at Hull Bay, but is practically useless in Santa Maria Bay. Also, Sprint is not a good provider if you plan in living in the East End.
My .02c

I have Centennial, obviously the odd man out! Some dead zones but generally okay.

no verizon on the islands

Cingular has been good for us. We have the nationwide plan (GSM) - 850 regular minutes, ulimited bonus minutes, unlimited Cingular cell-to-cell, & unlimited nights & weekends for $59 per month.

We just re-signed our contract & got two new LG 4010 flip phones for $9.95 each. The second phone is only an extra $9.95 per month. Reception is better than the old Motorola phone. There are still some spots on the island (deep valleys) where reception is bad, but that's life on the island!

No, nextel does not have a carrier in the VI's, however I was told by Nextel that if enough of their subscribers request the service in the islands they will put a tower down there. . . . eventually. But they don't have any plans for service in the VI's in the near future.

My girlfriend and I spent the last 2 weeks around red hook with a buddy there,she has cingular,and I have sprint. mine seemed to get better service except around the Bolongo bay area. Mine even did good in the BVI when we dove the Rhone. all in all they both did pretty well