iPhones on STT

Everyone I know with one is very happy with it. Only thing though, you have to have a stateside number. It is not calibrated for VI and PR numbers.

RL

Ronnie,
I had a long drawn out telephone mess a couple weeks ago about the Iphone with both ATT and Apple. I bought Deb one for her birthday. I was told the original problems with the VI an PR according to ATT had to do with a combination of limited availability from Apple and spotty edge network in the Islands. I was told by both of them with the newest version of Itunes that came out this month you can get a 340 area code now. They assured me that when we move all I have to do is call the relocation department, not normal customer service and they will send us a new sim card for it and it will be fine. They also said that you should be able to activate them now from on island. Here is a link to apples discussion board were a resident of St Croix claims to have done this.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1137251&tstart=0

I hope they are right. The guy in the relocation department that I talked to had actually just been in training session about the territories a few days prior to my talking to him. It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out as you have to activate the phones using Itunes and there software looks for a verified address which as we all know way well have been one of the major hurdles all along.
Merry Christmas
Jay

When iPhone came out, I purchased mine in the states with a Stateside phone number. The phone works very well here on STX. I have not had any problem with Internet on the phone either. When in airports that sell their WIFI, I just turn off the WIFI feature on the phone and it uses the ATT network to get Internet. This is slower than WIFI but it allows you to use your phones Internet feature without having to sign up for the airports WIFI. I have not kept up with the Islands availability of the iPhone. As with most of the cell phones on the Island, there are locations without signal. I call them dead zones. I have learned where most of them are, that affect my routine routes. Typical problem for regions with mountainous terrain. I am very happy with it.
Welcome to the Islands,
Doug

Hi Jay,
As you may have found out already, the folks that told you that they would send you a new sim card didn't know what they were talking about as the i phone is a sealed unit.Hopefully they can do it for you online,if you already have a ATT account it should be no problem as it is just an upgrade to your already existing acct ($20 for unlimited data plan) through i tunes.Personally mine works fine on STX but I did have a little better service with my Nokia,I also have a NY # but St Croix is part of my plan.Good luck, it is a pretty amazing device.
Don

Don,
I thought the same thing about the sim card and the sealed unit. The sim card is actually removable. There is a small hole in the top next to the earphone jack. You take a paper clip push it in the hole and it releases the sim card out of the top. We haven't changed it over yet, but when we do I will let everyone know how it turns out.
Jay

Huh,Look at that.
Thanks,
Don

My iPhone works fine on STX, but I brought it down with a stateside phone number. I attempted to activate a new iPhone given as a Christmas present, and you cannot either transfer an existing non-ATT 340 number, or establish a new 340 area code number. If you already have a 340 ATT number I don't know if you can substitute the iPhone for your old phone.

Bottom line: If it works in the states, it will work here. Can't get a new 340 number with ATT, can't transfer a non-ATT 340 number.

It seems like the easiest way to answer that question would be to stick an existing 340 area code SIM card into the iPhone and see if it works.

The AT&T i Phone terms and conditions now specifically include Virgin Islands.

http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/articles-resources/iphone-terms.jsp

I have an iPhone and it works in St. Croix, but I retained my NY cell phone number. I haven't tried switching it to a VI number yet. I probably won't try that until my current contract runs out. I am more of a land line user, so it's not a big deal for me, but I'll be interested to find out how the sim card works. Kim

i'm curious to find out how the replacing sim card idea works - specifically before activation. In my case I have to keep my current phone number (340) so I'd most likely need to do the replace before activation.

Re: congasan - those terms and conditions only apply to long distance phone calls (not activation).

I've spent too much time on this entire issue over the past 4 months:

itunes update 7.5 states activation is possible wherever service is offered. Hmm, we get service in the VI yet activation is not possible with an area code from down here, interesting. FYI Apple reps hate me each time I call and bug them about this false statement!

Nobody at Apple or AT&T has a clue about this activation problem. I've called them many many times and each time I have to "convince" them that no, actually, the iphone is not possible to activate down here. The standard and first response is ALWAYS "if you have AT&T service then you'll be able to activate it no problem." My response is "what about how I live in the VIrgin Islands?" and they always respond with "it doesn't matter where you live as long as you get service you'll be able to activate it" - which is when I ask them to check further and several minutes later they come back and tell me no, its not possible. Right, now why does the customer know more than the sales reps? And why do I always have to convince them that activation is not possible?

Josh,
If you want when deb and I get down in a few weeks we will pop the sim card out of your phone and put it in debs and see if it works. That way we can test wether or not the latest ATT response that we got was right or not.
Jay

Jay,

I'd love to try but I'd be far too worried about turning your iphone into a brick!

Sooooo what is the end result here? Do they work with 340 numbers? anyone?????

Yes they do. My roommate took an existing 340 number and it works on his iphone

Thanks, and lastly - Does your roommate have a 340 number with service from AT&T either in STX or STT. Apparently that is the big factor.

Yes he does!