Prepaid Data In Bermuda
 

Hello. I have an unlocked iPhone, and I'm going to be going on a two week trip to Bermuda later this year. I would like to be able to use my iPhone while I am there with a local SIM card, but I've been having trouble finding a Bermuda SIM card that offers prepaid data. Digicel has a prepaid data service that you can pay for by the week, but they claim it only works for Blackberries. I've had a number of people tell me that they've used their iPhone with a Blackberry plan with no problem, but the people at Digicel tell me that the Blackberry plan won't work with my phone. Is there anyone who has any direct experience with Digicel Bermuda who can clear this up for me? Thank you.

It may be easier to get an unlocked Blackberry off of ebay than to try to get your iPhone to work on a Blackberry centric data plan. Have a nice trip!

You could buy a cheap BlackBerry on eBay, activate the SIM in that unit then swap to the iPhone & switch the APN to blackberry.net or one from the operator that works (check w/ your operator for the generic data/WAP APNs).

It really depends how they implement the system. It is a wap or internet apn included with the service or are you simply getting access to the Blackberry APN. An iPhone won't be able to access the Blackberry APN. If there is a wap apn, how closed down is it?

It is also not very difficult to detect what type of phone the customer is using. THe question is whether the carrier is motivated to script fo rhtat. Until the Blackberry Torch, Blackberries consumed a fraction of the data that an iPhone did. As Blackberry has ratcheted up its multimedia capabilities, data consumption is going up as well.

This may not be the best solution for you, I don't know, but take a look at iphonetrip.com's offer as well. While it is a bit pricey, if your phone is jail broke and can handle VOIP over 3g, it could make sense.

If staying at either of the Fairmont hotels in Bermuda, wi-fi access is free (and very speedy) for President's Club members (no charge to join). A splash page prompts you to enter your member number. Could be used with an iphone in wi-fi mode, or with a laptop or netbook (I used a MacBook Pro with this method for an extended stay at their property in Hamilton). Wi-Fi is also free at the airport, but throughput speeds are a bit slow.

If staying at a smaller property, some have at least one PC for guests with complimentary web access, usually in the lobby or a common area. Ask.

I have a Digicel Bermuda prepaid sim card I use for voice and text messages. They do offer prepaid data service for Blackberries, but it doesn't work well for other devices without a lot of tweaking (tried this unsuccessfully on an unlocked AT&T Tilt WinMo device once).

You may want to pick up a Digicel Flex sim card just for phone calls (much cheaper than AT&T roaming rates of $1.99/minute on M3 or Digicel) and for text messages. They do offer a 50 pack international SMS package for BD$5 (dial *134# to activate it). Per minute calls are 75 cents outgoing flat rate for international calls, 35 cents for local peak calls, and 25 cents for local off-peak calls. Note that Digicel is on many islands in the Caribbean, so the same sim card can be used elsewhere.

What does Digicel charge for inbound calls?

Used it primarily for outgoing not incoming but I think think it is usually the per minute local rate of 35 cents peak, 25 cents off peak or Digicel on-network roaming in other islands at I think 49 cents a minute. However, they sometimes offer promotions of free incoming from other Digicel phones in the same country as you are. Also frequently a "double bubble" promotion of a free equal amount of digicel to digicel calls good for a short time period like one or two weeks.

A nice thing with Digicel is they also eat the monthly government license fee of I think BD$5/month so it's a better deal than some of their competitors based just on that. I think they are also good corporate citizens by sponsoring sporting events and supporting charities.

Incoming calls on your LOCAL Digicel networks are for free as usual (like almost everywhere worldwide except US / Canada).

But: Despite that all Digicel networks (except Digicel F) are labeled with Digicel Jamaica Digicel charges roaming fees while using for example a Digicel Bermuda SIM in the Digicel Dominica network!!! These are the mentioned 49 cents a minute.