I will be traveling to Galapagos (part of Ecuador) and Costa Rica later this year, and am researching phone options to keep in touch with family in the U.S. Looks like I can get a quad-band unlocked GSM phone on Ebay for between $50 and $125 on ebay, depending on phone, which is reasonable, and would cover both the 850 in Ecuador and 1800 in Costa Rica.

The more challenging part is finding a single SIM provider to cover both. I went to the sites of all those listed by PrePaidGSM and the only one that includes both Ecuador and Costa Rica is Yackie Mobile. I have been reading threads on this relatively new provider, and clearly they seem to be having their share of start-up pains. My first trip isn't until mid-September, so I can watch and wait a little, but so far I'm not encouraged. I tried to call them yesterday, got their voice-mail, and left a message for them to call back, but nothing so far. I figure if a potential sale doesn't get their attention, support to their actual customers would likely be worse.

So - is anybody aware of another SIM that will cover both of these countries? I do not do a lot of international traveling - my needs are sporadic and localized, so I don't want to spend a fortune for these occasional needs.

My other option is renting a Sat Phone, but I'd end up paying more for the rentals than I would to just buy a GSM phone, and would have nothing to show for it after the trips. Also the per minute charges are significantly higher.

Any advice/leads appreciated.

Don
DLC Photography

Not sure what kind of question you had for the Yackie folks. But, you probably need to contact Cizake directly at his email address posted in one of the other yackie threads, if you want any kind of success hearing back from them.

Thanks for the reply. I was calling with a few cost-related questions, to verify coverage for the areas I'll be visiting, and also just to test them out to see if this outfit is ready for business with customers.

I've read about how email to Cizake is often required, but also that lately even that hasn't been working.

If responsiveness is that poor, I don't think I want to do business with them (yet).

The main reason for this post is to see if there are any other viable options out there that I hadn't discovered yet.

Travel to Ecuador and chile
 

SIM cards seem to be inexpensive in Ecuador, but you must have 850 band phone. SIM cards are also very available in all cities.

Ecuadorian SIM cards don't work in you cell phone...
 

...unless you've bought it in Ecuador.

Even if you've got a cell phone supporting GSM-850, the only GSM frequency in Ecuador, you'll be disappointed.

Only Ecuatorian cell phone work on Ecuatorian prepaid SIM cards. I've tried myself with a guaranteed SIM lock free Motorola.

The answer I got was that the GSM carriers would like tourists to pay roaming fees which in my case were almost USD 4,00 a minute.

Regards,

Alexus

That still leaves Wifi VOIP or satphones (Iridium or GlobalStar) as viable wireless options to bypass the greedy local mobile phone company :)

I see this is an old thread, but thought I would jump in.

Both Cingular (at 2.99 or 1.99 depending on plan) and U.S. T-Mobile (at $4.99!) list Ecuador. TravelSIM and United Mobile don't list Equador but CelTrek does at 1.39 incoming and 1.49 outgoing.

Costa Rica (where I've been several times) still has TDMA and finally got GSM less than 2 years ago. They have no prepaid. Coverage is not quite identical on the two systems (government run). There are a few areas where you think there would be service and there isn't. Once in a while you'll find people standing near each other after driving up to a spot on a hill to pick up signal<G>. Overall, tho, coverage is sufficient and there is signal in some fairly obscure areas.
Cingular charges 2.29-1.99 and T-M charges 1.99. TravSIM has no service in C.R. United Mobile charges 19 cents incoming and 99 cents outgoing. CelTrek charges 19 cents incoming and 29 cents outgoing.
As mentioned above, Costa Rica is a GSM 1800 only country. No other GSM band.

As mentioned in another thread in which i've listed the roaming rates for 3 intl. cards and the 2 U.S. GSM carriers in over 190 countries does not include any Manx carrier because I can't find a complete listing on a page. You have to laboriously enter each country on the various Manx web sites. If anyone has a place to find an easy to use rate sheet for any Manx carrier, let me know.
I have asked the moderator to let me post this complete chart altho it exceeds the limits for uploads by 4K.

...mike

I had luck with unlocked Cingular phones in Ecuador. In Quito as soon as you clear customs there is a phone stand before you exit. You can buy a Porta or Movistar sim chip for 10 dollars. My phones were a Razr and Nokia 6340i.