Using Your Cell Phone In The Dominican Republic

Will my US phone work in Dominican Republic?

You can use your cell phone in the Dominican Republic, depending on the telephone company to which it belongs, but the roaming fee for data in this location will be very expensive for each megabyte you use.

It is recommended that you deactivate the data roaming function as soon as you arrive in the country. You can use your cell phone email, Skype, Whatsapp, Internet, and other applications only when connected to a Wi-Fi network.

At the airport, bar, hotel, restaurant or any other place with Wi-Fi available, you will avoid expensive data roaming charges.

In the Dominican Republic, there are many places with free Wi-Fi on the beach, airports and other places of public use.

What area code is the Dominican Republic?

The prefix for Dominican Republic in the NANP (North American Numbering Plan) is 809, 829 or 849,

809 is the traditional area code in the country, this code is used by landline, then codes 829 and 849 were included, which are most used in mobile telephony.

Can I text from the Dominican Republic?

Yes, you can send and receive text messages, but it is not recommended because the telephone rate is very expensive for international roaming, it is best to use Wi-Fi connection, you can use WhatsApp, Messenger, Vibe, FB and others

Does Straight Talk work in the Dominican Republic?

Straight Talk product offers calls, text messages and unlimited data usage for customers in Puerto Rico.

In addition, it offers unlimited international calling service to landline phones in countries such as Mexico, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Rica and others. The Straight Talk service works with the AT&T network.

Is Dominican Republic a GSM or CDMA?

In the Dominican Republic, there are two types of wireless access technologies for cell phone services, both digital. These are the CDMA and the GSM, which have allowed the birth of digital cell phones or well-known PCS.

The GSM technology was introduced to the country by Orange and contains the cell phones offered by Orange, Claro and Viva under the Global Mobile System (GSM) standard and the CDMA technology is the one that groups the Claro Codetel, Tricom and Viva PCS cell phones, which they respond to the Multiple Access Division by Code (CD MA) transmission scheme.

Thus dividing companies into two fundamental digital standards: the American-CDMA and the European-GSM.

What is GSM bandwidth?

GSM frequency bands are bands for mobile telephony designated by the International Telecommunications Union for the operation of GSM networks.

Currently, most phones support multiple bands like those used in different countries to facilitate so-called roaming.

These are known as multi-band phones. Dual-band phones can cover GSM networks in pairs such as frequencies 900 and 1800 MHz (Europe, Asia, Australia and Brazil) or 850 and 1900 (North America and Brazil).

European tri-band phones typically cover bands 900, 1800 and 1900 giving good coverage in Europe and allowing limited use in North America.

While tri-band phones in North America use bands 850, 1800 and 1900 for general service in this area but with limited worldwide use. Quad-band phones have been incorporated as a new variant.

These support all major GSM bands, allowing global use (excluding countries without GSM such as Japan or South Korea).

Besides, there are multi-mode phones that can operate in GSM as well as in other mobile phone systems using technical standards or proprietary technologies. Often these phones also use multiple frequency bands.

Does GPS work in the Dominican Republic

The GPS system works throughout the Dominican Republic, the most used GPS applications in the city are Waze and Google maps, Google maps can even be used offline by downloading the city maps.

There are also other GPS systems in the Dominican Republic, such as Garmin, and other GPS services in the private sector.

Does Verizon work in the Dominican Republic?

Verizon (CDMA)

Voice: It works in Claro company (If they can be activated, because they are CDMA) and in Tricom.

Data: It will not work on any telephone.

What cell phone carriers are in the Dominican Republic?

Orange Dominicana:

• Frequency bands CDMA, GSM and 3G

• CDMA N / A

• GSM / EDGE 900 MHz / 1800 MHz / 1900 MHz

• 3G 900 MHz

• 4G 1800 Mhz (Band 3)

Claro Dominicana:

• Frequency bands CDMA, • GSM and 3G

• CDMA 1900 Mhz

• GSM / EDGE 850 MHz / 1900 MHz

• 3G 850 MHz

• 4G 1700 Mhz / 2100 Mhz (Band 4 AWS)

Viva Dominicana:

• Frequency bands CDMA, GSM and 3G

• CDMA 1900 MHz

• GSM / EDGE 1900 MHz

• 3G N / A

Tricom:

• Frequency bands CDMA, GSM and 3G

• CDMA 800 MHz / 850 MHz / 1900 MHz

• 2G / EDGE 800 Mhz / 1900 MHz

• 3G 800 MHz

• 4G 1900 MHz (Band 2)

Can you buy a SIM card at Punta Cana airport?

At the moment there is no store inside the airport where you can buy a SIM card. but you can visit the Punta Cana Village shopping, which is about 5 minutes away from the airport and get one.

You can get one with your passport or activate it at any of the local telecommunications companies, including Altice and Claro. The SIM card costs less than US$ 5, and you must purchase additional phone credit for calls.

There are several shopping malls in Punta Cana where you can buy a SIM card for your mobile phone, if you are interested I wrote a whole topic about shopping malls in Punta Cana.

Is calling the Dominican Republican an international call?

Whenever a telephone call is made from outside the Dominican Republic, the number combination must be used is 011 + 809 + Number, this combination is for landlines on the island.

Also, any call made from outside the territory of the Dominican Republic is considered an international call, and the other way around.

Being (011) the code for international calls from the United States. The (809) is the Dominican Republic code. Then you have to put the 7-digit local phone.

Does Metro have international roaming?

MetroPCS international roaming service allows you to use your compatible MetroPCS equipment in selected international countries through the available compatible international roaming networks. In the Dominican Republic, MetroPCS works with the T-Mobile network.

Does MetroPCS work in Punta Cana?

MetroPCS does not provide services outside the United States. The international roaming service is provided by MetroPCS to its subscribers through agreements with other international providers.

MetroPCS international roaming service is only available in certain countries and certain areas within those countries. Availability, quality of coverage and services during roaming are not guaranteed.

Will my AT&T/T-Mobile/Verizon/Sprint phone work in the Dominican Republic?

For these case studies it is not that the US cell phones are not going to work with 3G here, but, for example, Samsung normally makes specific versions for AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, and each version with different names, and bands of different frequency.

AT&T

• Voice: It works in Orange, Claro and Live.

• Data: Works with Claro 3G and Orange, Claro and Viva Edge

T-Mobile USA

• Voice: It works in Orange, Claro and Live.

• Data: Orange, Claro and Viva Edge works

Verizon (CDMA)

• Voice: It works in Claro (If they can be activated, because they are CDMA) and in Tricom

• Data: It will not work on any telephone

Sprint (PCS y CDMA)

• Voice: Works in Viva and Tricom

• Data: It will not work on any telephone.

Can I charge my iPhone in the Dominican Republic?

In the Dominican Republic, you can use your electrical devices such as the iPhone without any problem, as long as your country’s voltage is between 110V and 127V (as well as in the USA, Canada and most of the countries of South America).

In the Dominican Republic, the common voltage is 120 V. The frequency is 60 Hz. The plugs and plugs are of the type A / B.