Costa Rica Real Estate

U.S. cell phones using Cingular and T-Mobile may work in urban areas of the country, such as San José, Puerto Limon, and Puntarenas. Phones using Nextel or Verizon services will not work because these providers currently have no coverage in Costa Rica.

Please visit also the website of your carrier—AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon—to get up-to-date information on coverage and options. If your carrier does not have a plan or coverage suitable for you, there are several other options:

Requirements for getting a cell phone number

If you are a legal resident, you can apply for a line yourself. Since lines become available only several times a year, keep your eyes on the newspaper for availability announcements. You may also join ICE’s waiting list, which is utilized when current, unpaid lines are repossessed. You can apply either in your own name, or in the name of your Costa Rican business or corporation.

You must first buy an approved cell phone before purchasing a cell phone line. These phones are designated homolgado, and are the only phones guaranteed to work on ICE’s cellular phone network. On the day you purchase your cell phone line, take your phone with you. After paying a $22.75 (¢12,500 Costa Rica colones) activation fee, ICE will provide you with a SIM card.

If you are not a Costa Rican citizen or legal resident, then you must ask a friend or family member who is one to obtain an extra cell phone line in his or her name. The process is the same as described above, but keep in mind that only the line owner will have authorization to make changes to the line.

A better approach would be to obtain a cell phone number in the name of your Costa Rican corporation. For $600 you can found a corporation.

International Calls: By default all cell phones are configured to receive international calls. A landline is not configured this way. It is not recommended to make international calls with your cell phone or landline because of high costs. It is much better to use Voice Over IP solutions like Skype or VoipBuster.

Text Messages: ICE also now offers delivery of text messages to abroad.

Prepaid Cards: Prepaid cards are now provided, but to use this service a normal cell phone number is also required.

R-Calls (Return Calls): Public phones can be found in every smaller town in Costa Rica. By dialing 110, you can begin an R-Call. The called person covers the costs. This option is very helpful if you do not carry your cell phone or if you are in an area where there is no signal at all.

UMTS (G3): Since the beginning of 2010 ICE also offers broadband mobile Internet at flat rates or at fixed monthly data volumes. An already existing cell phone number with ICE is required.