Cell Phone info for French Polynesia

[JJPacer]

This is what Jan Prince says in her Tahiti & French Polynesia Guide page 117. "If you bring your own cell phone with you, be sure that it is an unblocked phone that can operate on a 900 megahertz system. If you have a Global System for Mobiles (GSM) phone you should buy a prepaid SIM card for French Polynesia. (Cellular Abroad in Santa Monica, Ca Tel 800/287/3020: www.cellularabroad.com has these) OR You can wait until you get to Tahiti and have a new Vini Chip inserted in your cell phone at a post office or at one of the many shops that sell Vini phones. (Vini is the name of a small finch that lives on the islands and it is also the name used by the Tikiphone dept of the telephone Co.) Save your original chip to put back in your cell phone once you are on your way home. You will be given a local telephone number. This number can be reached from overseas by dialing 011 +689+your 6 digit mobile phone number. This phone number is valid for 180 days unless you relpace it with your original chip. The cost of this prepaid Vinicard is 4,4000 CFP, which gives you a calling credit of 30 min. The amount of credit for international calls, depends on the destination & duration of the call. If you want to continue the service, make sure you buy a replacement card before the credit is used up. The recharge cards cost 500 CFP for 7 min. 1,000 CFP for 14 min., 3,000 CFP for 42 min. valid for 15, 30, & 60 days, respectively. You will also have voicemail service when you buy the Vini card. Be sure you specify that you want the english speaking version. For more information contact Tikiphone Vini Network at www.opt.pf. or www.vivi.pf."

[Seal]

This is what Jan Prince says in her Tahiti & French Polynesia Guide page 117. "If you bring your own cell phone with you, be sure that it is an unblocked phone that can operate on a 900 megahertz system. If you have a Global System for Mobiles (GSM) phone you should buy a prepaid SIM card for French Polynesia. (Cellular Abroad in Santa Monica, Ca Tel 800/287/3020: www.cellularabroad.com has these) OR You can wait until you get to Tahiti and have a new Vini Chip inserted in your cell phone at a post office or at one of the many shops that sell Vini phones. (Vini is the name of a small finch that lives on the islands and it is also the name used by the Tikiphone dept of the telephone Co.) Save your original chip to put back in your cell phone once you are on your way home. You will be given a local telephone number. This number can be reached from overseas by dialing 011 +689+your 6 digit mobile phone number. This phone number is valid for 180 days unless you relpace it with your original chip. The cost of this prepaid Vinicard is 4,4000 CFP, which gives you a calling credit of 30 min. The amount of credit for international calls, depends on the destination & duration of the call. If you want to continue the service, make sure you buy a replacement card before the credit is used up. The recharge cards cost 500 CFP for 7 min. 1,000 CFP for 14 min., 3,000 CFP for 42 min. valid for 15, 30, & 60 days, respectively. You will also have voicemail service when you buy the Vini card. Be sure you specify that you want the english speaking version. For more information contact Tikiphone Vini Network at www.opt.pf. or www.vivi.pf."[/quote]

 

 

Sounds way to difficult--we use ATT and have world wide coverage--about $5 per month--you can cancel the service when you don't need it..

Works perfectly in FP--the only problem is that when someone calls you early in the morning--it's really early on Bora Bora--3 hour difference--I kept getting calls from my alarm company to tell me my battery was going low--I told them I'll be back in a couple of weeks--please, don't call again--of course they called every morning at 4:30am--finally got my daughter to call them to cancel these calls

 

Our phones are Samsung and Blackberry--both work well on the system

 

Make it easy on yourself--and get world wide service

 

Nancy

 

Safe Travels:D

[Auntiejo]

I agree w/ Nancy - I have AT & T and bought that same package - my phone worked beautifully - even on sea days!

[Spikesgirl]

Yup, another vote for AT&T and not just because my husband works for them. We just called them up and requested the package and off we went. Phone worked just fine on all the islands - this also holds truth for SE Asia, AUS/NZ and Mexico. It's a great way to calm fears about how to reach us. Of course, if we turned the phone on, that would probably be better, but hey, we're on vacation!

[Seal]

So far, we know it works where we used it in Europe and also the Caribbean--

 

I would imagine that there are companies other than ATT that have this or a similar program--when we started the program it was Cingular then went to ATT

 

Nancy:D

[pcur]

Hi, I've been lurking around for a while gathering info for our cruise next September to the South Pacific. Love this board!

 

I just checked my coverage online for our Mobal phones, and they cover Fiji and FP. We've used them all over Europe. You buy the phone from them for $49, and then only get charged when you use it. The per minute charges are not cheap, but they are good phones to have for emergencies and quick conversations.

 

If you refer people who buy phones, then they give you a 10% discount, up to 50% off.

 

I found the reception and sound to be fantastic.

 

So, if you don't have AT&T, this might be an option. I've talked to my carrier, Sprint, and they are too expensive for International calls, and I have to rent a phone from them. So, Mobal is a good choice for us. All the info you need is at mobal.com.