My daughter will be living in San Jose area for 10 months. Her U.S. Cingular plan would cost an additional $5.99/month plus $1.99/minute in addition to her $39.95 fee. Does anyone know of any cheaper and/or reliable options? Thanks!

I don't know exactly what this is, but a lot of expats who live in Costa Rica use a system called Skype, which is some way of calling through your computer.

Sandy

Visitors do rent cell phones during their stays. The problem is that the government here has a monopoly on telecommunications, which is why no outside mobile service really works. (I'm surpised to hear that Cingular does work here at all.)

The government has gone on record as saying that calling via the Internet violates its monopoly, but I don't know of anyone who has ever gotten into trouble for doing it.

The very best is to get a VoIP US modem and phone # (we have Vonage which is free to US, Canada, PR and with the $25. a month unlimited plan free to "land lines" in several countries in Europe), bring the US modem here and connect to any local broadband provider (we use tele cable IN, but have recently switched to SAT TV).
The $15.US 500 min a month Vonage plan would be fine for most, but no Euro calls for free.
M (SMdA, Gto.)

Thanks for your suggestions. I did check the web as mikemo suggested. For Skype it sounds like you need your friends/family to also have it. But appears ITP,VIA:Talk,& Verizon Voiceway may be options. However I have Verizon as my home & cell & they didn't mention this when I called so I'm not too confident. Lingo had no service there. Mikemo or Jeff, do these require my daughter have a landline phone connection in Costa Rica or would my home phone be the one? And would that mean I'd no longer have my Verizon home service? I'm not a techie & trying to sort this out is confusing. At this point she hasn't found housing-hoping to share an apt. with Tico's or a host family so unsure of the internet capabilities. Thank you again.

The typical household here does not have Internet, so if she's staying with a host family, the chances are not good that she'll have Internet access at home.

Whatever you options you investigate, specifically ask if it will work in Costa Rica. The whole government monopoly on telecommunications and Internet in Costa Rica means that often plans and services used elsewhere cannot be used here.

There are Internet cafes everywhere in and around San Jose. They are always loaded with foreigners making contact with the folks back home. Some places do offer Internet phone service where she could make outgoing calls.

I agree, the mail drop places here in Central Mexico have not only daily pick up and delivery of mail at a point on the US border (Laredo, TX in our case) which is driven back and forth, but high speed IN access and VoIP ('tho they do limit the calls if the line gets more than a few persons long) for $200. pesos a month (that's $17.97 US at the ATM rate I got for my cash w/d this AM).
Many stretching their US SSC checks clog the place in high season.
The VoIP option requires a local broadband (cable/DSL) modem which we and many others here have at home (SO is still working, poor Lass), but not a land line as you know it.
Sis and BIL use Skype from their Anguilla Hacienda, but it's limited as you now know and they have no reasonable broadband there (actually, nothing is reasonable there, imhpo).
M

Listen to Jeff_Costa_Rica...

I am a Cingular user (formerly AT&T user) and I have the international plan on my phone.

My Cingular GSM phone works great in many countries but did *NOT* work in Costa Rica, so I ended up renting one locally. It cost me $1.50 per minute to/from the U.S., which is actually CHEAPER than Cingular would have charged even if their phone DID work. (Same thing happened in Peru, for what its worth).

As always, your mileage may vary.
Mark
www.tiogringo.com

Regular land line rates from Costa Rica to the United States are 45 cents per minute 24/7, calculated at the going rate in colones. If she's staying with a host family, they may be skittish about letting her make international calls. Many landlords and households who take in foreigners have been burned by tenants who run up huge international phone bills and then leave the country without paying.

You can buy phone cards here for 3,000 colones (which with the current rate would give about 14 minutes of talking), or $10 or $20. These would work in any touch-tone, land-line phone. I have to specify "touch tone" because there are still many old dial phones around. It's always an adventure.

There are, as yet, no phone cards which will work with cellular phones, although once that happens, you will still be stuck with the government telecom monopoly and still won't be able to use outside mobile providers.

Thanks Jeff,TioGringo & mikemo for your info. Now I am leaning towards her renting a phone (if necessary)once she's there (because of your experiences) or using the internet cafes. We'll be making our choice sometime before she leaves in August & your advice will certainly weigh in a lot on our decision. Thank you!