Carrier Verizon data in San Juan ?

[colodane]

I will be in San Juan, PR for a week later this month. I'm using a Verizon 1 GB prepaid data plan on my rMini. Does anyone know if this will work in San Juan without any roaming charges?

Thanks!

 

[maflynn]

Looking on verizonwirless, using their coverage selector, it doesn't appear there's any coverage.

Here's the link:http://www.verizonwireless.com/wcms....html#btnCvg?intcmp=SearchBanner:coverage:Top

 

[colodane]

Thanks.

Yes, I had checked the coverage map and it shows no coverage for PR on the US map.

However, on the international map it does show coverage for PR. But this coverage is qualified with footnotes saying: 3G only, "Global Feature required", and Roaming applies.

Would have ben difficult to probe the Verizon website further to find out the details of all this. I had hoped that a forum member might have been to PR recently and could report as to what it meant in practical terms - i.e. does the data plan work at all and, if so, what are the roaming charges.

 

[maflynn]

Perhaps calling them would give you the best answers. You don't want to assume that you'll not incur roaming charges only to see them appear on your bill.

 

[scaredpoet]

Would have ben difficult to probe the Verizon website further to find out the details of all this. I had hoped that a forum member might have been to PR recently and could report as to what it meant in practical terms - i.e. does the data plan work at all and, if so, what are the roaming charges.

FYI, Verizon Wireless USED to co-own a network in PR, but sold it off. The Company is now known as Claro Americas, and is owned by a Mexican telecom group known as America Movíl.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claro_Puerto_Rico

Under long term agreements with Claro, you get Extended Network coverage through Verizon, but the CDMA network is a legacy system since Claro began moving to a separate GSM/HSPA/LTE network.

And by "legacy," we're talking 1xRTT... pre-EVDO, barely considered early 3G. So, about 0.144-0.230Mbps.

 

[colodane]

Thanks kindly for the info!

I can probably make do with wi-fi plus some pre-downloaded maps & GPS while I'm there.

Was actually kind of surprised, however, with Verizon's limited presence there given how USA-centric most of PR is - currency, ease of entry/exit, etc.

 

[nateo200]

Thanks kindly for the info!

I can probably make do with wi-fi plus some pre-downloaded maps & GPS while I'm there.

Was actually kind of surprised, however, with Verizon's limited presence there given how USA-centric most of PR is - currency, ease of entry/exit, etc.

Yeah it is surprising. I always have to do a double take whenever I look at the coverage map. Hopefully in the future there will be at least HSPA roaming with Claro as Claro runs a 850 / 1900MHz HSPA network and most modern LTE devices should support HSPA on those bands. Also Claro has LTE 700MHz Band 17 and a few devices (like iPhone and more) support that band as well for LTE. I mean even Sprint has LTE in PR! Oh well if I ever go down there I'll just use my T-Mobile SIM card since they have LTE there.