Cell Phone Service in Africa

Can anyone tell me what they did for cell phone service in Africa.I need to have a way for my son to call home during our trip.Not sure if it is a upgrade to my service or need to rent one of those other phones for the trip.thanks Billc

I am going to SA this month. I use Sprint and as far as they are concerned u have to 1st have a world band phone. Then they can add a world service. Only a handful of phones from each company have this ability. As far as service goes maybe some of the guys from SA can tell u about how good the service is there in SA. I also heard u might be able to buy a Go phone or a pay as u go there at the airport. U would have to check on that though.

If your current phone is not global, you can rent one pretty easily. Last year I rented on-line from a place called Range Roamer. I thought it was very easy and affordable. Service was excellent when I was over there as well. Here is a link to the site: rangeRoamer - Short-term cell phone service for international travelers.

Hope the info helps.

nd

I have a Blackberry and this is what I have arranged.
Canadian Cell phone providers are criminal in what they offer for rates. Between three to four times more expensive than this!!!

I am renting a SIM:
1 x Sim will be ready for collection at the Vodashop Store at OR Tambo International Arrivals
These are the following Sim Rates:
Daily rate - Free
Insurance - Free
Local call: R2.40pm
Other Networks: R2.60pm
Text local: R1:00 per text
Text Inter : R2:00per text
Inter call: From R7.90pm
Whilst in SA Incoming calls are FREE
Deposit - R1000.00

I took my iPhone with AT&T service to RSA last year. I added an international service which was fairly inexpensive, but the calls not so much. If you do a google for international cell phone rentals, you'll find plenty. And as Brickburn points out you can rent one at OR Tambo too.

Hey Billc,

Just from our side we do have WIFI in the lodge as some clients prefer to have internet while they are on their hunt but you do not have to use it. If you add international service you would not have a problem to call from the lodge as we also have good cell coverage in the dinning area of the lodge. Oh and my phone can phone out internationally so if you do want to use it you are more than welcome.

Best regards,

Jacques

Hi Billic,
where ever I wind up in Africa , the first thing I do is go to a supermarket and buy a prepaid simcard.
usuale they go for around €10 ($14) then call home so everybody has got your new number.
From then on its local rates all the way.

B.N.

I spend most of the season near Victoria Falls in the Matetsi Safari area. I have a Blackberry with T-Mobile. The international calling plan allows for calls to be made and received just fine in and around Vic Falls. There is one high hill on the concession that allows for calls. With this being said, the minutes are expensive, around four dollars per minute. You can also add international texting which seems to be easier and is only .05 cents a text. Much more economical. In short, there are a lot of remote areas throughout Africa that have good cell coverage. Be sure to turn off your voicemail feature! If someone calls you when in Africa you are charged even if you do not answer but the call goes into your voicemail.

If you have a "global" phone then you can get an int'l plan put on your phone for just the time you will be out of the country. The plans are normally very reasonable and mine allowed for unlimited internet/emails to my phone and texting was pretty inexpensive but phone calls are expensive. I know that Blackberry & iPhone work in South Africa & Namibia if you have the service from your home provider. It is very easy to rent phones and internet air cards at the Johannesburg airport and rates are reasonable. One of the VodaCom shops in the airport terminal is near the South Africa police office. Skype is also a good way to go and I know a lot of guys that come over from Africa for the sports shows here in the U.S. use it to keep in touch with everyone at home.

I used VodaCom for phone rental last month. I cant believe it has already been a month. I wanted to let you all know that it went very smoothly. I booked the phone online a week before we arrived. I believe you need to book 5 days before so they can assign a number for you. I may be wrong. The vodacom store is very close to where the gun permit office is. It took about 5 minutes and 1000 rand charged to a credit card that was swiped there at the store. There was no daily rental charge and the price per min was less than a global phone. At the end of the safari you turn the phone back into a vodacom store. There is a vodacom store located right next to the Out Of Africa store after all the security checks. They then gave me a credit on the visa card. We had the phone for 15 days. We used the phone everyday to call back home and talk to our kids. The total charge was just over $100.00. It worked very well and I will use it again for sure.

do you have the contact or website info.Does anyone know if I can get this service in kimberly or must I get it in johansburg. thanks for the info

I called Verizon last year to up grade my phone for call in Africa...activated it for the countries would be in..

When i up graded my cell phone i purchased one that was world wide use and Verizon sent by e mail the instructions for the countries i would be in...very smooth about $4 a minute.

you provide the date you leave and the date you return and they just put you in the computer and your phone is ready to go...

Sorry I should have included the contact info for the Vodacom store in Joburg. Margo is who I emailed. margo@cellucity.co.za
There is no cell phone rental store in the Kimberley airport. The airport only has one baggage claim. It is very small.
In the past I had contacted Sprint and rented a international phone from them and kept my same number. They do not offer this service anymore and now send you to a 3rd party company that was not friendly to deal with. This is why I looked other places and found Vodacom.
This is the Vodacom website for all the different rentals they offer. I used the phone and Sim rental. SIM Card Rental South Africa - Save on mobile calls & internet! - Vodashop Rentafone