Jamaica Telephones

Local, long distance and cellular telephone services are available across Jamaica

Making the Call

 
 
 

Jamaica's telephone systems are not hard to understand, but there are a few differences between telephones in Jamaica and those in the U.S.

Most hotels permit travelers to make telephone calls from the hotel with direct-dial services. Pay phones are dispersed throughout the island if travelers choose to use this method to generate local or long-distance calls. However, be cautious when making"local" calls in Jamaica because calling between towns counts as long-distance.

Unlike some other Caribbean islands, you may not use a U.S.-based long-distance provider to place a call from Jamaica because of an extensive history of fraud. The best option for making telephone calls, both local and long-distance, is to purchase a Jamaican phone card from one of the many stores that sell them all over the island. Jamaica's country code is 876, and the outgoing code is 011.

Business travelers who require fax facilities are in luck because most local businesses allow travelers to send and receive faxes for a small fee. Additionally, the Cable & Wireless Caribbean Cellular office in Kingston at 26 Trafalgar Road provides fax equipment and is open from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily. Call their office at 876-968-4000 or fax them for information at 876-968-3999.

Mobile telephone service on Jamaica is available through the local GSM 900 network, Digicel. To learn more about Digicel's network services, check out their website at www.digiceljamaica.com. Cable & Wireless Caribbean Cellular rents mobile handsets but requires a deposit, registration fee, per-day access charge and per-day hire charge. Travelers may register for a rented handset prior to arriving in Jamaica to save time. Contact Cable & Wireless at -888-225-5295 or visit their website at www.cwjamaica.com for more information on renting mobile telephones.

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