Changes: Guam

Revision as of 06:44, 15 April 2016

Basics

Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are territories of the United States that are not part of the 50 states. They share some things with the mainland, like the country code +1 and the currency is the US Dollar. But they have some significant differences with the mainland, such as having additional visa waiver countries, and more importantly its own independent phone networks.

The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) is connected to Guam and the same mobile networks operate here. Major US network operators such as AT&T or T-Mobile have no operations here, and consider these islands to be "international" with high roaming charges, or no roaming at all. Instead, there are 4 GSM operators available on prepaid:

DoCoMo Pacific (owned by NTT DoCoMo in Japan)
GTA Teleguam
iConnect
IT&E (mostly CDMA)

Coverage is on US-American frequencies: 2G on 1900 MHz, 3G on 850 and 1900 MHz and LTE has started on 700 (band 17) and 1700 MHz. CDMA and GSM systems co-exist like in the US.

DoCoMo Pacific

DoCoMo Pacific (formerly called Guam Wireless) offers 2G service on 1900 MHz, 3G UTMS on 850 MHz, and 4G LTE on 700 MHz (band 17). Coverage is on Guam, Saipan, Rota, and Tinian: Coverage map.

Availability

Their prepaid SIM cards are sold in DoCoMo stores (locations) as part of a starter kit for $19.95 which includes $10 credit. Additional top-up vouchers can be bought in increments of $5, $10, and $20, and top-ups can be done by credit card as well. To load a prepaid recharge card, type *111*<PIN>#. To check balance, call *112*# to get a SMS.

Data rates

Default data rate is $0.10 per MB. Plans called "Unli! prepaid plans" are offered for short-term visitors and billed by the day (24-hour period):

Time	local calling, texts, data	data only
1 day	$ 2.95	$ 1.95
3 days	$ 8.00	$ 5.50
5 days	$ 13.00	$ 9.00

All plans include "unlimited" local calls, texts or data. "Unlimited" data appears subject to an unclear fair use policy, with throttling to 256 kbps on "excessive use" which seems to be several GBs.

For activation text the word 'UNLI' to 8654. After receiving the welcome message, reply with your service of choice by sending "3" for data-only, or “4” for all. Reply to next message confirming the number of days you want to go UNLI with your service of choice: "1" for one day, "2" for three days or "3" for five days.

12 hours prior to expiration of selected service, you will receive a message: "Your subscription to [service] will expire in 12 hours. If you do not wish to auto-renew your subscription at that time, please reply with "NO" now."

In addition, there is a $1 monthly "E911" fee to be deducted from the balance. Service is deactivated when reaching $0 balance, so better to keep a dollar or two on the account to prevent this.

More info

APN: internet
Website: http://www.docomopacific.com

GTA Teleguam

GTA Teleguam offers 2G and 3G HSPA+ on 850/900/1900/2100 MHz, and 4G on 1700 MHz (LTE band 4). They cover only the island of Guam and not Saipan or elsewhere; Coverage Map. These SIM Starter kits provide 3-in-1 (Mini-SIM with removable Micro-SIM and Nano-SIM) and top ups are sold at official GTA stores in populated areas and also on the US Air Force and Naval bases. In almost every town they are sold at most markets and also some other retail stores. Typical cost around $15-20 but come loaded with "5 days free" usage. Sometimes these starter kits can be gotten for discount when loaded immediately.

Default data rate is $0.10/MB. Daily and monthly plans are also offered with few data options as most plans are differentiated by their voice and SMS provided.

A $3 daily plan gives "unlimited" (unclear FUP) data for 24 hours. Monthly plans start at $25 for 500 MB and $45 for 5 GB and include some voice and SMS. To book a plan, call *488# and choose 3 on menu.

To check balance, *488# and choose 1 on menu. Credit expires soon after top up unless extended by another top up, which extends the validity of all credit:

(1) $0.01 to $9.00 – 15 days, (2) $9.01 to $19.00 - 30 days, and (3) $19.01 and up - 60 days

Top ups can be bought as vouchers of size $5, $10, $20 or $50; or via credit card by *488# choosing 2 on menu.

IT&E

IT&E Wireless is a company, that started in the CNMI as MTC and on Guam as PTI. It runs the undersea cable between these islands and a cellular network on Guam, Saipan, Tinian and Rota.

Their network is mostly on CDMA-standard which is not compatible to GSM devices, while they have some GSM coverage too. It can't be recommended for 2G/3G GSM, but is an option if you come from the US and want to activate your CDMA device in Guam or have a hybrid CDMA/GSM device. In 2014 they started a 4G/LTE coverage on 700 MHz (band 17) available for both systems.

Availability

You can get the CDMA activation or the GSM SIM card in one of their stores (locations). The IT&E SIM is $19.95 with a free $10 load. Top-up is made by credit and debit cards.

Data rates

Their data packages are called "Motion Broadband":

500 MB for 7 days: $ 5
1 GB for 7 days: $ 10
3 GB for 7 days: $ 20
10 GB for 14 days: $ 50

Activation and management is online through mydata.ite.net Data will be shut off when depleted or elapsed.

More info

APN: internet.ite.net
Website:

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-== Basics ==
+== '''Basics''' ==
 Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are territories of the United States that are not part of the 50 states. They share some things with the mainland, like the country code +1 and the currency is the US Dollar. But they have some significant differences with the mainland, such as having additional visa waiver countries, and more importantly its own independent phone networks.
-The major US network operators such as AT&T or T-Mobile have no operations here, and consider these islands to be "international" with high roaming charges, or no roaming at all. Instead, there are three operators available on prepaid:
+The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) is connected to Guam and the same mobile networks operate here. Major US network operators such as AT&T or T-Mobile have no operations here, and consider these islands to be "international" with high roaming charges, or no roaming at all. Instead, there are 4 GSM operators available on prepaid:
-* '''DoCoMo Pacific''', owned by its parent NTT DoCoMo in Japan.
+* '''DoCoMo Pacific ('''owned by NTT DoCoMo in Japan)
 * '''GTA Teleguam'''
 * '''iConnect'''
+* '''IT&E '''(mostly CDMA)
+Coverage is on US-American frequencies: 2G on 1900 MHz, 3G on 850 and 1900 MHz and LTE has started on 700 (band 17) and 1700 MHz. CDMA and GSM systems co-exist like in the US.
-== DoCoMo Pacific ==
+== '''DoCoMo Pacific''' ==
-Docomo Pacific offers 2G service on 1900 MHz, 3G UTMS on 850 MHz, and 4G LTE on 700 MHz (band 17). Coverage is on Guam, Saipan, Rota, and Tinian: [http://www.docomopacific.com/mobile/prepaid/extras/coverage-maps Coverage map]. Their prepaid SIM cards are sold in Docomo stores as part of a starter kit for $19.95 which includes $10 credit. Additional top-up vouchers can be bought in increments of $5, $10, and $20, and top-ups can be done by credit card as well.
+DoCoMo Pacific (formerly called Guam Wireless) offers 2G service on 1900 MHz, 3G UTMS on 850 MHz, and 4G LTE on 700 MHz (band 17). Coverage is on Guam, Saipan, Rota, and Tinian: [http://www.docomopacific.com/mobile/prepaid/extras/coverage-maps Coverage map].
+==== '''Availability''' ====
-Default data rate is $0.10 per MB. Plans are offered directed towards short-term visitors and billed by the day (24 hour period):
+Their prepaid SIM cards are sold in DoCoMo stores ([http://www.docomopacific.com/store-locations locations]) as part of a starter kit for $19.95 which includes $10 credit. Additional top-up vouchers can be bought in increments of $5, $10, and $20, and top-ups can be done by credit card as well. To load a prepaid recharge card, type *111*<PIN>#. To check balance, call *112*# to get a SMS.
+==== '''Data rates''' ====
+Default data rate is $0.10 per MB. Plans called "Unli! prepaid plans" are offered for short-term visitors and billed by the day (24-hour period):
 {| class="article-table"
 !
+Time
-!Unlimited local calling, SMS and "unlimited" data
-!"Unlimited" data
+!local calling, texts, data
+!data only
 |-
 |1 day
-|$2.95
+|$ 2.95
-|$1.95
+|$ 1.95
 |-
 |3 days
-|$8.00
+|$ 8.00
-|$5.50
+|$ 5.50
 |-
 |5 days
-|$13.00
+|$ 13.00
-|$9.00
+|$ 9.00
 |}
-This "unlimited" data appears subject to an unclear fair use policy, with throttling to 256 kbps on "excessive use" which seems to be several gigabytes.
+All plans include "unlimited" local calls, texts or data. "Unlimited" data appears subject to an unclear fair use policy, with throttling to 256 kbps on "excessive use" which seems to be several GBs.
+For activation text the word 'UNLI' to 8654. After receiving the welcome message, reply with your service of choice by sending "3" for data-only, or “4” for all. Reply to next message confirming the number of days you want to go UNLI with your service of choice: "1" for one day, "2" for three days or "3" for five days.
-In addition, there is a $1 monthly "E911" fee to be deducted from the balance. Service may be deactivated on reaching $0 balance, so better to keep a dollar or two on the account to prevent this.
+hours prior to expiration of selected service, you will receive a message: "Your subscription to [service] will expire in 12 hours. If you do not wish to auto-renew your subscription at that time, please reply with "NO" now."
-To check balance, call *112*# to get a SMS.
+In addition, there is a $1 monthly "E911" fee to be deducted from the balance. Service is deactivated when reaching $0 balance, so better to keep a dollar or two on the account to prevent this.
-== GTA Teleguam ==
+==== '''More info''' ====
+* APN: internet
+* Website: http://www.docomopacific.com
+== '''GTA Teleguam''' ==
 [https://www.gta.net/wireless/prepaid-plans GTA Teleguam] offers 2G and 3G HSPA+ on 850/900/1900/2100 MHz, and 4G on 1700 MHz (LTE band 4). They cover only the island of Guam and not Saipan or elsewhere; [https://www.gta.net/wireless/outdoor-coverage-map Coverage Map]. These SIM Starter kits provide 3-in-1 (Mini-SIM with removable Micro-SIM and Nano-SIM) and top ups are sold at official GTA stores in populated areas and also on the US Air Force and Naval bases. In almost every town they are sold at most markets and also some other retail stores. Typical cost around $15-20 but come loaded with "5 days free" usage. Sometimes these starter kits can be gotten for discount when loaded immediately.
@@ Line 46: / Line 59: @@
 Top ups can be bought as vouchers of size $5, $10, $20 or $50; or via credit card by *488# choosing 2 on menu.
+== '''IT&E''' ==
+IT&E Wireless is a company, that started in the CNMI as MTC and on Guam as PTI. It runs the undersea cable between these islands and a cellular network on Guam, Saipan, Tinian and Rota.
+Their network is mostly on CDMA-standard which is not compatible to GSM devices, while they have some GSM coverage too. It can't be recommended for 2G/3G GSM, but is an option if you come from the US and want to activate your CDMA device in Guam or have a hybrid CDMA/GSM device. In 2014 they started a 4G/LTE coverage on 700 MHz (band 17) available for both systems.
+==== '''Availability''' ====
+You can get the CDMA activation or the GSM SIM card in one of their stores ([http://www2.ite.net/support/store-locations locations]). The IT&E SIM is $19.95 with a free $10 load. Top-up is made by credit and debit cards.
+==== '''Data rates''' ====
+Their data packages are called "Motion Broadband":
+* 500 MB for 7 days: $ 5
+* 1 GB for 7 days: $ 10
+* 3 GB for 7 days: $ 20
+* 10 GB for 14 days: $ 50
+Activation and management is online through [http://mydata.ite.net mydata.ite.net]  Data will be shut off when depleted or elapsed.
+==== '''More info''' ====
+* APN: internet.ite.net
+* Website: