National Anthem
Basics[]
Saint Lucia is a sovereign island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea and part of the Lesser Antilles. It's located north/northeast of St. Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 617 km2 and reported a population of around 168,000.
Like on many small Caribbean islands there are these two usual providers:
- Digicel St. Lucia
- Flow (by Cable & Wireless)
Flow is the incumbent provider and Digicel came to the Caribbean 2001-6 to end this monopoly.
2G is on 900 MHz and Flow uses 850 MHz for 3G while Digicel 1900 MHz. In 2017 Flow and 2018 Digicel have begun 4G/LTE on 700 MHz (US band 13). Coverage is generally good on the island.
Prices are given in East Caribbean dollar (EC$) that is fixed to the US$: US$1 = EC$2.70. Taxes are included.
Digicel St. Lucia[]
Digicel started in 2003 to challenge the monopoly of Lime that is called now Flow. Their network is on par with Flow at 96% of the population: coverage map.
Digicel launched its 4G/LTE network in 2018 after it had called its 3G already "4G". The rollout is now complete and 4G services are now available islandwide with 58 base stations up and running across the island operating in the 700 MHz band (B17). They have about 2/3 of the market share on the island.
Availability[]
SIM card is around EC$ 25 in their stores (locator) with some credit preloaded. Be prepared to show a passport for purchase.
Top-ups can be made online by credit card without surcharges or by vouchers sold all over the island. Digitel offers CreditU where you can top-up one number by another: dial *128*<receiving mobile no.>*<top-up amount>#. Wait for confirmation and then dial *128*1# to confirm. EC$ 0.50 is charged for this service.
Dial *120# to check your account balance.
Data feature packages[]
Default rate is EC$ 0.40 per MB. They offer these these "Freedom" Plans:
| Data | on-net Calls | Time | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | 50 mins | 1 day | EC$ 5.99 |
| 1 GB | 250 mins | 3 days | EC$ 12.99 |
| 1.5 GB | 300 mins | 5 days | EC$ 19.95 |
| 3 GB | 350 mins | 7 days | EC$ 26.50 |
| 10 GB | 1000 mins | 30 days | EC$ 95 |
To activate a data plan dial *140# .To check your data balance on a data plan, dial *140# and select "my balance". All plans include unlimited WhatsApp messaging. Any unused data and minutes from plans do not expire once you keep a plan active. All plans will auto-renew.
International roaming[]
Digicel sells their Roam Like You're Home plan at EC$ 18 valid for 7 days. This service allows Digicel customers travelling to the USA, Canada and all other Digicel Caribbean territories to call, text and use data at domestic St. Lucia rates of EC$ 0.20 per MB. You will need to connect to AT&T or T-Mobile in the US, Rogers in Canada or Caribbean Digicel networks. To activate Roam like you are Home dial *153# and send.
Note that data bundles don't apply while on the Roam Like You're Home plan. You will be charged the rate of EC$ 0.20 per MB while roaming.
More info[]
- APN: web.digiceloecs.com
Flow[]
Flow, up to 2015 called Lime and rebranded, is the incumbent provider in St. Lucia. It's operated by Cable & Wireless that has been sold to Liberty Global. They have retained 1/3 of the market share in St. Lucia.
In 2017 Flow launched St. Lucia's first 4G/LTE network. It has inital coverage in the capital city, Castries, Hewanorra Airport and Soufrière, see coverage map . The 4G network is on LTE Band 13 (700 MHz) with a maximum download speed of 69 Mbps and a maximum upload speed of 25 Mbps. Flow has since expanded their LTE network in St. Lucia to offering LTE Advanced with maximum speeds of up to 200 Mbit/s.
Availability[]
Their SIM card is sold in their stores (locator) and some other places for free with no credit on. Be prepared to show your passport at the point of purchase.
Top-ups between EC$ 5 and EC$ 200 can be made online or in top-up kiosks, supermarkets and gas stations all over the island. Any top-up stays valid for 90 days irrespective of the amount.
Check your balance by *120#.
Data feature packages[]
Default rate outside packages is a high EC$ 1 per MB. These data packs are offered:
| Data | Voice | SMS | Time | Price | Activation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | 25 mins | 25 | 1 day | EC$ 5.50 | *244*0# |
| 1 GB | 200 mins | 200 | 3 days | EC$ 12 | *244*1# |
| 3 GB | 350 mins | 350 | 7 days | EC$ 25 | *244*2# |
| 10 GB | 1000 mins | 1000 | 30 days | EC$ 95 | *244*3# |
All packages come with unlimited social apps: Snapchat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter are zero-rated..
More info[]
- APN: ppinternet
- Website: http://discoverflow.co/saint-lucia/