BTC (The Bahamas Telecommunications Company) uses the North American standard of 1900Mhz for its GSM network. Therefore most USA cell phones ("mobiles") operating on GSM networks should now work OK in the Bahamas wherever there is GSM coverage (see map) providing you have enabled "roaming" with your US provider. If roaming is not available to you, then you can fit a BTC SIM card to your cell phone (see below).

Unfortunately, not all UK mobiles work on Eleuthera because some UK networks still do not offer roaming in the Bahamas. However, most un-locked tri-band (or quad-band) phones can be used on the BTC network by switching to a BTC SIM card...

BTC SIM cards are available locally from BTC offices and certain shops for a one-time payment of around $20 and provide you with a unique Bahamas phone number, you then add credit with Cybercell® Airtime scratch cards in units of $10, $20 or $50, available from BTC offices, grocery stores and gas stations.

NB. If your phone is "locked" to your provider's network it will not work with a BTC SIM, so you must get it un-locked before leaving home.

We (and several of our friends and clients who are regular visitors to the Bahamas have been using BTC SIM cards in our mobile phones since 2007 because it is much cheaper than renting a mobile phone locally (which is what we used to do) and only a few cents to call another Bahamas mobile or land-line, and certainly much more useful and reliable than walkie-talkie radios.

The first time you get stuck down a dirt road with a dead car battery or a flat tyre, you will be glad you can phone for help!

Another benefit is that you will not get any expensive nuisance calls from your home country because the only people who may call you are the ones you give your Bahamas number to!

The only down-side is that it is relatively expensive to make (or receive) international calls (a quick call to or from the UK will typically cost $2 or $3).

When you leave the Bahamas, you simply switch back to your usual SIM card, and keep your BTC card for another visit*

If you don't like the idea of messing about changing SIM cards you could do the same as us and fit the SIM card to any old unlocked tri-band phone and keep it as your permanent "Bahamas phone"*

*Although you will keep the SIM card and number, please be aware that it will "die" if there is no activity on your account for a period of 3 months. It is therefore necessary to use the SIM to make a call (or receive an international call) at least once before the end of every 3 month period to keep it active for future visits to the Bahamas.