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 many UK mobiles work on Eleuthera because most UK networks (except O² and Vodafone) 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 keep the SIM card and number for future visits to the Bahamas), you then add credit with Cybercell® airtime scratch cards in units of $10 or $20 (available from BTC offices, grocery stores and gas stations).

NB. If your phone is "locked" to your UK 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) have been using this system since 2007 because it is much cheaper than renting a phone locally (which is what we used to do) and only a few cents to call another BTC 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 nuisance calls because the only people who may call you are the ones you gave 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.