Smile, you're on GSM

Now you can use your mobile phone while cruising Vanuatu. Telecom Vanuatu has come up with a formula that will let you connect up your own GSM mobile phone during your stay with no hassles and at reasonable cost.

Vanuatu has joined New Caledonia, Australia and New Zealand with pre-paid SIM cards that you can put into your phone for immediate use. Of course, you have to buy another card when you visit each country but if you plan to stay in Vanuatu for a few weeks or a couple of months you will find it is still much cheaper to go with the prepaid card than to use the normal "roaming" feature offered by phone companies in Australia, NZ and the US. (International Roaming does not work yet in Vanuatu anyway).

Your GSM mobile phone will work in Port Vila, Luganville, and Norsup (in Malakula) and new coverage is being set up in other areas.

 

Visitor Pack for your Mobile Phone

 

Telecom Vanuatu Ltd. (TVL) has a user friendly Smile Visitor Welcome Pack. If you already have a GSM mobile phone, you simply buy the Visitor welcome pack, put in the SIM card and start calling immediately. You don't even have to register.

The SIM card costs 1500 Vatu (about US$11) and you pay up front for 6500 Vatu worth of calls - a total of 8000 Vatu (about US$60). The card is good for 2 months which means you have to use it up in that time. You can refill the card at any "refil station" and add VT500, 1000, or more as desired.

Calls to anywhere in Vanuatu are 20 Vatu per 2 minutes (or 20 VT for 4 minutes between 8 PM and 6 AM and on Sunday and public holidays) plus a VT40 connect charge. But unless you have business ashore or want to have a way for your shore party to call you, your main use will probably be calling overseas or having people call you.

Calling Australia, NZ, Fiji or New Caledonia costs VT 133 (about US$1.40) per minute between 6 AM and 8 PM or VT 108 per minute between 8 PM and 6 AM or on Sunday or public holidays. Calls to the rest of the world cost VT 216 per minute peak-time and VT 168 off-peak. This means you'll get almost an hour of off-peak talking overseas for the price of the card.

It does not cost you anything when people call you. You can set your home phone to redirect calls to your temporary Vanuatu phone number or simply email your family with your new number so they can keep in touch.

If you plan to stay in Vanuatu for more than two months or if you are coming back to Vanuatu next year, you should get the Smile Refil Welcome Pack. This costs VT 5000 but only VT 1000 of this is prepaid calls. If you recharge the card a couple of times the card will be good for a year.

In Port Vila, the easiest place to get your card or refill is at Yachting World's Internet Cafe, a few steps from the dinghy wharf. In Luganville or Norsup, you can get your card or refill at the local telecom office.

If you don't have a GSM phone yet, Vanuatu is a good place to buy one as they are the same price as in Australia and cheaper than in New Zealand.

In Australia you will surely want to have your GSM phone hooked up to your notebook so you can send and receive emails. So you should consider getting a data capable phone that has the capability of linking up with your notebook. Data services are not available yet in Vanuatu or New Caledonia but hopefully will be in the near future.

Telecom Vanuatu Ltd. has a good selection of mobile phones. Telecom Vanuatu Ltd. is located 3 minutes walk north of the Vanuatu Cruising Yacht Club on Lini Highway (the main street of Port Vila).

To visit the TVL general web site click here.

Call TVL at 678 22005
Fax TVL at 678 22122

 

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