Panama Phone Service - Undoubtedly when you arrive in Panama, you will need to communicate. But, like most us, we don't necessarily understand the phone system at first.

Here are a few tidbits of information on how to utilize the telephone network system in Panama for land line calls.

Usually if we travel to another country while on business we will tell our spouses how to reach us in the country. The area code (or country code) for Panama is 507. So if you are telling someone to call you in Panama from the United States, you would tell them to dial 011 + 507 + a seven-digit phone number. For land line calls, there are discounted rates between 10 P.M. And 7 A. M each day. Of course if you use an operator to assist you in making a call, the fees will probably double.

All internal calls in Panama (the entire country) are considered to be local calls. This means there is no special area code to dial for in-country calls. But keep in mind that the very first digit in the seven-digit number indicates the city or region within Panama. The following table shows what the first number in a seven-digit phone number means:

2 Panama City
4 Colon
7 Chiriqui and Bocas del Toro
9 Cocle, Herrera, Los Santos, and Veraguas

Of course the big question most folks will have is if their cell phone will work in Panama. Some companies do have roaming agreements with Panamanian providers and their cell phones will work just as if they never left home. Call your cellular service provider before you leave to be sure.

Something else that is rather popular these days with the Panama phone service, same as when traveling to another country, is the purchase of pre-paid SIM cards. However they need to fit into your existing cellular phone but provide cellular service just as if you were a resident of Panama. Beware that not all cellular phones can handle these SIM cards. Some cellular phones do not handle the bandwidth required to use the SIM card.

The wise thing to do is to purchase a cell phone which will handle the SIM cards prior to your trip and bring it with you. As to obtain a cell phone here, as with a number of Central American countries, you may find you need to be a resident.