MOBILE NETWORK PROVIDER

Be careful about the wireless carrier you choose if you want to stay in touch with your family when fishing in the Bering Sea. Wireless carrier lied to me about having coverage in Aleutian Islands. Cost me $150. Find out more at beringseaversus.me. #Seattle #SpaceNeedle #architecture #city #town #tower #satellite

You can chose from Verizon, T-Mobile, or AT&T among others. When I was in Seattle for the first time I bought a pre-pay T-Mobile sim. I was told in the store that their signal extends to Dutch Harbor. This was not the case. I ended up wasting $150 to T-Mobile as I was at sea and could not call them. AT&T was the only operator that provided signal in Dutch Harbor (99692), but I had to sign a contract with them or buy a prepaid package without contract (98121), as their pay-as-you-go GoPhone sim did not work in Dutch Harbour either. The issue with prepaid sim cards is that you pay for receiving phone calls too, so if you run out of credit nobody can reach you (uncommon in Europe). This nearly cost me an opportunity, but luckily they were persistent enough to contact me through email also.

Dutch Harbour has a local operator called Alaska Wireless which is also an option, but only works in Alaska.

Ways of keeping in touch with your family when fishing

#dark and #beautiful #DutchHarbor. #Alaska #BeringSea #fishing #sea #clouds #north #northern #nature #sealife

The only operators that provided signal in Dutch Harbor were Alaska Wireless and AT&T, but the latter came with an exception. You won’t get signal in Dutch Harbor with the prepaid card. With Alaska Wireless you can top up credit through the phone using your debit card. It is quite expensive, but if you work hard you will make good money, so you won’t mind. I would prefer Alaska Wireless over AT&T but if you plan on staying for more than six months, the contract with AT&T will come out more favourable. I had an opportunity to make a call from an AT&T phone my fellow fisherman lent me, and I have to say the signal was very low quality, but it was good enough for messaging. Alaska Wireless SIM card can be bought in Dutch Harbor.

No operator provides signal at sea. We did however have a satellite telephone on our ship, which was accessible with a prepaid card purchased on board. I paid $25 for half an hour. There are phone booths in Dutch Harbor from which you can call all around the world at a reasonable price. Phone cards for these can be purchased there in Dutch Harbor. Another possibility of contact with loved ones/family was through our one on board computer that was shared by the whole crew. There was no Wi-Fi when I worked there, but times change. Again, I cannot guarantee that it is the same everywhere.