Communicating from Anguilla to the World- Anguilla News


Communicating from Anguilla to the World
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Telecommunications in Anguilla is provided by Cable and Wireless. It is reliable, but expensive. The phone system is modern and we have calling waiting, call forwarding, voice mail, Caller Id, and Internet. But the phone switch is one generation behind the USA, which is why you hear a click when a call connects to Anguilla.

And the Anguilla Telephone Directory is on-line at www.cwdirectory.com

New Exchange for Cellphones.
In Anguilla you should now dial 235-xxxx for a cellular phone instead of 497-xxxx.
P.S. You can bring your cellphone with you and use it in Anguilla! We now have towers in three places on the island.

Internet Connections

For many people, the Internet is now essential for picking up email while travelling. If you are staying for a long visit, you can open an Internet account at Cable and Wireless. Their service is called Anguillanet.com and provides both Dial-up and DSL Links up to 2Mbits locally. As of January 2000, Anguilla connects to Antigua, where we combine with other Caribbean islands traffic on several lines to Sprint in the USA and Teleglobe Canada.

Public Internet Access. Cable and Wireless has an Internet booth in their sales area where you can surf the net for a fee. The Anguilla National Library also offers public internet access on a computer in the main library lobby. If you have HotMail or another of the browser-based email accounts, it is easy to do your email from the library. There is a modest charge. The library is located in The Valley, across the street from the high school.

The fee to open an account at Cable and Wireless is US$10. The low-usage account is US$15/month plus US$4.78 per hour over five and the high-usage account is US$40/month plus US$2.78 per hour over 40. (Actually it is more complex than that, but those are the basics.) An account includes an email address such as [email protected] to which you can forward your previous mail. Once you have an account, the local access number is 292-4638.(AXA-INET)

Or, you can dial a special "Hot Inet" number, 1-900-468-4638, which connects you directly to the Internet, without an account, and bills the phone you are calling from US$0.25 per minute (actually, 1 EC$ per minute). More information about Hot Inet, including how to connect to Compuserve and MSN from Anguilla, is available at Steve Donahue's Tainos.ai web page for his rental villa.

Here are the critical configuration values for Cable & Wireless:

Local domain name is anguillanet.com
Gateway IP address is 206.48.59.1
DNS server is 206.48.59.10 (domain name server)
POP and SMTP server is mail.anguillanet.com

Anguilla Phone Numbers

Anguilla's phone system is technically integrated with the US system and has its own area code, 264. This new area code replaced the general Caribbean area code of 809 this year. The Cable and Wireless office is located in The Valley near the Post Office. If you are calling from the USA or Canada, their phone number is 1-264-497-3100. If you are calling locally, the number is 497-3100.

All local numbers currently start with 497 or 498 plus four digits, although we also now have 976 for charge-by-the-minute numbers. Until recently you only had to dial the last four digits locally, but now all seven are required.

The emergency number in Anguilla is 911.

A local call costs US$0.06 (EC$0.15), regardless of length. There are phone booths in each village, some of which take change (EC$0.25 per call) and some of which take "Phonecards". You can buy Phonecards in denominations of EC$10, $20 and $40 and they are useful for local or long distance calls.

Long distance calls are billed by the minute. The rate per minute to the USA is US$1.20 (EC$3.25), more to Europe, less to Caribbean islands. Rates were reduced to this level in 1999 (Click Here for story).

Toll-free 800 Numbers. US and Canadian 800 numbers don't work in Anguilla. However, you can dial them if you are willing to pay the standard Cable & Wireless rate, US$2/minute. just dial 1-880 instead of 1-800 and 1-881 instead of 1-888. American Airlines does have a toll free number to Puerto Rico - 497-3131. You can use it to confirm flights, make reservations, change flights, etc., but it no longer connects to the Frequent Flyer desk.

AT&T Direct in Anguilla. AT&T offers a service called AT&T Direct in many countries. This allows you to connect to an AT&T operator in the USA. You pay an initial surcharge for the operator-assistance, but if then you pay regular USA rates. This could be a big savings from Anguilla. The number, 1-800-872-2881 works from Anguilla, but only the pay phones at the points of entry (the airport and blowing point ferry terminal), and from hotels that have requested the service.

Other Calling cards are virtually useless. You can also make a long distance call and charge it to your VISA credit card - contact the Cable & Wireless operator for details. It is rumoured that there is also a Canada-direct service like the AT&T direct, but we don't have the details.

What About Phone Call Surcharges?

In the past, hotels with a PBX could add 20% to each call, but this was not enough to cover the cost of the PBX. Now they have more flexibility. Some have raised the surcharge, while others have kept it the same. Check with your hotel when you check in.

What About My Cellular Phone?

Cellular phones will work in Anguilla. In the past, cellular coverage was limited outside The Valley, but there is now a cellular tower in the West End and a new one is going into the East End as well. You can always get a connection to the St. Martin cellular system because their transmitter is on a mountain. They will sign you up if you give them a credit card number, but the rates are even more expensive than in Anguilla.

Villa Phones

You may find your room with a "villa phone". This is a special phone service used by villas or small resorts that cannot afford a PBX. It allows you to make local calls and international calls using credit cards and ATT calling cards. I don't believe you can use Hot-Inet, but you can probably open an Internet account and access the Net that way.

How About A Wakeup Call?

To have Cable and Wireless wake you up in the morning, dial *55* then the 24-hour time of the wakeup, then #. For example, *55*0600# to wake up at 6AM. If you here a double beep, you will get a wake up call. Of course this does not work through hotel switchboards - ask the hotel to call you!

How to Access AOL From Anguilla

We received the following tips on getting through to AOL in Anguilla from Gilbert Fleming, who says he does it all the time. Here is an excerpt from the AOL manual that he sent:

America Online's software lets you use TCP/IP (if it is available on your computer) instead of your modem to connect to America Online at no extra charge. Connecting to America Online with TCP/IP is often faster than the usual modem-based connection process, and it will not interfere with your use of other TCP/IP software like Netscape.
System Requirements:
In order to connect to AOL through TCP/IP or a SLIP or PPP account, you will need the following:

America Online for Windows version 1.5 or higher.
WINSOCK.DLL version 1.1 (this comes with AOL version 3.0).
A direct Internet connection via TCP/IP, or,
A SLIP or PPP connection (if you are using a SLIP or PPP, you will need a program such as Trumpet Winsock, which you can download from our file libraries. Use the Keyword: Filesearch, click on Shareware, then type in trumpet winsock as your search word.

How To Connect with TCP/IP:

Establish your SLIP or PPP connection, if necessary by connecting to your ISP or other Internet provider.
On the Sign On screen, click on the Setup button.
Click the Create Location button.
Select TCP/IP from the Network drop-down box.
Click Save.
Click OK to return to the Sign On screen.
Click Sign On and you will connect to America Online over the TCP/IP connection.

Call Blocking is a service that blocks out long distance calls and other toll charges on a phone line, including access to Hot-Inet. This is common in villas and on many phones, since it is easy to run up a huge phone bill and forget to pay it. Discuss this with your host/landlord to ensure you can access Hot-Inet. Regular Internet access with an account is not blocked, since it uses a regular phone number now.

Revised: 2000/1/20

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