Cell phone service in Panama is readily available and of a good quality. All service in Panama is through a digital network. There are two cell phone service providers in Panama, MOVISTAR and Mas Movil. In addition, short and long term cell phone rental services are available from several Panama business service companies throughout the country. Many travelers to Panama are opting to take advantage of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network by using their existing GSM enabled phone in Panama.

Both Movistar and Mas Movil offer similar contract options for cell phone service in Panama. The two primary options are a purchasing a prepaid card which enables the customer to add minutes to their phone in sums of $5, $10, $20, etc. The other cell phone option available in Panama is the monthly contract service, whereby, cell phone customers pay for services on a monthly basis. Both companies offer similar coverage range, which means one can count on reliable connection and cell phone service throughout most of Panama. However, it is recommended that if you will be traveling far outside the limits of Panama City or to a more rural location in the country that you check with Movistar or Mas Movil to verify which company offers the stronger Panama business service for your particular destination. And, as with most cell phone service, no matter where you are in the world, you can expect the occasional dropped call, misdial, and overloaded network jam. One nice advantage of Movistar is that they offer discounted service to other customers in the Movistar network.

The prepaid contract option is a popular choice for many. Prepaid phones offer a nice benefit of allowing unlimited and FREE incoming calls for 30 days even after the purchased minutes have either expired or been used. A recent survey of Movistar prepaid options included $2, $5, $10, $20, and $40 cards. Mas Movil offered similarly priced prepaid cards and service.

For those who wish to elect a monthly contract service plans both Movistar and Mas Movil offer competitive rates. At the writing of this article, Movistar was in the process of updating their monthly plan rates. Mas Movil was offering monthly contract plans ranging from less than $10 to over $150 depending on the amount of minutes and rates for each call.

Many visitors are taking advantage of the Panama cell phone service on the GSM network. GSM phones are available for purchase from a variety of web and store based vendors. Unlike Movistar or Mas Movil phone service, GSM phones, with the region specific sim card, provide cell phone coverage throughout most of the world including Europe, Africa, Australia, and Asia. These phones run on GSM frequency 900 and 1800. Recent Panama business service advancements have led to the development of a GSM 1900 frequency which is bringing the GSM international cell phone service to users in the America's. Companies like MobalRental www.mobalrental.com and Telestial www.telestial.com provide GSM service for those in Panama.