Getting a mobile phone for Coachella

[Snosurf]

Hi people,
I have a quick question - I am coming to Coachella from overseas but I DEFINITELY want to have a 'cell phone' (we call it a 'mobile phone' here) for the festival.

I'm not sure exactly what to expect, but I know that in Australia at the Big Day Out festivals you are basically screwed if you are with group of friends and you don't have a phone. You spend half the time wandering around searching and end up missing out on some good songs that you'd like to hear.
So...what are my options for getting a phone? Can I bring my Australian phone over and obtain a new sim card for it? What kind of network do you guys operate on?

Here you can get a pre-paid option sim card where you have say $50 credit on the card and you just put it in a phone and you're sorted.. that would be cool if you could do that in the states?

Also, at the Southbound festival (in a small country town of West Australia), there was cell phone service issues, and it was impossible to make calls the whole time! (lukily you could send sms, after a few attempts). Has this ever happened at coachella or could it possibly happen?

thanks in advance.

[dalethethug]

From what i hear a designated meeting place is key.

Or, the FAQ says they allow walkie talkies. That's probably your best solution

[JustSteve]

fyi-cell phones tend to not work too well at coachella anyways.