Cellphones: Calling-Using-Buying-Importing-Activating-Renting

You can unlock the phone you use or an old spare phone, if you call your service provider and tell them your going to be traveling internationally, and want the phone unlocked. I did it with T-mobile, and they emailed me the instructions.

Once your phone is unlocked you can buy a chip very cheap, think less then 5 dollars. Then you'll have a local phone number. Then you can buy a card and put credit on the phone.

I don't know all the plans, but the one I used for about 3 years now, is Claro, (many people don't like Claro. I've had no problems with it.) If you put a 50 peso card on it, you get 40 peso bonus, which give you more then 90 minutes talk time, cell phone to cell phone or landline. I think it almost the same price country wide. It might be 10 centavos more. You also get free 50 text massages, that I think are good for 30 days, and free incoming calls, except if they call pay phone or locotorio. That's true with all the cell phones in Argentina.

Many people like Movistar or Personal. I don't know there prices since I have not used them.

Also check what phones work in BA on this site, to make sure the phone you pick will work in BA.

Those prices are certainly much better than what your current provider will probably charge you by the minute for any international roaming calls. However, as an example, I used to get prepaid cards to call Argentina from the US which cost me a.17 (USD) per minute. I can call Argentina from a US phone number via Skype and it costs me about the same.79 seems rather excessive. Not sure about local rates.

I'd take Tessan's advice and get your phone unlocked (many take about a minute to do once you know the steps and the code) and just buy a chip down here. Movistar (my favorite) Claro (used to have it and had minor problems) and Personal (probably best not to use) locations are all over the place here. Buy a chip, buy a card to charge it with and you're set.

It would be as easy to take Joe's advice next if for some reason you couldn't get your phone unlocked. Just buy a cheap POS and use that here. It's what I did when I first came.

I don't remember what the actual rates are, but I'm betting they're way, way cheaper than what you quoted. And the prices don't seem to include the per-call fee that is charged (at least by my carrier and Personal) just to initiate a call. Plus, like Jackson says, they are charging you for any incoming calls too (at.29/ minute! If you use the phone to communicate with chicas, they will be calling you too.

[QUOTE=Va Steve]Apologize for not posting the rates; just laziness! First week's rental is free; additional weeks are US$ 7; insurance is US$ 5.

These are the quoted rates in US dollars:

Local $ 0.29

National $ 0.58

Argentina - Mercosur $ 0.89

Argentina - U. S. $ 0.79 - Special Promotion.

Argentina - Europe $ 1.28

Incoming minute $ 0.29[/QUOTE]

If you don't want that your name can be traced back through your number you can tell the guy you didnt bring your pasport and invent a name and a pasport number.

I have had succes with Donald Duck

I used personal "pay as you go" last year for 3 months and it was pretty bad / very very expensive.

I used to upload it very often (say 20 pesos) and it used to finish off v quickly in matter of minutes (5~8 minutes) of talk time.

Then I started loading it with 100 pesos, it was slightly better as you get 20 pesos bonus on it.

Personal is NOT recommended in my opinion.

Maybe Movistar or Claro would be better.

Locals told me, Movistar is the BEST.

Ideally anywhere in the world, its always best / cheaper to have a post paid connection.

[QUOTE=Captain]I used personal "pay as you go" last year for 3 months and it was pretty bad / very very expensive.

I used to upload it very often (say 20 pesos) and it used to finish off v quickly in matter of minutes (5~8 minutes) of talk time.

Then I started loading it with 100 pesos, it was slightly better as you get 20 pesos bonus on it.

Personal is NOT recommended in my opinion.

Maybe Movistar or Claro would be better.

Locals told me, Movistar is the BEST.

Ideally anywhere in the world, its always best / cheaper to have a post paid connection.[/QUOTE]I think it's only cheap to call if you have a (2 year) contract but as far as I know it's not possible for non residents to sign the contract.

I use personal and have used movistar, I didnt note a lot of difference. I useally upload 60 to 80 peso a month but I mainly use my cell to sms. If I have to call I normally use a locutorio or call from home

The best carriers in Buenos Aires Capital are Personal and MoviStar, period. No questions asked. Claro has always been known for poor reception in the Capital, but it does have the greatest range of coverage in Argentina as a whole. So if you plan on traveling only with in Capital Federal, I would suggest Personal and Movistar, pricing is pretty much the same.

If you plan on traveling throughout Argentina, I would suggest you try Claro. But as a whole, if pricing is an issue, STAY OFF THE CELL PHONE. This is a Latin American country and as such rates aren't very low.

Pretty much every apartment that you rent should have a restricted land line that you can use for making calls to other landlines. You should only really need the cell phone to call other cell phones. My cell phone conversations usually last on the whole about 5 minutes. So it isn't much of an issue for me.

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VA Steve, If you are renting an apartment, I would suggest you ask your rental agent to throw in a free cell phone rental and you buy your own minutes. Done deal.

I usually get many requests from people wanting to rent cell phones from my company. I usually give them the cell phone for free if I have some on hand. If I don't have any on hand, I try really hard to talk them out of renting phones only because it isn't really necessary. Just bring an unlocked cell phone from the states that will cost you $ 40 bucks, buy a SIM card for $ 20 pesos and top up your own minutes. Don't buy cell phones in Argentina, like most electronics, they are terribly over priced.

If you are a frequent visitor, I would suggest you try to get a cell phone with a contract, and use it while you are in town.

Regards,

BM.

BTW, If you do end up renting a cell phone I wouldn't advise that you falsify any information on the rental agreement, not only is it illegal, but there are liability issues as well. Dun be a weasel.

[QUOTE=BadMan]BTW, If you do end up renting a cell phone I wouldn't advise that you falsify any information on the rental agreement, not only is it illegal, but there are liability issues as well. Dun be a weasel.[/QUOTE]This might be different for a 2 year contract but really nobody cares about the pre-paid contracts. If you don't provide a adress they just fill out theirs and if they were serious about it they would demand a pasport.

If you are scared of the legal consequences you can just fill it out with unreadable writing

No need to reply. I stated my opinion.

You stated yours. They both remain unchanged.

Regards,

BM[QUOTE=Joe Hernandez][/QUOTE]

I bring my Nextel with me. Walkie talkie works perfect back to the USA. No extra charges with my plan for international walkie talkie.

Anyone tried Google Voice to Argentina, or while in Argentina?

Rates are supposedly $.03/ Minute to Land Lines, and $.16 per minute to cell phones. [url]http://www.google.com/support/voice/bin/answer.py?answer=141925[/url]

I don't know how this compares to "normal" mobile phone calling plans. Certainly it can't beat Skype-to-Skype calls. Also, I don't know if it works while in Argentina. I was in Brazil last week and could not set up Google Voice while there. I had to wait until I came back to the States to do so.

If anyone has tried this, please report back on how it works -- and if it works while in Argentina. If not, I'll post my conclusions later in August. It might be an alternative to local chips, if it works.

I'm ready to change from a regular cell phone to a smart phone. Anyone with advice on the "latest-greatest" phone out there? One that might assist me in communicating within Argentina and back to the US. And, what is the most cost effective way to utilize the smart phone in Argentina?

Thanks Guys,

Latuna

As one who used to have to go downtown to make n international call back in the old days (zzzzzzz) the alternatives today are incredible.

Today I use.

1. When I have to reach from wherever to wherever easily.

[url]www.comfi.com[/url] I pay online with creditcard in 5, 10 dollar amounts and using any browser anywhere I connect two phones (cell or land or mixed )anywhere together paying very cheap rates. Plus I always have my address book whereever I am and if I am at friends house I can sit and call anywhere and my friend pays nothing and I have two phones anywhere connected.

2. Anyone who I call repeatedly I have skype and a 3 meg fibertel line and the voice only quality is absolutely outstanding and free (I already have to have and pay for the line as an IT consultant who works remotely)

3. I always prefer and try to use land line to communicate overseas if possible as the quality of sound and voice to both sides is much better but if i have to use cell i still run it through the comfi system if i can...(In the states it works with sms also)

Kevins, you da man. I would have never known this info. What a great solution. My cell phone calls there last year were $4.99 a minute!

Thanks Man

Kevins,

I used calling card that I brought on Comfi, the last few years to call the US. I was in BA Jan. to April, and the local access number did not work, both the local BA as well as the 0800 number did not work. It had worked the previous few years, but did not work this last trip. I had to use skype on my laptop.

Are the number working now? I was thinking of trying Magic Jack for my next trip.

For whatever it is worth:

Have an unlocked Iphone 2g with the Sype App. It has worked out quite well. Unlimited calls for Argentine land lines: 5.95 a month. Wifi is quite prevalent in BA and easy to access. I even used Skype on a locked Iphone to make local calls in BA. It is a work around. [url]http://www.skype.com/allfeatures/subscriptions/?region=uscanada&country=AR[/url]