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

[Mpexy]

I'll be the lab rat then. Arriving next Saturday and I'll try recharging my phone at the airport pharmacity. Will have been right on 17 months since last use. If it works, great. If not the tip about Personal booth at the airport really nice. I'll buy new sim card there.

I always waited till getting into the city and take another cab ride to one of the downtown stores to get new sim card. Pretty handy just getting it at the airport.

DR. Will pm you when I arrive. Be nice to catch up. Been splitting my time between Europe and USA and finally now coming back to bs. As.

[Toymann]

I don't know how long a sim without credit is guaranteed to survive but only once in four years have I been able to use my sim card purchased a year earlier. (My stays are more or less 2 months. And I've been using Personal.)

Bob

Just checked my travel schedule the last 8 years. I got my sim card 5 years ago this past April. I travel to Argentina every March / April and September / October plus 4 other trips in this time period outside of these usual trips. Years ago I used to have Jackson keep my cell phone (and make a call or two per month) , as I believed it had to stay active during my time outside of Argentina to keep the number alive. Three years ago I asked my buddy in corrienties, who owns a kiosko, about what was nessessary to keep the sim alive. He called Moviestar and was told 22 months without use was the kill date per some argentine cell law. At that time I stopped having Jackson keep the phone. It lives to this day. Thats the facts Jack, as I know them. Monger On. Toymann.

Ps. If you leave Argentina without using all the minutes they disappear after 1 month without activity BUT the number lives. My buddy also related this info to me after his conversation with moviestar

[AllIWantIsLove]

Thanks Toymann. Less than 17 months so hopefully just buy a recharge card from random kiosco and good to go.

Next interesting to-do will be discovering the joys of exchanging dollars at blue rates

I don't know how long a sim without credit is guaranteed to survive but only once in four years have I been able to use my sim card purchased a year earlier. (My stays are more or less 2 months. And I've been using Personal.)

Bob

[Wild Walleye]

Yes and no Walleye, I mean it makes sense what you say but that would be true if for example you started seeing repetitions of the three digit area code which never happened. Using for example Madelein's area code number 806. Adding prefix four made it 4806 and if then you start running out of numbers you add, say. 3 so you get somewhere in the city 3806 which doesn't happen. Out of the 999 possible area codes thee are still hundreds unused. When the Argie phone company was bought by the Spanish Telecom I had their middle management staying at a hotel I managed and they explained it to me once but that was in the early 90's and I can't remember what they said. I do remember it was something about fibre optics they were installing to replace the old wires hanging from posts all over the town.

Telephone companies are like giant ships, to turn them, you must plan well in advance. If they have 8 million possible numbers to hand out, they can't issue 8 million and then add an extra digit to accommodate the next customer. They have to prepare to make such moves well in advance of reaching full capacity. In Argentina, many of those moves were somewhat half-assed. The legacy landline infrastructure was not good and the legacy of industry practices was even worse.

The legacy technology issues include what the network infrastructure devices can handle (keep in mind that the landline systems were deployed long before digital referred to anything other than relative to a finger) and the numbers were relative to geography. If you gave a San Telmo number a Recoleta prefix, the system would have had difficulty accommodating that (back when many of these number changes were taking place). Even if the tech could handle all of the combinations, with the 3+4 configuration, they are tapped out at about 8 million. The fiber optic upgrades (to the core network) increase capacity of the network but wouldn't change the quantity of available numbers. However, the fiber upgrade would bring with it much more capable and flexible technology that could utilize more of the potential numbers and, of course, going mobile eliminates many of the geographic routing constraints.

Assuming that we don't use "000" there 999 possible three digit combinations. Similarly, there are 9, 999 possible combinations with four digits (again, excluding "0000"). In theory, you could use each four digit combination 999 times (once with each prefix) for 9, 989, 001 possible combinations. However, phone companies use particular methodologies for prefixes and numbers. Phone companies (for the most part) do not like to start numbers or prefixes with 0's (rules out about 1 million combos) , nor do they generally use prefixes like '911' '611' '411' and the like (minus another million-ish combinations) , in order to avoid confusion. The various government bodies (federal, provincial, municipal, etc) may have claim over a significant cache of numbers, too. They have to deal with the historical allocation of numbers, which can further reduce the number of possible combinations that they can issue for phone numbers. By adding the 8th digit, you could theoretically pick up another 70-80 million combinations. However, you would likely only realize a fraction of that, given the need to avoid the existing pool of numbers and whether everyone goes to 8 digits or if you have some with 6 some with 7 and some with 8. There are at least 68 million phones (mobile and landline) in Argentina, so without a few more tricks up their sleeves, they are going to have trouble. I believe that this is where the 11 and 15 stuff comes in, although I must admit that they confuse me with that, too.

[Toymann]

Can you buy a sim at that Pharmacity? I have an unlocked phone but no Argentine sim.

If memory serves me correctly very close to the PharmaCity at EZE is a Personel Booth. I am sure that you can get a sim card there. I am about 80% sure about this. Maybe someone else can chime in and confirm. I have moviestar so I always go to the pharmacy to charge my argentine cell. If for some reason your flight arrives at the other terminal (without the PharmaCity) , if you take a right after you leave security there is a kiosko about 30 meters down the hallway that also sells MovieStar and Personel minutes. Hope this helps. Toymann.

Ps. The days of cards with scatch patchs seem to be mostly gone. You just give the vendor your cell number and they charge the minutes over an internet connection. You get a confirmation text message almost immediately confirming your purchase.

[Jim Mac]

The Pharmacity at the airport, just outside of security on the left just before you exit the terminal can charge your phone (moviestar or personel). Really easy access if ya ask me. You just give them your number, no cards required. If you arrive on a Monday you get double minutes.

I do this everytime and start texting the chicas on my taxi ride into town. Enjoy Dude. Toymann

Can you buy a sim at that Pharmacity? I have an unlocked phone but no Argentine sim.

[Daddy Rulz]

I don't know when this started because I was gone for 4 years so you may be aware but minutes got old after 30 days now. When I got my new phone I did what I always used to do put 200 pesos on it because it's one less thing to worry about and 30 days later lost about 150 pesos worth of time.

Also gato hunter had a great idea. When you get a chicas number ask her which company she uses. That way when you get the "no tengo credito" email or FB message you can go to a kiosko and put 20 on her phone.

The Pharmacity at the airport, just outside of security on the left just before you exit the terminal can charge your phone (moviestar or personel). Really easy access if ya ask me. You just give them your number, no cards required. If you arrive on a Monday you get double minutes.

I do this everytime and start texting the chicas on my taxi ride into town. Enjoy Dude. Toymann

[Toymann]

Thanks Toymann. Less than 17 months so hopefully just buy a recharge card from random kiosco and good to go.

Next interesting to-do will be discovering the joys of exchanging dollars at blue rates

The Pharmacity at the airport, just outside of security on the left just before you exit the terminal can charge your phone (moviestar or personel). Really easy access if ya ask me. You just give them your number, no cards required. If you arrive on a Monday you get double minutes.

I do this everytime and start texting the chicas on my taxi ride into town. Enjoy Dude. Toymann

[Daddy Rulz]

Don't know about the phone but for mangos once whatever dollars you brought with you run out shoot me a PM and I'll help you hook up with Xoom if you're unfamiliar. Lets get together for a coffee, I would enjoy catching up.

Thanks Toymann. Less than 17 months so hopefully just buy a recharge card from random kiosco and good to go.

Next interesting to-do will be discovering the joys of exchanging dollars at blue rates

[Mpexy]

Thanks Toymann. Less than 17 months so hopefully just buy a recharge card from random kiosco and good to go.

Next interesting to-do will be discovering the joys of exchanging dollars at blue rates

[Toymann]

Have a pre-paid phone / sim card from last year. Anyone know if it can be reactivatd or after some time goes by the line is killed and basically have to buy new sim card with different phone number?

Not really concerned about cost. Just would be convenient to keep same number.

Have had same number for 5 years. You loose your minutes left on the phone after you leave after 30 days BUT the number lives as long as you recharge the phone within 22 months. Hope this helps. Monger On Dude. Toymann

[Mpexy]

Have a pre-paid phone / sim card from last year. Anyone know if it can be reactivatd or after some time goes by the line is killed and basically have to buy new sim card with different phone number?

Not really concerned about cost. Just would be convenient to keep same number.

[Aqualung]

That reason would be that they were in danger of running out of numbers. The combinations and permutations possible with a 3-digit plus 4-digit combination are really quite limited. The easy way out is to add a digit rather. However, in the all-IP world, that will be a thing of the past.

I had familiarized my self with many of the codes so that I could find that for which I sought, nearby. For example. 4806 and 4807 are around the intersection of Junin and Vincente Lopez.

Yes and no Walleye, I mean it makes sense what you say but that would be true if for example you started seeing repetitions of the three digit area code which never happened. Using for example Madelein's area code number 806. Adding prefix four made it 4806 and if then you start running out of numbers you add, say. 3 so you get somewhere in the city 3806 which doesn't happen. Out of the 999 possible area codes thee are still hundreds unused. When the Argie phone company was bought by the Spanish Telecom I had their middle management staying at a hotel I managed and they explained it to me once but that was in the early 90's and I can't remember what they said. I do remember it was something about fibre optics they were installing to replace the old wires hanging from posts all over the town.

[Wild Walleye]

There a few privados about which I can make this claim.

Reminds me of the cell phone scene in The Dictator.

[Daddy Rulz]

I think Argentina is about 140% penetrated.

There a few privados about which I can make this claim.