PBH / colombia (travelguide, pictures) / post

Buying a cellphone as a foreigner in Colombia

You can fairly easily buy a cellphone, and you don't need to be living in Colombia. Go to any Comcel shop (there are lots of them), and get a pre-paid phone ("prepago").

They will ask for your ID (give your passport ID) and your address (you can just give your hotels' address). They are pretty easy about not requiring you to live in Colombia, it's a prepaid cellphone after all!

The cheapest phone is about 60000 pesos (US$ 25). Then you have to buy minutes: you buy a card for say 10000 pesos which lets you call a certain amount of minutes.

Incoming calls are free, you just pay when you call someone. It's cheapest to call within a carrier, from say a Comcel phone to another Comcel phone.

If you're lucky you can sell your old phone when you leave for say half the price.

By Peter (Moderator) on Dec 7, 2006, 15:27 in Travel tips.

Diez Y Siete says on Dec 7, 2006, 16:02:

ive found it must be extreamly cheeper to call within a carrier because all of my friends have 2 or 3 friends so that they can use the one that the person they are calling has

0 funny, 0 helpful.

litost says on Dec 8, 2006, 01:17:

Maybe in some cases of particularly long stays it may be useful for someone visiting to get a cell phone, but my general advice to foreigners would be to just use the marvelous "minuto" sellers you find pretty much in the streets or call centers in all the neighborhoods in all the cities and towns in Colombia. Ranging from as low as 200 pesos per minute to 500 max in posh neighborhoods. The problem with the prepaid phones is you could be paying well above 1000 pesos per minute, same thing for text messages.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

MacGringo says on Dec 8, 2006, 02:13:

llamas......llamas.......llamas,llamas,llamas!!!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Peter (Moderator) says on Dec 8, 2006, 05:24:

Yes, I agree. The prepaid phones are mostly useful if it's important for other people to be able to reach *you*.

Poor but snappy

0 funny, 0 helpful.

litost says on Dec 8, 2006, 05:27:

Tienes toda la razon Pedro.
Tienes toda la razon Pedro.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

nine inch nails says on Dec 8, 2006, 09:12:

MINUTO SELLERS? Are these like the call centers they have everywhere down in Argentina?

get down, get down. are you afraid of the boogie monster?

0 funny, 0 helpful.

litost says on Dec 8, 2006, 09:17:

Yes there are call centers all over the place, but what's even better (or worse?) is that you have people standing around on the sidewalks of all the busy streets selling minutes! Some are dedicated to just that, and other times it's the same ones who sell candy and cigarettes on the street.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Desideria (Moderator) says on Dec 8, 2006, 10:39:

some people prefer to buy minutes and call from a street corner vendor than use their own cells especially if they suspect that the person they are trying to reach is not taking their calls.

Cheers,
Desi

«Sé que los seres humanos y los peces podrán coexistir en paz». ( George W. Bush, Saginaw 29-09-00)

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

0 funny, 0 helpful.

litost says on Dec 8, 2006, 12:54:

I'd say especially because if its to another carrier it can be 3 times cheaper than calling from your own phone!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Desideria (Moderator) says on Dec 8, 2006, 16:04:

I got myself a pre-paid cel in Colombia last time I was there. I went to Movistar first because they were having a sale or something but they wanted me to have a cedula and a photo so I went next door to Comcel; they were much more flexible with the rules and the regulations; my Swedish drivers licence was good for an ID and the photo never mind. I bought their cheapest cel and when I left Colombia I gave it away to a friend.

Funny enough, it was mostly just me who ever had any "minutes" on the cell; most of my Colombian friends had nothing; they could just receive calls but I just felt so unsafe that way so I kept buying 10or 20 thou in minutes all the time.

I'm not celphone savvy and it took time before I figured out that it cost me an arm and a leg to call to a land line from a cel.

Cheers,
Desi

«Sé que los seres humanos y los peces podrán coexistir en paz». ( George W. Bush, Saginaw 29-09-00)

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Robert Jorge says on Dec 8, 2006, 23:56:

I agree with the above posters. Unless receiving calls is a big priority, I think just using a "mom and pop" minutos celular is your best bet. In Villavo, it is 150 to 200 pesos per minute. If you are in a nightclub district, there are literally people walking through the crowd waving phones trying to get you to use them. In Villavo, probably every 4th house has a homemade sign saying Minutos, 200 pesos. The cost of just paying somebody else to use their phone is MUCH cheaper than using those prepaid phone cards. The cell phone costs in Colombia seem to be the only thing that are more expensive than costs in the US. Just my experience.

--"I believe in making the world safe for our children. But not for our children's children, because I don't think that children should be having sex." - Jack Handy

0 funny, 0 helpful.

pedro says on Dec 9, 2006, 12:43:

Comcel Yeah, Comcel is a good choice.

When recharging, it´s worthwhile buying the 50k peso card, since you get a 40k bonus. Once you do this, it becomes good value for money (better than a tienda de llamadas). Just make sure to only make friends with people who are Comcel, haha! The 50k card is not always easy to find, my best luck has been at pharmacies, and certain street vendors. Kiosks usually don´t have those higher value cards.

When you buy a prepaid cell, they will give you a small paper ID card which requires a passport photo. Your name and ID is on file against your cellphone number, and you are supposed to carry this cellphone ID with you any time you have the phone. No big deal, but worth knowing if you plan to sell your phone to a stranger.

I would definitely recommend buying a cellphone if you are in Colombia for, say, more than a week. It´s really handy for collecting numbers of people you meet. Probably not so important if you are there with a girlfriend / boyfriend / family member who is running your social life, I guess.

que nota!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

panthdave says on Dec 10, 2006, 08:52:

Buy a Unlocked GSM from Ebay First in the States Buy your Unlocked GSM Phone from ebay if your in the States before going to Colombia..Comcel starter chip is 25,000 Pesos well how much I paid and then I purchased a 100,000 Amigo Card which Comcel doubles currently right now so I received 200,000 credit...Most of my friends have Comcel.... A 25.00 phone at Comcel is probably a 10.00 phone on ebay.. Bought a Motorola L7 for 136.00 and Comcel is selling in Dollars 280.00 plus IVA...Electronics too expensive in Colombia..

panthdave Miami

panthdave Miami

0 funny, 0 helpful.

pedro says on Apr 17, 2007, 12:01:

bump Since my last post, I have bought a Movistar pre-paid and would now recommend that.

Movistar gives 50k bonus for a 50k purchase. Their "todos destinos" pre-paid plan is excellent value.

que nota!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

panthdave says on May 15, 2007, 02:33:

Did Movistar Ask for a Cedula???? Was thinking about that..but decided not when I noticed most friends had a Comcel which the call are cheaper Comcel to Comcel..via prepaid or postpago...

Good Deal Comcel or gives 40K for a 50K Purchase on minutes only on the 100K they double..

panthdave Miami

panthdave Miami

0 funny, 0 helpful.

markiev says on Jun 1, 2007, 02:54:

OLA Is OLA still around????

0 funny, 0 helpful.