PBH / colombia (travelguide, pictures) / post

COMCEL SIM Cards

Greetings to all the PBH people out there!

I went to Colombia last year, and I bought a pay-as-you-go COMCEL SIM Card to use for the time I was there, but I made the mistake of taking it with me when I returned to the UK. Of course, it hasn't been used at all, and it has been sitting on my drawer since November 2006! The thing is that I am going back to Colombia for Christmas, and I would like to take that same SIM Card with me. I am pretty sure it won't work anymore, as it has been over a year since I last used it and it must be de-activated, so my questions are:

Will it be easy/cheap/quick to re-activate it? Or will it be better if I buy another one? I really do not want to go through all that stupid paperwork just to buy another SIM Card... again...

Any comments/suggestions are very welcome!

Cheers! :-)

By Lopezv on Oct 26, 2007, 12:49 in Friendly Talkzone.

Rob77 says on Oct 26, 2007, 13:13:

Very likely it will not be usable when you return. After a certain period of inactivity, they deactivate them to reuse the numbers.

I had 2 very different experiences buying sim cards. One time I bought a prepaid card in Exito at the Comcel stall. That was a big mistake and took an hour for them to get it activated and give them all the info they wanted. They even made copies of my documents. The next time I bought one in an independent shop. I gave them the money, they gave me the sim card, it worked and we were done! No one asked for my name or documents.

I'm not sure if you can reactivate that old card. But usually sim cards include minutes with the purchase. So, you might as well grab a new one for about USD $5 and you will already have some air time.

BOYCOTT CITGO - CHAVEZ SUCKS!!!

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Lopezv says on Oct 26, 2007, 13:32:

Thanks for the speedy response Rob77!

Is just that I was dreading having to stand for an hour in the COMCEL shop/stall waiting for all my personal details and criminal records to be checked/ photocopied, and on top of that, to wait about 5 hours to have the mobile number activated (I had a rough time trying to buy one last year).

I guess it depends of where I buy the SIM Card from. Is it better to go to the authorised shops, the independent distributors, or those tiny stands outside shops, supermarkets...?

You make sense though, I will be better off just by buying a new one with some credit on it...So help me God! LOL :-)

Many thanks again!

Soy, soy, soy quindianita!

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Rob77 says on Oct 26, 2007, 13:44:

You didn't mention to which city you are travelling. Generally, just try a small store, like the ones that have booths for making phone calls (cabinas). Those places are everywhere and keep things simple.

BOYCOTT CITGO - CHAVEZ SUCKS!!!

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Bam Bam says on Oct 29, 2007, 16:35:

whats the deal with SIM cards?

How much do they cost? Do you pay by the minute?

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Rob77 says on Oct 29, 2007, 20:41:

SIM Cards just give you a phone number connected to one of the Cellular services. Then you buy calling cards with different amounts of credit. The cards with low amounts of credit last up to 30 days. The cards with greater amounts can last up to 2 months.

BOYCOTT CITGO - CHAVEZ SUCKS!!!

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