Using Cell Phone in Colombia

poco says on Jul 7, 2005, 12:49:

Yes I take my cell phone AND charger. I put it on vibrate AND loud ring, set it on the night stand and it will wake the DEAD. Necessary to make sure I don't miss the early flight out of Cali. Other than that, no, I have not bothered to use it. Why bother?

"When you men get home and face an anti-war protester, look him in the eyes and shake his hand. Then, wink at his girlfriend, because she knows she's dating a pussy." Quote - General Tommy Franks

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Crazy4Cali says on Jul 7, 2005, 13:50:

Sure... You can use your phone on international roaming (if it's a GSM phone and has the 1900MHz band like AT&T and Cingular).

But be ready for the heart attack you'll have when you get back and see your phone bill. International roaming costs between $2 and $5 per minute.

I hope those calls are important!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

misterB says on Jul 7, 2005, 16:32:

sim card I took my gsm phone and used my girlfriends sim card and it worked perfectly. Apparently, your able to purchase sim cards down there as well. However, thats what i've read, i've never done it. You also might need your phone to be unlocked as well.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

ColombianoNY says on Jul 7, 2005, 16:57:

so how do you get your cell phone unlocked?

0 funny, 0 helpful.

tomtom33 says on Jul 7, 2005, 17:00:

There are many vendors on the street who rent cell phones by the call. The phones are so cheap that you may as well just buy one if you want to receive calls. I bought one in April from ComCel for 80K pesos(around US$34) and got 100K in free minutes.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Peter Miami says on Jul 7, 2005, 18:53:

I use both AT&T and Cingular and they both work in Colombia. If you get the international package which is $3.99 a month, roaming in Colombia is $2.29 a minute. They work on the GSM/GPRS 850/1800 900/1900 all of these work in Colombia and most countries in Central and South America. The wireless phone you have must be a international wireless ready phone.

Peter Miami

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Crazy4Cali says on Jul 7, 2005, 20:49:

Search and ye shall find.... I posted several comments to another thread on this site about:

a) unlocking your U.S. Cellphone for use with Colombian SIM cards
b) roaming
c) using a Colombian SIM in your U.S. cellphone (after unlocking)

Bottom line, it all works, but using a Colombian account in Colombia is much cheaper than a U.S. account.

That is if you're using a GSM phone that uses the correct frequency bands. Bell South is still using TDMA so I don't know how that works with US phones.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

tomtom33 says on Jul 8, 2005, 05:54:

Bell South is no more in Colombia. It was purchased by Movistar, a Spanish company.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Peter Miami says on Jul 8, 2005, 09:17:

BellSouth in USA is Cingular and they are in the GSM/GPRS System and like I said before they work and I use them through out Central and South America including Colombia.

Peter Miami

0 funny, 0 helpful.

santiBOG says on Jul 8, 2005, 09:28:

Not worth it to use roaming I've found it way too expensive at over $2 a minute, specially when you are paying for airtime (as opposed to paying for only outbound calls).

Best bet is to BUY a prepaid phone from Comcel or Movistar (approx. COP$70000). You'll be able to receive calls for free. Of course, the calling party will have to dial internationally. Outbound international calls will probably be cheaper too and you'll be able to make and receive local calls.

Naturally, if your company is paying for the whole thing and they don't care, then you might as well use the int'l roaming.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

ColombianoNY says on Jul 9, 2005, 10:10:

thanx everyone, ill just buy a prepaid phone, seems better and less of a hassle.

0 funny, 0 helpful.