FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Do they have pre paid mobile phones in Brazil?
Old Oct 8, 2008, 3:54 pm
  #3  
Curvelo
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: GIG
Posts: 137
Originally Posted by realworld
Do they have prepaid mobile phones in Brazil? Are they fairly inexpensive?
Other options?
Short answers, in order: yes, not really, it depends.

Now, the long answers. All mobile phone companies offer prepaid phones. However, they cost a lot, because you get to pay the full price for the handset, instead of the discounted price you would get with a contract. I just did a quick search on the website for Claro, which happens to be my current operator, and you can find simple models for around R$ 160,00 (about US$ 80,00 at current exchange rates, getting cheaper each day with the current madness in financial markets). Be aware, however, that buying a prepaid phone or a prepaid SIM card requires you to register with the phone company with a Brazilian address and maybe a Brazilian CPF (our taxpayers registry number, equivalent to your SSN).

A cheaper option would be getting only a SIM card, but this requires an unlocked phone. You could swap cards only when you need to call, keeping your original SIM in order to receive calls with your U.S. number. For the record, a SIM card costs around R$ 15,00 for most operators (less than US$ 8,00).

Making calls with your original phone (in roaming mode) should not be difficult, local providers can even provide detailed instructions (see, for example, this page from Claro at http://www.claro.com.br/internationalvisitors/eng.html). For voice mail, you should check with your local operator if there is a special number to call when you are overseas (mine works that way when I am abroad, I call a number in Brazil that redirects me to my voice mail based on my caller id).

Can you tell me where are you heading in Brazil? I could look up more info from the carriers that operate at the cities you'll visit.

Regards,
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