South America sim card? -Argentina, Uruguay, Chile
 

Hello all,

I'll be doing a 2 week trip to South America next month (specifically Argentina, Chile and Uruguay along with stops in Lima and Mexico City on the way there and back) and was hoping someone could suggest a mobile phone provider that would cover all 3?
Unfortunately my provider here in Canada (Public) only covers USA as far as international roaming goes.

Thanks in advance!

No one?
Or such a thing doesn't exist?

AFAIK, after 8 years living in SCL, nothing like this exists. Of course, you can get a SIM in any of the countries and then get pre-paid roaming packages or plans, but there's nothing that gives you local rates for one number in all countries.

The only company that operates in AR, CL, MX, PE, & UY is Movistar, so that will probably be your best starting point. Claro is another good company, but they're not in Mexico.

Yep, for local rates in all three, you will need to get a SIM upon arrival to each country. And even if you did get say a Movistar SIM and used roaming rates for the other two countries, you will probably not be able recharge your prepay balance outside the country of the SIM without a local account for online purchases (someone correct me if I am incorrect on that).

Nope, that's a really good point. Recharging will be an issue.

Ah well,
thanks for letting me know.

Maybe I'll get one in Argentina and Chile since I can make due without my phone in Uruguay and Mexico.

I'll have to see what rates are once I get there.

Claro is actually a Mexican company, trading as América Móvil (AMX). The Mexican brand is Telcel. Other than Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia, they're in every Spanish-speaking country in North/Central/South America and the Caribbean, and also in Brazil. Telcel's offering at local rates only covers the NAFTA countries but they have roaming plans for other countries.

Topping up Telcel Amigo (the brand they use for PAYG) can be done by credit card from anywhere at their website and they also have top-up online resellers as well. Rates for roaming plans are here (Spanish). Their roaming plans cover ar, br, cl, co, cr, do, ec, sv, gt, hn, ni, pa, py, pe, uy

For Chile, you will want to check coverage maps depending on where you plan to go. Claro may not cover many areas outside of urban areas and Entel is the sole provider for Easter Island. Movistar in general has the widest coverage but their customer service is lacking, actually the three majors can equally be bad depending.

For Chile, the 2G and 3G bands are 850 and 1900 MHz.

Thanks.
I'm actually mainly in Santiago , but also visiting Maipu and Casablanca. I MIGHT go to Valparaiso, but I'd prefer to visit wineries to be honest. Still, with that being said, I haven't totally decided yet.

A bit of a similar situation. Going to Chile and Brazil, although in Brazil I csn survive without a local pln.

But as it happens I have a two-three hours videoconference scheduled while in Chile, probably around Valparaiso. Not sure if I would be able to rely upon the hotel wireless/wired internet.

So I was thinking of having my phone unlocked, get a data plan in Chile, and use the phone as a hotspot.

I read somewhere that there is no restriction on tethering in Chile, in contrast with North America. (Tethering is simply using the cell phone data plan as a hot spot and use cell phone data from a different device, in this instance my laptop rather than the cell phone itself.)

Whether it's true tethering is indeed OK is crucial. Any confirmation?

I'm headed to Buenos Aires, Iguazu and then Brazil. I'd like to buy a cheap SIM card in BA that would also work in Brazil. I really just need a little data. Is such a thing possible?