Mobile phone plans in Colombia

Claro, Tigo and Moviestar all have "paquettes" available foor 30 or 40 miil pesos, per month, up to 20 gigs data, whatsapp, national phone calls

Claro, Tigo and Moviestar all have "paquettes" available for 30 or 40 mil pesos, per month, up to 20 gigs data, whatsapp, national phone calls

Sim cards available on every country on earth pretty well. Even in airport . I saw them hawking them in El Dorado when I was there yesterday.

Get  a Colombian sim card and you can get a data packet from.onne of the 3 providers listed above.

Colombia used to have the iissue of " locked " phones not accepting sim cards duue to a lot of phones being stolen.

I dont know if they resolved that issue recently. I imagine so , given all the tourists coiing here.

Sim cards available on every country on earth pretty well. Even in airport . I saw them hawking them in El Dorado when I was there yesterday.

Get  a Colombian sim card and you can get a data packet from.onne of the 3 providers listed above.

Colombia used to have the iissue of " locked " phones not accepting sim cards duue to a lot of phones being stolen.

I dont know if they resolved that issue recently. I imagine so , given all the tourists coiing here.

For foriegn cals use WhatsApp, or a VOIP like Magic Jack, vonnage.

SKYPE is last resort.

Forget using Colombian carriers for overseas calls

WhatsApp is best to communicate internatiionally for non business communication

Claro, and I'm sure the others, have plans to call the US.  I find this the most efficient to call businesses in the US.  I think I'm paying $60.000/month for up to 5 hours free calling to the US.

For family and friends outside of Colombia, I use Whatsapp to call them....

Magic Jack isnt always the best, but price is less than $60 dollars .Per Year, includind SMS

Vonnage and others around $200.pee year

Advantage is you need a North american number for banks, brokers, government..

They get suspiscious if they see a Colombian number

Also, you can use Magic Jack anywhere in the world to phone US and they have SMS.

I wouldnt use them.if you are actually working and have multi hour conference calls.Too unreliable.

For a retired guy like me, talking only occaisionally  to banks, financial institutions, government agencies, Magic Jack is ok, despite frustrations of calls sometimes ending after half an hour, sometimes not going through.etc.

@Cheryl

Prior to departure, I always tell people not to call unless it's an extreme emergency.  I'm on vacation, I don't want to chit-chat.

This is something that has worked for me for several years in Colombia - Mexico - Panama - Ecuador

Invest in a device that is called a Jetpack or MiFi ===> 

verizon.com/internet-devices/verizon-jetpack-mifi-8800l-prepaid/

This device will provide your own portable WiFi service that you always have with you.

There are plenty of these devices available on the secondary market such as eBay or Offer Up - sometimes as low as $25.00

When I get to my destination, I go to a cellular provider and purchase a SIM card for the JetPack.  This allows me to receive calls or text messages from people who have my US mobile number - no need to confuse people back home with a new country code + area code + number.

** A JetPack is rechargeable - I usually get about 10 hours of service. 

** The JetPack can provide cellular data for up to 15 devices, so if you are with someone, you can share the cellular data

**  The data plans vary from carrier to carrier, I always get the most I can and cellular data is much cheaper in Latin America vs the US.

** The biggest advantage of using this device has been to order Uber and using Google maps as I am walking about so I don't get lost.  Both work amazingly well.

DO NOT PURCHASE INTERNATIONAL ROAMING - Prohibitively expensive and not very reliable.

Claro has worked quite well for me in Colombia and Ecuador.

Just my two cents.