When researching our move to Chile, I read many stories about how hard it was to get phone service here. Mark and I decided to sign up for our standard Verizon international service to start since good phone service was needed for work. It was expensive and even more so when we went over our limits. So a couple months ago I set out with an old iPhone I still had to try and register it and set it up on a Chilean plan.
I bought a Chilean phone chip for about $10 at our grocery store. It was good for one month with 400 minutes of calls, 500 texts and 50g of data and unlimited whatsapp, instagram, facebook, tictok and other common use applications.
I put in the chip, followed the basic instructions, restarted my phone and was connected.
The real test came when two days prior to my 30 day expiration I received the notice for which I had been waiting. “In order to continue service, this phone needs to be registered with the Chilean government.”
I went through the required uploads. My passport photo, receipt of when I bought the phone or a dated passport of when I entered the country, both my hardware and software ID numbers or IMEAs, the make, model, and serial number of my phone with photo documentation for all.
Later that same day I received notice that I had been approved by the government and my carrier “entel” would update my account later in the day. Sure enough, a few hours later I received an alert from entel and went through their app, paid another $10 for the month and had successfully completed the Chilean phone registration process.
I keep holding my breath thinking that something else will be needed or that they’ll make me sign up for an actual plan. I’m told this isn’t the case and I can continue to renew monthly for $10 for as long as I need. A $10 a month solid cell phone plan, despite the insane registration requirements, surely is one big plus in Chile’s favor.
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