Movistar Chile Problem
 

Hey gang-

Just got back from a trip to Santiago Chile for work. As I mentioned in another thread, my quest for cell service in Chile had me looking for a prepaid SIM while I was there. I visited a Movistar store and thought my problem would be solved. I had the SIM and prepaid minutes voucher in hand, when the sales person asked me "you don't need to call International do you?" Well yes of course I do!

She then explained that I would only be able to call Intra-Chile, and that was the same for all prepaid cell services in Chile. She then said that after 3 months (at least) in-country, I could apply for International access! As an only occasional business and pleasure traveler to Chile, this was not going to work!

At the least, I would need International access to trigger my CBW callback. So, does anyone know if what the salesperson was saying is correct? From a technical standpoint, I suppose it could be true- that is, the phone provider could block access to country codes not in Chile. Anyhow, I sadly handed the SIM back.

This is all the more strange since Movistar is the SIM that Telestial sells for Chile, though it has been "out of stock" for some time. I wonder now if perhaps the real problem is this restriction on International calling that prevents Telestial from having a Chile product?

Anyone tried a Movistar or Entel SIM in Chile?

Thanks!

Kupe

Sorry to hear the local sim didn't work out. Haven't visited Chile, but a couple of thoughts:

Could you maybe buy a prepaid international calling card that has a local Chilean access number? Assuming Movistar doesn't block the number, you could place international calls using 2 stage dialing. Not as convenient as direct-dial but it's a work-around. Maybe you could store the calling card and pin number in a speed dial location on your phone.

You might also be able to use a call-back service to accomplish the same thing if it has a Chilean local number.

There are some international sims that claim Chile coverage including Travelsim with an Estonia number(also rebranded as Telestial Explorer), or Geodesa or one of the other Isle of Man cards. If you need a spare card to your United Mobile card it might be worth a try. Telestial does sell some international cards (I also found a discount offer on their United Mobile refill page for buying 2 of these because they no longer sell United Mobile/Riiing sim cards; I might take them up on this).

What about SMSes? Could you do an SMS trigger? Do the Cards give you data access? What about triggering with an SMS sent via SMSBug? or via the WAP trigger on CBW?

I'm a chilean and I work in a company that develope network services for Movistar and EntelPCS.
It's true that Movistar has a restriction for international calls in the 3 first months since sim's activation. EntelPCS hasn't that restriction and you could make international calls inmediatly.
I think that EntelPCS has a better voice service than Movistar, but Movistar has greater coverage. Anyway, both have good coverage in major cities and towns.
I think that Movistar has that restriction to avoid tourist buy prepaid sims and they had to use roaming that report Movistar more money.

(sorry for my bad english :) )

Movistar and EntelPCS give you data access (GPRS/EDGE). The cost is 7CLP/kilobyte (0.013USD/kilobyte). Both permit send national (even to other networks ) and international SMS. National SMS cost 50CLP and international SMS cost 150CLP ( 1USD=525CLP ).

As long as you have access to WAP you can trigger a callback; at least until CBW changes carriers. They have an alternate carrier that can be triggered with a SMS.

Thanks for the info, Chano, I updated the pages on PrepaidGSM. If you have other information feel free to contact me, any info is always welcome! :)

I just received a movistar sim card in the mail. How do I activate it? (I have an unlocked GSM phone) Can it be activated here in the United States?

Also, I was unaware that I won't be able to make international calls for the first 3 months, since Telestial says otherwise. Can this be confirmed by anyone?

better get an Entelpcs sim card, i had movistar and Telefonica Movil phones and at the 3rd day wanted my money back is awful bad the quality of movistar every night the network is saturated so will just get busy signals always, in peak hours nobody can reach you because will appear the voice mail and you have on the phone so suggest that get the Entelpcs card too now offer thems WCDMA and the service is good, too well i call often to United states from my phone and never had a problem with the calls.

why this of the saturation simple

Movistar have an only network for all Chile Entel have two one for the central valley and other for the rest of the country.even my boss had to change his phone because not had coverage in the upper zones of Santiago with Movistar phone service.

greetings

infoad