Brazil World Cup SIM card with mucho data

[cameronjpu]

I am just starting to research my trip to brazil for the wc in 2 months. From what I can tell the Brazilian cell phone market is very Balkanized, with different regions of the country being divided as far as roaming goes. Following the USA at the wc will definitely take me to 3 states and possibly more if I make it to Rio. I am looking for a sim for mostly data use - I doubt I will make a single phone call using the phone network. I use data heavily and will probably be sharing the connection with multiple devices as well when needed. I see some pathetic plans with like 10 mb per day and the like. 10x that would be a typical day for me.

What's my best option? I am ok paying more for it. I will be there for 15 days. High speed is important as is quantity of data, and of course the ability to travel. If I have to buy one sim for rio and one for São Paulo and one for Recife, so be it.

I actually have a friend who lives in Brazil so if something can be done only by a citizen, that may be arranged.

Thanks for any tips!

[gkeeper]

Originally Posted by cameronjpu

I am just starting to research my trip to brazil for the wc in 2 months. From what I can tell the Brazilian cell phone market is very Balkanized, with different regions of the country being divided as far as roaming goes. Following the USA at the wc will definitely take me to 3 states and possibly more if I make it to Rio. I am looking for a sim for mostly data use - I doubt I will make a single phone call using the phone network. I use data heavily and will probably be sharing the connection with multiple devices as well when needed. I see some pathetic plans with like 10 mb per day and the like. 10x that would be a typical day for me.

What's my best option? I am ok paying more for it. I will be there for 15 days. High speed is important as is quantity of data, and of course the ability to travel. If I have to buy one sim for rio and one for São Paulo and one for Recife, so be it.

I actually have a friend who lives in Brazil so if something can be done only by a citizen, that may be arranged.

Thanks for any tips!

Hi I would suggest your best option would be to have your friend in Brazil buy you a local Sim card, preferably on the Vivo network. It is very difficult or near impossible to buy local cards without a tax number, alternatively look at international roaming cards. Piranha Mobile probably have the best roaming rates of all the international cards, but my first choice would have to be local, if you have access. Good luck and enjoy.

[cameronjpu]

Originally Posted by gkeeper

Hi I would suggest your best option would be to have your friend in Brazil buy you a local Sim card, preferably on the Vivo network. It is very difficult or near impossible to buy local cards without a tax number, alternatively look at international roaming cards. Piranha Mobile probably have the best roaming rates of all the international cards, but my first choice would have to be local, if you have access. Good luck and enjoy.

Everything I have read says that in the last 2 years they have made it much easier, to the point where it's easy, to buy a local SIM without a tax number.

Vivo seems to give you only 15mb per day, which is going to leave me unhappy guaranteed. I figure I will probably buy more than 1 SIM card from different providers, given the wide area I'll be covering (Manaus, Recife, Rio, Sao Paulo). Thanks!

From what I can see this is a good plan on Claro: Pacote modem 1 dia - 1 day package: 1,99R$ with 80mb (caps the speed to 64kbps when reaches the limit). But it's for modems. Will I be able to activate that in an iPhone? I dont care if I can't make phone calls.

Also, Oi Movil has "R$1,89 - Daily package with 50mb quota. After, the speed caps to 50kbps. To subscribe, go to a service attendment center."

That's not terrible...

[gkeeper]

Originally Posted by cameronjpu

Everything I have read says that in the last 2 years they have made it much easier, to the point where it's easy, to buy a local SIM without a tax number.

Vivo seems to give you only 15mb per day, which is going to leave me unhappy guaranteed. I figure I will probably buy more than 1 SIM card from different providers, given the wide area I'll be covering (Manaus, Recife, Rio, Sao Paulo). Thanks!

From what I can see this is a good plan on Claro: Pacote modem 1 dia - 1 day package: 1,99R$ with 80mb (caps the speed to 64kbps when reaches the limit). But it's for modems. Will I be able to activate that in an iPhone? I dont care if I can't make phone calls.

Also, Oi Movil has "R$1,89 - Daily package with 50mb quota. After, the speed caps to 50kbps. To subscribe, go to a service attendment center."

That's not terrible...

It has been a couple of years since my last visit, so the law may have changed for the better, i would still advise that you take a spare, just in case, good luck i hope it all works out for you. please post update on your return.

[cameronjpu]

Originally Posted by gkeeper

It has been a couple of years since my last visit, so the law may have changed for the better, i would still advise that you take a spare, just in case, good luck i hope it all works out for you. please post update on your return.

Yeah I always do my best to follow up on these questions after the fact, unlike everyone else, to help the community. In fact, I have twice sent my SIM card to another traveler who was traveling later so that my efforts could benefit two people instead of just 1

Hopefully someone else will chime in with more suggestions, including how likely it it that I will be able to use a modem plan on a smartphone.