It’s pretty easy and cheap to get a SIM card in Brazil, specially with you already have a phone that you can use here.

Mobile phones in Brazil are quite expensive comparing to US and European prices. We highly recommend you to bring your cell phone from home and buy a local SIM card upon arrival. Make sure that your phone is not SIM locked, prior to leaving your country. A local SIM can be bought for R$ 10 and can be recharged with R$7 – R$45 at a time. Calling international from a local mobile is very expensive, so we suggest you to use Skype.

The mobile networks in Brazil operate on the GSM 1800 standards, so make sure your cell phone can operate on the same network before leaving – this is important.

You will also need to make sure that your cell phone has a spot for a SIM card.  In other words, if your cell phone operates on a CDMA network (like Verizon in the USA), then there is no SIM card slot.

Make sure that your cell phone is unlocked to function on other networks: a cell phone under contract is generally not unlocked, but you can call your telephone service provider if you aren’t sure.

Another option is to just buy a new unlocked cell phone that you are sure will work while down here.

Once you have chosen your operator, you are ready to buy a SIM card. You can find it on newspaper shops, one of the operator’s store (in shopping malls, downtown, some supermarkets) and Lojas Americanas. You will need a CPF to activate your SIM card, if you don’t have one you can ask for a friend or go to a mobile store and ask for help. Once you call your operator to activate your new number, it will take a few hours to start working.

It’s important to chose a plan before start to use your phone, that way you can save money.

If you have any doubt or trouble on activating your new SIM card, you can always count on Brazilian Experience’s team!