As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, the cell phone (in Argentina, it’s generally called a teléfono celular or, occasionally, a móvil) is such an everyday item that we take for granted that, when I think about it, 15 years ago, hardly anyone used one (at least in the US). Nowadays, I’m sure most adults probably have added the phone to the “make sure I have it before I leave the house” list. It used to be wallet/purse and keys and now the cell phone is undoubtedly among the triumvirate. This is no different here in Buenos Aires where it seems everyone has a cell phone and uses it on subways, buses on the street, etc. Indeed, in my time here I have seen everything from Blackberrys (or is that Blackberries?) and Iphones, to your basic cell phone. While in the US we had Droids, here we’re sticking with the basic cell phone to save money and since there is easy access to the internet at home and there seems to be WiFi everywhere.
Major cell phones used in Argentina
Since we went with the prepaid plan and not a monthly one (since we don’t use the cell phone all that often), we need to prepay our phone with the recarga virtual at locutorios (see yesterday’s post) when we run out of minutes on the phone. Pretty simple process that takes all of a few minutes to do. If you come to Argentina, unless you have a DNI (subject of tomorrow’s post!), you’re going to have to do the prepaid plan like we did. Basically, it means you’ll need to buy (or bring from home) an unlocked phone and get a SIM card in Argentina (very inexpensive) that will have an Argentine phone number with a particular cellphone service company. If you come, you basically have 4 choices:
1) Movistar – this is the company we chose. Among the largest.
2) Claró – this is probably the biggest of the companies. If you come to BA you’ll notice their advertising as many of the in ground street signs were given with the company logo and name on them.
Typical Claró logo on a BA street sign
3) Personal – This is the company owned by Telecom Argentina, which handles almost all of the land line business here.
4) Nextel (Sprint) – This is the only company also found in the US and you’ll hear their trademark “walkie-talkie” beep around quite a bit. Smallest company here but growing.
It’s really amazing how common the cell phone is and how much I rely on it now. My last 2 living experiences in other countries were pre internet and pre cell phone and I don’t even recall thinking “man, life would be easier if I could communicate better”. I guess the ease of communication is something now that I just take for granted, whether consciously or unconsciously. It’s a great thing to have, however, especially with kids here and the need to stay in touch is so much more important. Technology, with all of its issues, can be a wonderful and indispensable thing.
Prof Rabner
Mr. Rabner's adventure in Argentina 
Leave a comment