bringing an american cell phone to Peru

[V&J2005 0]

Hello everyone

I got a cell phone (brand new) here in USA and I will bring it to Peru for a family member as a gift.

someone know where she could activate it? how much is the fee?

could someone give me more info about it?

thanks

[Gosia & Tito 199]

Hello everyone

I got a cell phone (brand new) here in USA and I will bring it to Peru for a family member as a gift.

someone know where she could activate it? how much is the fee?

could someone give me more info about it?

thanks

Assuming it is unlocked (and if not, you will need to get it unlocked), you don't 'activate' it; just need to get a SIM card in Peru, it can be one from a Claro store. By the way, assuming it is a GSM that works in the frequency that works in Peru, otherwise it will not. A CDMA type will not work at all; a single band GSM would likely not work either; you want something that is triband at least to ensure it will work with Claro or Tim.

Most smartphones would work, the iPhone might only work in Lima. But best is to check band frequency.

If the relative already has a phone, all he/she needs to do is to get the current SIM card into the new one; but as I said, the frequency has to match what is used in Peru. Of course, a smartphone will need data plans etc....with the caveat that some internet/online services only work with a device that has an IP/Mac number registered in the US (and you can't change that, it is assigned to the phone at manufacturing time), in some cases the SIM card determines what services are available, for example a 4G phone will not act like that in Peru because there is no 4G network there, it will still work though, but at the speed it does here.

Edited December 29, 2012 by Gosia & Tito

[ardilla 0]

Hi,

My husband has a TMobile prepaid phone here and he has taken it to Peru (Lima) and inserted a Movistar(telefonica) prepaid chip in it and it has worked just fine. Also, I have called him on it when it was still connected to TMobile and it also worked just fine, but the roaming charges were very expensive. So it is better to get a chip in peru and insert it into the phone.

I recommend bringing this type of phone to Peru and just switching out the chips. If you want to know the model number let me know!

Have fun in Peru