How did you select your wireless carrier and your calling plan?

I may be similar to many Gringos in that my phone ‘carrier' was not chosen, per se, but rather came along with the phone or the chip.

I had Movistar at first, later Claro.

When I moved to Quito in 2013 and stayed for a week or so at the old Explorers Clubhouse on Jorge Washington street, the head of the organization offered to take me over to a phone sales and repair shop on that street to convert my old USA phone for use in Ecuador.

The repairman did the work with no discussion about what company would be the resulting new carrier.  It was Movistar.

About two years later, that phone was pickpocketed from me by a three-foot-tall urchin as I boarded a bus on the Ecovía line.

When I found a good deal on a replacement phone on Avenida Guayaquil en El Centro -- $35 plus tax -- I jumped on it, with no regard for the carrier.  It was -- and is -- Claro.

I have had no problems with service from Movistar and Claro .. and did not find any noticeable difference between the two carriers.

cccmedia

As for the ‘plan' .. like Nards, I have always bought phone minutes since moving to Ecuador.

It's so inexpensive and convenient to do it this way that I never considered switching to an official plan -- that's for phone-addicted adolescentes.

I have never been concerned about the cost of minutes.  I just ask for three dollars or five dollars worth .. and 30 seconds later, I'm set for a while.

Early on I tried to take advantage of the bonus-minutes offer from Movistar.  I was given bonus minutes .. but did not use the minutes, as bonus minutes expire (at the end of the month, as I recall).

cccmedia

Does your phone look like this?

https://goo.gl/images/xJ4bvs

Nards Barley wrote:

Does your phone look like this?

https://goo.gl/images/xJ4bvs

Sí, señor.

However, calling it a “Cheap Elder Person” phone -- as per that link -- is a rude judgment call.

Calling it a Sleek, Cost-Efficient, No-Frills celu would be better.

I leave the fancy-priced smart-phones to the aforementioned adolescentes .. others who have more tech-smarts than me .. those who love their apps .. and folks who didn't have enough experience during the 20th century, if any, to know how to live well without typing on aparatos with their thumbs.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

cccmedia

That explains why you have no opinion on WhatsApp.  My first phone in Ecuador looked a lot like yours, but eventually got a neighbor to bring me back a 1st generation Moto G from the states and would never go back to one of those crappy phones.  Hopefully these recent threads will eventually convince you to get a proper phone.

I think Movistar will be cheaper than Claro, and I'm not sure about CNT. The fine print is important for any plan, for example Whatsapp usage is not truly unlimited. Movistar gives you something like 15MB per day which is a lot especially for text, but it's limited to local numbers as far as I know.

As for the smart-phone vs dumb-phone debate, well to each their own, but a smart phone is invaluable to me. Looking at my WhatsApp stats I send and receive about 200 texts day in a fairly equal ratio. Then there are emails, and some of which are important which require a quick reply. Google Maps is also important when looking for hard to find locations, especially in Quito. Google Translator is also valuable, although the off-line language pack is quite good for the most part. I know taxi apps are important especially with the ladies. You can also stay on top of bank accounts as one can receive a text and email instantly when there is activity. So, for me a monthly plan makes sense because of my usage both personally and professionally. 

As for how much data is enough and which plan is ideal it's something that everyone has to determine for themselves. My usage varies from month to month and took me a while to know how much I need. When at a café, I love to read the news, I have a wi-fi account with some cafes so I don't have to repeatedly ask for a password but the downside is some popular websites are blocked on their network which is annoying and as a result end up using my data. Try this at supermaxi which has free wi-fi,if you're registered the phone picks up the broadcast wi-fi or SSID and drops your cellular connectivity only to be denied access to websites.

I was at CNT today for something completely irrevelant but while there looked at some offers. They have a pretty good deal on their data plans that are 3GB+ per month bcz they are offering 18 GB free for one year that they offer as 1.5 GB per month with no rollover. So that's 4.5 GB per month at less than $27 per month.

Interestingly they have unlimited WhatsApp and Facebook but that's after you use up your normal data. Which to me essentially is a no no. But there are people who almost solely use those two apps, so for them I guess would make sense.

Sort of surprises that in this day and age of computers, these carriers can't provide a call log on demand either on their web portal or using an app.  While I am sure they do a good job of tracking the balance, it would not see the history of calls made.

I guess my smartphone tracks that history, so no bigee.

What is mobile data?

Mobile data is Internet content delivered to mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets over a wireless cellular connection (as opposed to a wifi connection)

My approach over the past couple years was to always have mobile data turned off on my smartphone, in part because it always seemed in the past that it would kill my balance if I had it on, without actively doing anything on the internet such as browsing.  I have heard this happening to other expats as well when they buy a smart phone for the first time.

However, I am now a more mature user of a smartphone and have made the commitment to manage and monitor my mobile data in such a way that I can always have it enabled 24 hours a day.  To that end, a few days ago I signed up for a new Movistar prepaid plan  which they call "Todo en Uno" that gives you  20 minutes of calling, 20 SMS texts 200 megabytes and 100 MB of Whatsapp (texting only) any time you make a recarga of $3.   Apparently you have 7 days to use your combo or you lose the benefits.

Although, this combo is optional and you have to elect-in to get it, it seems many places where you buy a prepaid chip will sign you up without asking. I observed that this weekend while I was with a friend of mine at a Movistar Kiosk at Monay Shopping.

While I assume this is a good deal, I have no way to compare it with what I had before since I never had mobile data turned on and I never paid attention to how many calling minutes I was getting before.  I hope to shed some light on this

I've lost two cell phones to pickpockets, so now I carry a trashed cell phone for me next pickpocket and keep the good one well hidden.

I didn't know super maxi blocked websites.  Makes perfect sense to me why I couldn't pull up a recipe while I was shopping.  But yet I can use my US Skype account there perfectly.  I don't have a cellular account here and refuse to let someone break my iPhone for a chip here.  I don't really need it as most places have wifi and since I have a new cell phone I usually don't take it out with me.  However for the almost 4 years I have lived here I still pay my AT&T service plan in the states.  This time when I changed my number and bought an ipad linked to my plan, I did get the lowest plan possible with rollover data so when I do travel back I have phone service and data, which I mostly use for maps in Miami.  I bought the iPad cause my husband who in 4 years has left 2 iPhones in cabs (& 1 had a US plan).  Now he has an older iPhone with only a plan here.  So I bought my discounted iPad so if he travels back alone he will have a device with data and can make calls using his skype account.  But he does have a plan with movie star here for $36 a month, so he has data.  During major power outages he has used up his data and has to either wait until the next month or purchase a discounted amount to get him through.  But he uses it for work and everything else.  He's always attached until I need to get hold of him, lol.  But the plans here are certainly cheaper than just a basic one in the US.

Tuenti is the newest wireless carrier on the scene in Ecuador.   While I have no idea if their service is any good those prepaid plans are a good value in absolute terms.   However, I am sticking with my $3 combo from Movistar since it meets my needs for now.

The  most attractive thing about the tuenti plan to me is the unlimited calling to other tuenti users. I don't think anyone else does that with a prepaid combo.

They also deserve consideration for this commercial they produced which was being played for a couple weeks on Youtube. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ44k5bH0rA

Nards Barley wrote:

[img align=c]https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRwCC-4cT00p6dxZSnwCXqukzRCnsTDc5lytQR6r47WIiAO68YeAQ[/url]Tuenti is the newest wireless carrier on the scene in Ecuador.   While I have no idea if their service is any good those prepaid plans are a good value in absolute terms.   However, I am sticking with my $3 combo from Movistar since it meets my needs for now.

The  most attractive thing about the tuenti plan to me is the unlimited calling to other tuenti users. I don't think anyone else does that with a prepaid combo.

They also deserve consideration for this commercial they produced which was being played for a couple weeks on Youtube. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ44k5bH0rA

I think the movistar deal is the best on the market especially for those who don't use a lot data. Tuenti(and btw catchy name 20) sounds good and is probably a good deal if the service is similar to other networks as you pointed out, especially for people getting a new line, but personally the unlimited calls is not appealing because I usually don't call and if I do I don't know a single person who has tuenti.   

The video is cool and definitely tailored for young people and btw the bowling scene is from Cosmic Bowling at Quicentro.

While at a mall today I spotted a Tuenti booth, and their other offers are real good.

$5 with 500 MB data and valid 7 days.
$10 with 1000 MB data and valid 15 days.
$15 with 2000 MB and valid 30 days.

These are good prepaid packages for tourists who will be here a week or two. Residents who are still on prepaid the 30 day package is good  too for $15.

vsimple wrote:

While at a mall today I spotted a Tuenti booth, and their other offers are real good.

$5 with 500 MB data and valid 7 days.
$10 with 1000 MB data and valid 15 days.
$15 with 2000 MB and valid 30 days.

These are good prepaid packages for tourists who will be here a week or two. Residents who are still on prepaid the 30 day package is good  too for $15.

You saw the same thing as me. However, I only talked about the $5 plan.   If that $10 plan was for 30 days I would give it a try.   

Below are their three combo offerings. I can't even tell from their website whether they offer "pospago" plans like the other carriers.

I decided to go to downtown today since the sun was out which is quite rare of late.  Since I had no saldo on my phone, I went ahead and put saldo on my phone using my online JEP account.   Then I called *100# to activate my Movistar "combo semanal", and leave it to beaver, there was a new "combo semanal" available. (Item #2). The story continues in the next informative post, possibly later today.

Nards Barley wrote:

I decided to go to downtown today since the sun was out which is quite rare of late.  Since I had no saldo on my phone, I went ahead and put saldo on my phone using my online JEP account.   Then I called *100# to activate my Movistar "combo semanal", and leave it to beaver, there was a new "combo semanal" available. (Item #2). The story continues in the next informative post, possibly later today.

Cutting right to the chase,  Movistar modified these prepaid combo plans recently so the minutes megas, minutes and SMS rollover.   This is acutally quite big new for someone like me since there are weeks I don't use my phone outside a wifi zone.  However, I think the rollover only occurs if you renew your combo each week, which should happen automatically if you have sufficient saldo.

This is all explained in their video or in the terms and conditions available at the bottom of the following web page.

http://www.movistar.com.ec/productos-y- … bo-semanal

Time to update this thread. cellular service provider, Claro, is now adaptive to your usage and amount in your account. This is impressive so if you have only $5 in your account and you used your quota they will offer you something based on that and your usage.

As for data usage, the post paid can not compete with the pre-paid for high data users. The post-paid plans offer free talk time, but I'd prefer more data as everyone uses apps to talk. The savings can be significant as 6GB plans are about $50 + tax, and with prepaid you can buy 6GB for $30, or some adaptive package like 2GB x $10 planes. So try it out, and once you get offered the package you like then set it to renew automatically. So as long as you have money in your account it will continue to renew, and you'll get the best individualized deals.   

As for quality of service, in Quito it is impeccable, with either 4G/LTE availability everywhere in centro-norte.

I found MoviStar's $3 weekly prepaid combo to be just fine for my needs. I only once ran out of data on it before the week was up. I'd be willing to give Claro a try to compare. I use an unlocked Huawei Mate 9 Dual SIM that I got on Amazon before I came to Guayaquil this year. I found very few dead zones in Guayaquil, Cuenca, and the coast (in the rural areas between, naturally)

I need to teach my parents and grandma how to use WhatsApp so I don't need to maintain my At&t line (which I added the international day pass service)

It seems you're content with Movistar, then stay with it especially with the $3 weekly plan. I prefer Claro because it has very good coverage, and this is one of it strengths as well as it's prepaid packages for heavy usage users.

Alright guys, here is some good news. CNT today launched Todos Conectados. This is a prepaid mobile phone plan that costs $7.84 a month.

It will include:

-2 GB of data usage

-Unlimited WhatsApp (within Ecuador)

-200 MB Facebook data usuage

-50 minutes free phone time (with CNT network)

Personally, it's not something that I would change my existing plan for because 1.) I don't think transferring numbers is possible from another mobile phone service provider. If someone achieved this, share your experience.  And, 2.) Sometimes I exceed 2GB a month.

But, for those looking for an economical data plan, this is the best one so far. And, 2 GB is quite substantial.

Do they have phones or do get an unlocked on