Cellular Phone in Porto Alegre

Porto Alegre offers three cellular providers - TIM, CLARO and VIVO (we have CLARO). The most common technology is GSM and you may either use your own phone (needs to be unlocked and to support 900/1800 MHZ) or buy a phone from the provider. If you are using your own phone - you will have to buy only the local GSM SIM-Card (about 20-25 R$).

In general, the phone rates are high in Brazil (mainly for long-distance/international calls and for calls in roaming). There are some VOIP solutions available in the market that can help in this area.

CLARO - have a good coverage in the south of Brazil and reasonable coverage at the center and north Brazil. Claro offers two main plans: "Cartão" - prepaid plan and "Conta" - plan with monthly account. the prepaid plan has no monthly fee but the "per minute" price is higher.

TIM - have a good coverage in all of Brazil (it is an advantage for people that travel a lot inside Brazil). TIM is offering two main plans (similar to CLARO): "pre-pago" - prepaid; and "pôs-pago" - with monthly bill.

VIVO - have a reasonable coverage in all of Brazil. TIM is offering two main plans (similar to the others): "Vivo-pre" - prepaid; and "Vivo-pôs" - with monthly bill.