Rio de Janeiro has an extremely articulated terrain, with moutains and tunnels in between the city. But despites these natural obstacles, the cellular coverage is far better than in many major US cities. They use a mix of technologies: American technology -- TDMA (by ATL) and CDMA (by Vivo) -- and
European tecnology -- GSM (by Oi and Tim).
Unless you are a Brasilian citizen or you have a local permanent address, you only have access to "prepaid" solutions. You may bring your US cellular phone, declare it for free at arrival custom, and have it activated on the spot in one of the many cellstores, or you can buy a brand new phone for under US$100. Airtime is aproximately USD $0.33 per minute loc
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Unless you are a Brasilian citizen or you have a local permanent address, you only have access to "prepaid" solutions. You may bring your US cellular phone, declare it for free at arrival custom, and have it activated on the spot in one of the many cellstores, or you can buy a brand new phone for under US$100. Airtime is aproximately USD $0.33 per minute local call. Incoming call are free (like in the rest of the world . . . the United States is the only place that charges you for receiving a call!!!). Need to make international calls? Use callback providers.
My advice?? Bring your own cell. If you do not have a spare one, usually cellphones have multiple NAM so you may program the Brasilian number on an unused one.
I know, you want to know which is the best . . . Okay: TIM (Telecom Italia Mobile) is the WORLD LARGEST Wireless provider. Surpised? (I know, I thought it too.) They use the GSM at 1800MHz so if you have a compatible phone go for it.
Nextel users: Rio de Janeiro has also coverage for Nextel, so just bring your phone with you and turn it on. You will retain your US number, but if somebody calls you, that's US$2.35 per minute to receive that call!!!
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