Subject: [95attendees] Phone SIMs in Buenos Aires

From: [email-masked]
Date: 22 Mar 2016 17:05:47 -0000

Any advice on getting SIMs in Argentina?

When I was there last year for ICANN, we went into one of the 25hrs
stores on Florida and bought Personal SIM packs.  All the SIMs are
full sized so it's lucky one of us brought a SIM cutter to chop it
down to nano size.  There are reverse vending machines in the same
stores where you can buy credit, punch in your phone number, then feed
in cash.

Has anything changed, e.g., now that there's only one exchange rate,
can you buy time with a foreign credit card?

Better suggestions on where to get a SIM?  Are the deals at the
carriers' own stores any better?

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From: Carsten Bormann <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2016 18:16:53 +0100

The customary reference is

http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/Argentina

Not encouraging.

(But then folk wisdom has that you shouldn’t bring an iPhone as that will be robbed from you immediately.
My burner phones still have 2FF Mini-SIMs…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subscriber_identity_module#2FF
Now which of these has GSM 850...)

Grüße, Carsten

On 22 March 2016 at 18:06:26, [email-masked] ([email-masked]) wrote:

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From: Christian O'Flaherty <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2016 17:21:28 +0000

> Any advice on getting SIMs in Argentina?

We will probably get free SIMs from Telefonica. 

Both micro and nano will be available (200 micro and 300 nano)

They will be empty but there's a drugstore nearby where it can be loaded with 1.5GB for $7. 

I will confirm here as soon as I get the  final confirmation from Telefonica. 

Christian

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From: Carlos Martinez <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2016 14:24:06 -0300

I Added a lot of SIM card related info to the wiki

Sent from a mobile device. Enviado desde un dispositivo movil.
Sent using CloudMagic Email 
[https://cloudmagic.com/k/d/mailapp?ct=pi&cv=7.6.23&pv=9.3&source=email_footer_2]
On Tue, Mar 22, 2016 at 2:21 PM, Christian O'Flaherty <[email-masked]> 

They will be empty but there's a drugstore nearby where it can be loaded 
with 1.5GB for $7.

I will confirm here as soon as I get the final confirmation from 
Telefonica.

Christian

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From: "Carlos M. Martinez" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2016 11:43:22 -0300

I added my experience on prepaid SIM cards in the wiki,
https://www.ietf.org/registration/MeetingWiki/wiki/ietf95#cellphones_data

> http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/Argentina
Other than the sadly high market concentration, I fail to see why this
is not encouraging. Check my notes in the wiki. Except for the fact that
you will have to master two or three words in Spanish, which you can
take in written form on a post it note if you really need to, it'll be
really easy and cheap to get mobile data in Buenos Aires.

I can write these post-it notes to all who needs them for free :-)
> will be robbed from you immediately.
Not sure where this 'folk wisdom' comes from. My iPhone 6plus has
traveled with me to Argentina many times and is still happily with me.

Saludos,

-Carlos

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From: Carsten Bormann <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2016 16:28:37 +0100

Hi Carlos,

> really easy and cheap to get mobile data in Buenos Aires.

OK, that is a much better outlook than the information on wikia.
(Maybe I'm just not used to think in Megabytes anymore when it comes to
smartphone tariffs.  USD10/GB is fine.)

> I can write these post-it notes to all who needs them for free :-)

Maybe you could write those words into the wiki as well so we can print
it out and don't have to bother you?

> traveled with me to Argentina many times and is still happily with me.

You are probably more street-wise than the Americans which are said to
have their iPhones regularly taken from them...

Grüße, Carsten

---

From: [email-masked]
Date: 23 Mar 2016 16:00:12 -0000

>have their iPhones regularly taken from them...

I wandered around B.A. a fair amount during last year's ICANN meeting
and didn't find it particularly scary.  Admittedly I'm a large white
guy, but there were plenty of people walking around who weren't and
they seemed fine, too.

It may have been worse in the past, like the time that Argentina
dropped dollar parity and all of a sudden pesos that were worth $1.00
were now worth about 33c.

R's,
John

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From: "Carlos M. Martinez" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2016 13:20:00 -0300

Adding to what John mentions, bear in mind that the area around the
Sheraton Retiro (the ICANN meeting's venue) is generally worse than the
area around the Hilton.

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From: "Carlos M. Martinez" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2016 13:42:10 -0300

Hello Carsten,

On 3/23/16 12:28 PM, Carsten Bormann wrote:
> (Maybe I'm just not used to think in Megabytes anymore when it comes
> to smartphone tariffs. USD10/GB is fine.) 
Yes, me neither. But all big three operators send these stupid SMS
messages every 30 or 50 megs. Next week in BA I'll try to create an
IFTTT recipe to automatically send the required response.

I'm also looking at a new MVNO called "Tuenti" which offers 1.5GB for 90
pesos, but apparently you have to order the SIM card online and have it
delivered to a postal address in Argentina, plus all the website and
related information is in Spanish. You can check www.tuenti.com.ar. Not
sure if the Hilton address will work.
> it out and don't have to bother you?
Sure! :-)

Buy a sim: https://www.dropbox.com/s/q5o7yb5gm7ztyoy/compra%20sim_1.jpg?dl=0
(be sure to strike off the sim size you don't need)

Recharge:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jsox4tl8zgvq98p/compra%20recarga%20sim_1.jpg?dl=0
(you'll either be asked for your mobile number -electronic topup-, or
you will be offered a physical card with a pin number)

I'll add this to the wiki.
> ... snip ...
I understand. Just don't do anything silly, like flashing off an iPhone
or counting 100 dollar bills on the street at night and you'll be fine,
particularly in the neighborhood of the Hilton and around Puerto Madero.
I think this applies to almost every city, although it's true that
first-time visitors may not be familiar with which parts of town are
safer than others.

Saludos,

-Carlos

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From: Warren Kumari <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2016 19:26:55 +0000

> Sheraton Retiro (the ICANN meeting's venue) is generally worse than the
... and the area around the Sheraton Libertador Hotel even more so.

When heading to the 2013 ICANN meeting I got early information that the
ICANN meeting was going to be held "at the Buenos Aires Sheraton". Seeing
as ICANN meeting hotels often sell out really quickly, I dashed off and
booked my room, before the location was public.I felt really please with
myself for managing this, especially because my rom rate was significantly
below the ICANN rate.....
... and then I was standing in line at the airport, waiting to bard the
plane, and idly chatting with a friend (Sarah). I boasted about my great
room rate, and she asked if I'd managed to get a room with a water view. I
replied that the hotel was no where near the water, and what was she on
about?! She said that the hotel is right on the water, I asked what drugs
she'd been taking, because it *clearly* wasn't... Much arguing back and
forth later, I finally realized that I'd booked inthe the BA Sheraton --
but that there are tow Sheratons, and I'd gotten the wrong one :-P

Anyway, it's a roughly 1.2km walk from the one to the other. I did it at
all hours of the day and night, and the only issues I experienced were:
1: a small blister and
2: the place with the good coffee on the ay back was not open late in the
evening.

W

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From: Christian O'Flaherty <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2016 21:44:21 +0000

Has this been confirmed?

Yes, although I haven’t received them.

I hope I can fully confirm on Wednesday.

Christian

Behcet
Christian

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From: Behcet Sarikaya <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2016 16:40:16 -0500

Has this been confirmed?

Behcet

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From: Diego Garcia del Rio <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2016 14:47:19 -0700

Great to hear this! Thanks !!!

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From: Christian O'Flaherty <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2016 16:56:01 +0000

Hi all,

We received the SIM cards and they will be available for participants. I’m including instructions for activation below (unfortunately, all the information provided is in Spanish (brochures, webpages, SMSs, voice activation, etc.)). The information is also available in the wiki

Tuenti donated 400 SIMs for IETF participants with a small amount included (25 voice minutes, 3000 SMS, 350MB Data). All the instructions provided on the brochures are in Spanish so follow the instructions included below for activation.

Orange brochures are Micro SIMs and green brochures are Nano SIMs. Please make sure you’re receiving the appropriate size.
You can charge additional AR$90 (less than $7 for 1.5GB) at nearby shops (Farmacity and Dia%Discount). You just need the SIM phone number assigned for top-ups.

You can ask for one SIM when you receive the T-Shirt.

To activate the SIM:
1- On your computer visit www.tuenti.com.ar<http://www.tuenti.com.ar>
2- Select the option "Activá" (below the smiley)
3- Enter your email address, Contraseña (password), Apodo (Nickname), Nombre (Firstname) and Apellido (Lastnane)
   Click on "Confirmo que lei" (Accept the term & conditions)
   Click Siguiente (Next)
   If the nickname you entered is not available you will receive an error message (in red) in that field

4- Enter the number bellow the barcode (19 numbers) (not the PIN or PUK)
   Fecha: Enter your birthdate or any valid date
   DNI: Enter any 8 digit identification number (can be any number as long as it has 8 digits but do not use 12345678 or similar. There’s a very simple field validation there)
   Prefijo Interurbano: Enter 11 (this is the area code for your SIM. 11 is Buenos Aires, 291 is Bahia Blanca, etc.)
   Click Activá tu Chip

  If everything goes well you will receive a confirmation that it’s been activated and several “Siguiente” boxes. Click all of them to finish the process. Take note of the phone number assigned. If there was a problem, fields to fix will be in red.

5- On your phone you have to configure:
   APN: internet.movil
   User: internet
   Password: internet

Christian O'Flaherty  [email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>
Regional Development - Internet Society
Skype/Gmail/Yahoo!:  christian.oflaherty
Mobile/WhatsApp: +598 98769636

On Mar 29, 2016, at 6:47 PM, Diego Garcia del Rio <[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>> wrote:

On Mon, Mar 28, 2016 at 2:44 PM, Christian O'Flaherty <[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>> wrote:

Has this been confirmed?

Christian

Behcet
Christian