GENERAL INFORMATION
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INTERNET
Internet cafes and WiFi can be found everywhere. Most hostels and hotels in
Colombia have WiFi. Travelers must make sure their connection works and the
room they are given has a proper signal. It's very common for hostels to have
WiFi, but not on the entire property. Travelers should ask to check their WiFi
connection and signal in the room they are given. If it doesn't work it's okay to
ask for a new room, but this should be done upon check-in. Internet cafes are
found in every city regardless of size. Connections and computers range from
good to very slow and bad. The average cost is between 1,000 COP to 2,000 COP
for an hour.
PHONES
Most western cell phones don't work on Colombia's phone system. If you buy a
Colombian SIM card and have a phone from outside Colombia you must visit a
banda. These stores can unlock the phone for a fee. A SIM card cost around
5,000 COP. There are four major cell companies in Colombia: Movistar, Comcel,
Virgin and Tigo. The companies all have different per minute cost and coverage.
Travelers have two options to charge minutes on the phone. You can buy cards
or you can have it charged at stores. On the streets there are vendors who have
signs that say, minutos and then a cost. These vendors have cell phones that you
can use and pay by the minute. This is the cheapest way to make phone calls in
Colombia.
Dialing Inside Colombia
Dialing phones in Colombia is no easy matter. From a cell phone and from a
landline, different procedures are used.
Cell phones
When you dial from a cell phone to another cell phone you must dial the
number directly.