Information Sheet Last Updated: November 2005

Keeping in Touch

Communications in Colombia rank among the best in Latin America. Unlike other countries, telephones are almost everywhere and the service is good. Local calls and calls to any Colombian city are available from any pay phone and from numerous telecommunications offices in nearly all larger towns and cities. Local calls can be made from pay phones on the street using 100, 200, 500 and 1000 pesos coins and calling cards. Many hotels, stores and street vendors have telephones which you can use to make local calls for a small charge. International calls are available from some pay phones located in upscale areas in some cities, and from telecommunications offices.

For local numbers dial directly. For intercity calls, you have the choice of ORBITEL (code 05), ETB (07), or Telecom (09) followed by the area code and the local number. For international calls the codes are ORBITEL (code 005), ETB (007), or Telecom (009) followed by the country code and the number you are calling. Prices can be expensive to call internationally, but watch for specials.

Cellphones : there are three cellphone companies operating in Colombia: Comcel, Telefonica and OLA (PCS). The first two offer international roaming services, you can ask in the US if your local cellphone company offers roaming service in Colombia. Service is good in all urban areas of the country but unreliable in rural areas. Cellular phones begin with 033 from normal phones, but if you are calling cell phone to cell phone, you have to leave out the 033 and dial normally.

In smaller cities and towns the only telephone service available is that of the state owned company. Some towns have one phone that all residents and visitors use to receive and make calls for a small fee payable to an operator.

Mail: Colombia´s postal service is operated by one state owned company that offers standard air mail and surface mail services and EMS (courier). The service is not the best but works okay for most correspondence and packages. Sending packages within the country is not cheap and not guaranteed. It is best not to send anything you cannot afford to lose. There is an air courier service offered by Summa Airlines called Deprisa and for privately operated courier services, there are both Colombian (Servientrega) and foreign companies (FedEx, UPS, DHL) that offer the usual international courier services but charge hefty fees.

Internet & E-mail: The Internet is becoming very accessible but still not as much as it is in more developed countries. Every major city has a handful of Internet providers that provide dial-up, DSL and cable services in most large cities. Public access to internet and e-mail service can be found at many cyber cafes for a small fee. If you have your own laptop computer and can find a private phone line to use, you can connect to CompuServe, America On-line and other international servers through local access numbers, though this can be expensive. Check at home for rates. There are only a handful of wireless hotspots in Colombia. Most airports have hotspots (mostly in the VIP rooms), several universities have one and at a few upscale commercial areas, for example Parque 93 in Bogota.