Before traveling to Paraguay, you must first consider several things, one of which is the available prepaid phone plans in the country. This information is important, especially if you plan on using your mobile phone there to communicate with the rest of the world world.
Right now, there are four GSM prepaid phone operators in Paraguay, namely: Hola Paraguay S.A. (VOX), AMX Paraguay Sociedad Anonima (CTI), Nucleo S.A (Personal) and Telefonica Celular Del Paraguay S.A. (Telecel S.A.) (Tigo). The mobile prefix for Paraguay is +595. Their currency, 1 Paraguay Guarani = 0.0001363 Euro. The electricity available for Paraguay is 220 Volts with an electrical frequency of 50 Hertz. Time Zone is GMT -3.00.
The first GSM prepaid phone operator available in Paraguay is Hola Paraguay S.A. or more commonly known as VOX Paraguay. The mobile communications company was founded on May 12, 1999 and is headquartered in Asuncion, Paraguay. In August 2010, Paraguayan Comunciaciones Company (Copaco) bought shares to Vox Paraguay for $16 million. At that time, Vox Paraguay only had 90 thousand customers with limited coverage, Copaco helped Vox to grow and expand its products and services around the country. As of today, Vox has 440,000 users and considered the third largest prepaid phone provider in Paraguay. The company offers mobile (post paid and prepaid phone plans) and Internet services. They are the pioneer in providivng GSM technology in the country.
The prepaid phone card name for Vox Paraguay is called “Vox Facil.” The activation fee and validity of this prepaid phone card is available upon request. Every Vox Facil prepaid phone cards has PYG 30 free credits. The net frequency for Vox Paraguay is GSM 1900. The logo for this prepaid phone card is VOX with a net code of 744 01. Vox Facil offers: calls to Vox (Monday to Friday 8AM – 10PM) for PYG 600 and calls to VOX (Monday to Friday 10PM – 8AM; Saturday and Sunday) for PYG 300.
Additional Costs and Services:
Messaging:
- National SMS – PYG 98
- International SMS – PYG 330
Voicemail: Free of charge
Data Calls: WAP is available, rates are unknown
International Calls: International prepaid phone calls not available
International Roaming: International roaming service available, see here
Debiting Method: 1/1
Top ups, Credit and Validity:
- PYG 10,000/10,000, valid for 40 days
- PYG 20,000/20,000, valid for 90 days
- PYG 30,000/30,000, valid for 180 days
- PYG 50,000/50,000, valid for 180 days
Interconnection Fees: ****To call other mobile operators and land line (Copaco), users have to pay an extra interconnection fee per minute plus the rate to Tigo
- Landline – PYG 247
- Other Mobiles – PYG 804
The second GSM prepaid phone operator available in Paraguay is AMX Paraguay Sociedad Anonima (CTI) or also known as Claro Paraguay. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Claro Americas and was founded in 2003. It was launched on March 28, 2008 and is headquartered in Córdoba, Argentina and operates in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. Claro Paraguay was formerly known as CTI Movil. Some of the products and services they offer are: Internet broadband, mobile phone (both in post paid and prepaid phone plans), fixed line telephony, cable television, wireless data services and push to talk in UMTS, HSDPA, CDMA and GSM networks.
The prepaid phone card name for Claro Paraguay is called “Pre pago.” The activation fee and validity of this prepaid phone card is available upon request. The net frequency available for Claro Paraguay is GSM 1900. The logo for this prepaid phone card is PRY Porthable while its net code is 744 08. Pre pado offers: calls to Claro for US$ 0.10, calls to land line for US$ 0.154 and calls to other mobiles for US$ 0.38.
Additional Costs and Services:
Messaging:
- SMS to Claro – US$ 0.015
- Other National SMS – US$ 0.10
- MMS – US$ 0.11
Data Calls: Wap portal is available over GPRS, rates are unknown
International Calls: International prepaid phone calls available.
International Roaming: International roaming service available, see here
The third GSM prepaid phone operator available in Paraguay is Nucleo S.A or more commonly known as Personal Paraguay. It is under Telecom Argentina and was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Personal started using a similar logo to Telecom Argentina in November of 2011. Personal owns 67.5% of Paraguayan prepaid phone provider Núcleo S.A., which was founded in 1998 and also does business under the brand name Personal Telecom. Personal offers a wide range of services such as voice, mobile (post paid and prepaid phone plans), data and Internet broadband services.
The prepaid phone card name for Personal Paraguay is called “Personal Maxima.” The activation fee and validity of this prepaid phone card is available upon request. The net frequency available for Personal Paraguay is GSM 850/1900. The logo for this prepaid phone card is Personal with 744 02 as its net code. There are three voice tariffs under Personal Maxima, namely: Plan tarjeta, Plan control and Plan full. Plan tarjeta offers: all calls (from 6AM – 10:59PM) for PYG 11 and all calls (from 11PM – 5:59AM) for PYG 7. Plan control offers calls and text messages packages, see here. While Plan full also offers calls and text messages packages, see here.
**All voice call prices include VAT.
Additional Costs and Services:
Messaging:
- Plan tarjeta SMS – PYG 11
- Plan contro SMS – PYG 85
- Plan full SMS – 85
Voicemail: Free of charge
Data Calls: GPRS/EDGE – US$ 0.00055/KB
International Calls: **Local call rate plus international rates
- USA and Canada – PYG 1800
- Mercosur, Bolivia, Peru and Chile – PYG 2000
- Rest of America – PYG 2500
- Germany, Italy, Spain, France, UK, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong – PYG 2900
- Rest of the World – PYG 3500
International Roaming: International roaming service available, see here
Top ups, Credit and Validity:
- PYG 15,000/15,000, valid for 30 days
- PYG 35,000/30,000, valid for 45 days
- PYG 50,000/50,000, valid for 60 days
- PYG 100,000/100,000, valid for 90 days
The fourth GSM prepaid phone operator in Paraguay is Telefonica Celular Del Paraguay S.A. (Telecel S.A.) or more commonly known as Tigo Paraguay. Tigo (an international brand) Paraguay was launched in the country in 1992 under the brand name “Telecel” and rebranded as Tigo Paraguay in 2004. The company is owned by Millicom International Celluar (MIC) with 50% share, Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Bogotá S.A. (ETB) with 25% share and Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM) with 25% share. They were the first telecommunications company to offer AMPS technology in the country. Tigo Paraguay offers mobile (post paid and prepaid phone plans), data services, international roaming and Internet services in GSM, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, HSPA, HSPA+, WiMAX and FFTH technologies. Currently, Tigo Paraguay is the largest mobile provider in the country with 2.8 million active users.
The prepaid phone card name for Tigo Paraguay is called “Tarjeta.” The activation fee and validity of this prepaid phone card is available upon request. The net frequency for Tigo Paraguay is GSM 850. The logo for this prepaid phone card is Telecel with a net code of 744 04. Tarjeta offers: calls to Tigo (Monday to Friday 6AM – 9PM) for US$ 0.12 and calls to Tigo (Monday to Friday 9PM – 6AM; Saturday and Sunday) for US$ 0.05.
**All voice call prices include VAT.
Additional Costs and Services:
Messaging:
- SMS to Tigo – PYG 110 – € 0.016
- Other National SMS – PYG 110 plus interconnection fee (unknown)
- MMS – US$ 0.066
Data Calls: GPRS – US$ 1.10/MB
International Calls: International prepaid phone calls available, rate are unknown
International Roaming: International roaming service available, see here
Top ups, Credit and Validity:
- PYG 15,000/15,000, valid for 30 days
- PYG 35,000/30,000, valid for 30 days
- PYG 50,000/50,000, valid for 45 days
- PYG 100,000/100,000, valid for 60 days
Interconnection Fees: **To call other mobile operators and land line (Copaco), users have to pay an extra interconnection fee per minute plus the rate to Tigo
- Land line – PYG 247
- Other Mobiles – PYG 804