LandingPad Buenos Aires

Geek Chic
Some use it as an insult, others a term of endearment. What it means to be a geek has certainly transformed throughout this epoch of information technology and the omnipresent internet. What’s certain is that in a city as vast and as wired as Buenos Aires, only the most technophobic of Luddites could avoid the practicalities of computers, cell phones and miscellaneous gadgetry.

So come with me, dear reader. Hold my metaphorical hand as we journey through the often frustrating and always mundane minutiae of getting yourself connected, online and logged on.

Cellphones
The indispensable cellular is one exception to my rule against purchasing electronics in Buenos Aires. I would still recommend bringing a cellphone from home, but a cheap handset can be purchased in Buenos Aires at a reasonable price. This would, of course, depend on whether you need your phone to do anything more than make calls and send text messages. Any sort of fancy video, internet or games functionality will require a phone that will likely cost you much more than prices in your home country.

If you do bring a phone from home, it will need to be tri-band (most these days are) and unlocked. How you unlock your phone is beyond the scope of this article but, as always, Google is your friend.

With your newly purchased, cheap local handset or unlocked state-of-the-art phone from home, your next step will be to obtain a SIM card (known locally as a chip). The two largest cellphone service providers in Buenos Aires are Claro and Personal. Each company comes with its own pros and cons. Claro offers cheaper per-minute pre-paid rates, but does not allow you to access minutes from expired cards. Personal, on the other hand, charges more per pre-paid minute, but replaces expired credit (roll over minutes) back on your phone once you have purchased a new card. Both companies, however, offer cheap prices on new basic handsets (expect to spend approximately US$100 on a new simple phone).

Contracts offer far better value for money than pre-paid plans, but are difficult to obtain without a DNI (the document that proves you are an Argentine resident) or copy of your apartment contract stating you have been or will be in Buenos Aires for a year. Calls are, unfortunately, far from cheap. The pricing reminds me of Europe over 10 years ago with absurdly high rates for cellphone-to-cellphone calls and sneaky rules that require the purchase of new credit to ‘unlock’ old, unused credit. For specifics on which company to use, I would recommend checking prices when you arrive. In my experience, there it not a massive difference in price or quality of service.

iPhones
The iPhone is still quite the novelty for the porteño, as models are usually 1-2 steps behind. Expect people to stare while you watch an episode of The Wire or try to beat your high score on pinball.

Taking safety into consideration, limit use of your phone in public or, at least, do so as discreetly as possible. If you do not yet own what I would describe as the best gadget ever invented, do not consider buying one in Buenos Aires unless money is truly no object. The phone itself costs a proverbial arm and a leg, and worse yet, you will be forced to pay a huge monthly fee.

My best advice remains to buy your gadgets back home and bring them with you. You will need to get your iPhone unlocked (and probably jail-broken in the process) and then buy a local SIM card. Once again, the methods for doing this are beyond the scope of this article and the reader is once again encouraged to use a certain search engine starting with the letter ‘G.’

Data plans for internet access using the cellphone network do exist, but are also expensive. On the plus side, Buenos Aires reputedly has the best free WiFi connectivity of any world city, which means getting online when out and about is not usually a problem.