Carriers, Phones... USA vs Bolivia

When you go to a different country there are things that are not the same as in your country, culture, food, people, but there are other differences that nobody talks about. I think it is interesting how different mobile services are here to my country. There are two main differences between mobile services here and in Bolivia, the actual services and the way you get your cell phone.

In Bolivia most of the people opt for pre-paid services because there is no contract and no commitment is needed. You just need to buy your SIM card and charge credit that you will spend according to your needs. Making calls, texting and mobile Internet by this kind of service is often expensive. There is the post-paid service as well, which requires you to sign a monthly contract but you still have limitations on how much you can call or use the other services.

Here in USA mobile carriers offer a wide variety of post-paid plans that require a signed contract for two years. Usually they offer unlimited plans for calls, texting as well as for mobile Internet so that you don’t have to worry about how much you use any of these services. There are a couple of carriers that offer pre-paid as well but you need to purchase a minimum of 30 dollars that you can only spend in one month.

When it comes down to cell phones in Bolivia you can buy them in the unofficial market, which is the most popular way to acquire a nice cell phone. Carriers would offer to give some discounts according to the amount per month you will be paying; these discounts often do not surpass half of the price of the cell phone you will be getting.

Here most carriers will offer you free phones for a 2-year contract according to the kind of cell phone you want. Carriers here have a wide variety of offers; you can get a cell phone with a contract and get a huge discount, and the rest of the phone price will be paid as you consume the service.

So there are pros and cons when it comes down to mobile technology and services, if you don’t like commitment and you don’t care about state-of-the-ark technology you can get prepaid. If all you care about is technology and connection a good post-paid contract is your best choice.

We can say that the most convenient way of being communicated here in the USA is by having an unlimited contract, whereas in Bolivia your best choice is to have prepaid so that you keep track of how much you spend.