Getting a SIM card in Argentina is not pricey or difficult. There are three major SIM card providers in Argentina, namely Personal, Claro, and Movistar. Claro is operated by América Móvil, Personal by Telecom Argentina, and Movistar by Telefónica Spain. All three major players have an almost identical market share. Personal was formerly a state-owned company, hence it has better coverage in urban as well as rural areas than its counterparts. However, it provides a very small number of prepaid plans in comparison to Claro and Movistar. Movistar has better coverage in the subway areas of Buenos Aires (capital of Argentina).
Internet speed has improved in recent years, especially in the areas where 4G is available. Unfortunately, only 2G coverage is feasible in rural areas. The country has two MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) as well, named Nuestro and Tuenti Móvil (formerly known as Quam). These two MVNOs aren’t a good option to use the internet. Also, until 2017, providing your personal information for a prepaid SIM card in Argentina was unnecessary. After May 2017, however, every prepaid SIM card user must get registered using an ID such as a passport. Now that you’ve learned a lot about the state of things in the county, let’s check out the 4 best SIM cards in Argentina together.
1. Personal
Personal SIM cards are considered the best in Argentina. Their 4G LTE network covers around 90% of the subway system in Buenos Aires, for example. It is important to note that its customer service is not available in English. SIM cards (popularly known as chips in Argentina) and certain top-ups are given out for free in Personal’s outlets and offices. If you buy it from retail outlets or kiosks, you will need to spend 50 ARS (Argentine Pesos). All recharges give 180 days of validity from the point of time you renew your balance. Data packs provided by Personal are of varied amount and validity.
You can get 1 GB of data for 1 day at 80 ARS, 2 GB of data for 3 days at 140 ARS, and 7 days of 2 GB of data for 240 ARS. On default plans, Personal automatically charges you 27 ARS for 50 MB of data. After every 50 MB of data consumption, 27 ARS will be deducted from your airtime and the data remains valid until midnight. The mobile provider also offers tourist SIM cards with a plan priced at 800 ARS. That plan gets you 30 days of validity for 3 GB of data, 30 minutes of international calls, 100 minutes of local calls, and unlimited WhatsApp use.
2. Claro
Claro is a market leader by a small margin in Argentina. It has good 2G, 3G, and 4G coverage across the country. Its prepaid SIM cards and recharge vouchers are ubiquitous. They are available at Claro Customer Care Centers, service stations, pharmacies, kiosks, supermarkets, and pretty much anywhere you can find a Claro logo. Its top-ups start from 5 ARS, and, as a bonus for a top-up of 50 ARS, you get 100 MB of data for 5 days. Moreover, 100 ARS gets you 250 MB of data for 7 days, while 300 ARS awards you 400 MB of data for the same period.
The default data rate in Claro is 20 ARS for 50 MB consumed, and the 50 MB remains valid until midnight. Beyond the 50 MB consumption, you will be charged 0.18 ARS per MB and unlimited WhatsApp use (though VoIP calls are not included). Apart from that, there are several data-featured plans like 1 GB of data for 3 days at 120 ARS; 2 GB of data for 7 days at 250 ARS; 20 days of 3 GB of data at 390 ARS; 4 GB of data for 30 days at 550 ARS, and many more.
3. Movistar
Movistar offers the widest coverage of 4G/LTE in Argentina, and its services are available in more than 350 locations. You can get Movistar SIM cards for free in its official shops and outlets. The carrier is known for awarding bonuses on top-ups. For instance, a 50 ARS recharge gets you 50 MB of data, while 100 ARS and 200 ARS awards you 100 MB and 500 MB respectively. All of them are valid for a day. Apart from that, you get unlimited Movistar to Movistar calls, free WhatsApp mobile data, and more, all for 7 to 30 days. These bonuses keep changing as they are for promotional purposes.
Movistar offers 50 MB daily on its default pack named Prepago for 20 ARS. It means it charges 20 ARS for every 50 MB consumed, and the data remains valid until the clock strikes midnight. Moreover, there are many data-featured packs the company offers. Some plans are 200 MB for 1 day at 45 ARS; 2 GB for 3 days at 140 ARS; 3 GB for 10 days along with 1 GB of social media data at 300 ARS; 5 GB for 30 days along with 5 GB of social media data at 660 ARS, 2 GB for 30 days along with 100 minutes at 600 ARS. All plans include free WhatsApp (albeit no VoIP) and the data limit only applies to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter.
4. Tuenti Móvil
Tuenti Móvil is the largest MVNO in Argentina. It is a Spain-based telecommunications company and its headquarters are in Madrid, Spain. It was started by Telefónica in Argentina as its subsidiary back in 2013. Tuenti replaced the brand Quam on 18th November 2014. Currently, it is a Movistar MVNO targeting mainly young customers. Its SIM card is easily available and requires an Argentinean ID (called DNI in Argentina). However, if you are a tourist, you can’t activate the Tuenti Móvil SIM card. The reason is simple — you cannot provide a legitimate Argentinean ID.
Top-up vouchers are available offline as well as online. You can recharge using the Tuenti app and use your debit or credit card to pay. The aforementioned app also lets you do unlimited chatting and calling because chats and calls between Tuenti app users are free. This activity, as long as it’s within the app, won’t even consume data from your data plan. Even better, you can chat with Tuenti Customer Support representatives any time you need help.