Before you start

An unlocked handset — a carrier-locked phone from home will reject a Colombian SIM
Your passport, which the law requires for registering any prepaid line
Your IMEI, obtained by dialling *#06#
A purchase receipt for a phone bought abroad, in case the carrier asks during IMEI registration
A cédula de extranjería for a postpaid (pospago) contract or a home-internet installation

Step-by-step

1
Land connected with an eSIM
If your handset takes an eSIM, install a Colombia plan from Airalo, Holafly or your own carrier before you fly, so you have data walking out of El Dorado. Plans start around US$5 for a few gigabytes and only begin counting when you first connect on arrival, so buying days ahead costs nothing. It also means you can order a ride from the airport rather than negotiating at the kerb.
Mobile appWho: You5–10 minutes before departure; activates on arrivalUS$5–50 depending on data and days
2
Buy a prepago SIM in the city, not at the airport
Go to an official Claro, Movistar, Tigo or WOM store — the branches in Chapinero, Centro Andino, Unicentro or Titán Plaza are all straightforward and cheaper than the airport counters. Show your passport, and the clerk registers the line in your name as required by law. The SIM itself is free to about COP 6,000. Pick Claro if you will travel around Colombia, WOM if you will stay in Bogotá and want to spend less.
In personWho: You, at a carrier store15–30 minutesCOP 0–6,000 (under US$1.50) for the SIM
3
Register the handset's IMEI the same day
This is the step foreigners skip and then regret. Colombia's anti-theft device database blocks unregistered foreign handsets after roughly twenty to thirty days, preceded by warning SMS in Spanish that are easy to ignore. Ask the store clerk to register it while you are there: they need your passport and the IMEI from *#06#, and may want the phone's receipt. Activation can take a couple of business days.
In personWho: Carrier store staff, or you in the carrier app5 minutes to submit; up to ~2 business days to take effectFree
4
Top up with recargas and pick a bundle
Prepaid runs on recargas bought in the carrier app, at any corner shop or pharmacy displaying a recarga sign, or in supermarkets. A typical monthly bundle runs COP 16,000–45,000 for something like 10–35 GB with unlimited calls and messages, and most include WhatsApp traffic free. Dial *611# on Claro to check your balance and see your own number.
Mobile appWho: You2–5 minutes, any timeCOP 16,000–45,000 (~US$4–11) a month
5
For home fibre, price ETB against the national operators
ETB is Bogotá's own operator, majority-owned by the district, and has one of the largest fibre footprints in the city — it is a genuine fourth option here that does not exist elsewhere in Colombia. Claro, Tigo and Movistar all compete, and smaller building-level providers appear in newer towers. Expect COP 70,000–180,000 a month for 200–900 Mbps, often symmetrical. Contracts need a cédula or a guarantor.
In personWho: You (cédula or local guarantor normally required)A few days to schedule installationCOP 70,000–180,000 (~US$17–45) a month
6
Check what the flat already has before you sign anything
Most furnished rentals in Chapinero, Chicó and Usaquén already include fibre in the rent, and many buildings have a single provider wired in. Ask for a speed test before you commit to a flat you intend to work from, and check whether the administración fee already covers internet — paying twice is a common and avoidable annoyance.
In personWho: You, with the landlord or building administratorDuring the viewing

Documents you’ll need

Passport, mandatory for registering any prepaid line
IMEI number from *#06#
Purchase receipt for a foreign-bought handset, for IMEI registration
Cédula de extranjería for a pospago contract or home fibre installation

Things most newcomers don’t know

Register the handset's IMEI on the day you buy the SIM. An unregistered foreign phone stops working on Colombian networks after roughly twenty to thirty days.

Colombia maintains positive and negative IMEI databases specifically to make stolen handsets unusable, and a foreign device that never appears in the positive list is treated as unverified. Buying the SIM feels like the whole job, the warning SMS arrive in Spanish, and the block lands the week you finally need your phone to work.

Source: MinTIC / CRC device registration rules

Bogotá is the one Colombian city where the district's own telco, ETB, is a serious fibre option — worth pricing against Claro, Tigo and Movistar rather than defaulting to the biggest name.

ETB is majority-owned by the Distrito Capital and built out fibre across large parts of the city, which means genuine four-way competition on price and symmetrical speeds that most Colombian cities do not have. Newcomers default to Claro because it is nationally famous and often pay more for less upstream bandwidth.

Source: ETB; Bogotá home-internet market (2026)

Prepaid needs only a passport, but postpaid needs a cédula — and postpaid is where the cheap handset deals and the fastest data plans live.

Pospago contracts require identity, credit history and usually a Colombian bank account, so a newcomer is locked into prepago for their first months whether they like it or not. Knowing that in advance stops you wasting a store visit trying to negotiate a bundled phone before you have a cédula.

Source: Colombian carrier onboarding requirements (2026)

Get the number working on WhatsApp before you need it, because in Colombia WhatsApp is the interface to everything.

Landlords, clinics, plumbers, restaurants and government offices all correspond by WhatsApp rather than email or phone calls, and a flat viewing or a doctor's confirmation will arrive there or not at all. Arriving with an eSIM active means you are contactable from the moment you land instead of unreachable for your first two days.

Source: Colombian consumer telecom practice

Common mistakes to avoid

Skipping IMEI registration and losing network access three or four weeks in, usually at the worst moment.
Buying the SIM at El Dorado, where the same plan costs noticeably more than in a city store the next day.
Bringing a carrier-locked handset that will not accept a Colombian SIM at all.
Signing a twelve-month fibre contract for a flat that already has building-wide internet included in the administración.
Choosing WOM purely on price and then losing signal the moment you leave the city for a weekend.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.