Before you start

An official identity document — passport, cédula or residency card. A prepaid line can no longer be activated without one being recorded
An unlocked handset, or one bought locally
For home fibre: proof of address and, at most providers, a cédula or passport plus a local payment method

Step-by-step

1
Buy the SIM in an operator store, not from a street vendor
Since the 2025 identity validation, the line has to be registered against a real document at activation. An operator store or an authorised dealer does this properly and links the line to you; a line handed over pre-activated is registered to somebody else, which means you cannot port it, recover it, or claim it if the handset is stolen. Bring your passport or cédula.
In personWho: You, at a Claro, Altice or Viva storeSame daySIM cost is nominal; prepaid data bundles start in the low hundreds of pesos
2
Start prepaid, move to postpaid once you have a cédula
Prepaid is instant and needs only your document. Postpaid plans are cheaper per gigabyte and bundle handsets, but they are a credit product and providers generally want a cédula and sometimes proof of income. The sensible sequence is prepaid on arrival, postpaid once the residency paperwork is finished.
In personWho: YouPrepaid same day; postpaid once you hold a cédula
3
Know how to re-validate if a line is ever suspended
Each operator runs a self-service validation channel — Altice through its prepaid identity portal and the *555 short code, Claro through *456#, Viva through #414 and its stores. If a line stops working with no obvious cause, an identity-validation flag is the first thing to check, and re-validating is free.
Mobile appWho: YouMinutesFree
4
Order fibre, and ask what it is plugged into
Claro and Altice both sell fibre across most of the Distrito Nacional and the better parts of Santo Domingo Este, typically bundled with television. Installation is usually within a few days. The question that decides whether it is usable is not the speed but whether the router and the fibre terminal are on the building's inversor — if they are not, your internet dies with every apagón even though your laptop is charged.
OnlineWho: You, with the providerA few days to installResidential fibre commonly RD$1,500–3,500 a month depending on speed and bundle
5
Keep a mobile-data fallback if you work from home
Fixed lines go down with the power and with the weather, and the fibre network in older buildings is only as good as the building's own wiring. A prepaid data SIM in a second phone or a small router, on a different operator from your fibre provider, is what everyone who works remotely here ends up doing.
Mobile appWho: YouSame dayA few hundred pesos a month for a fallback bundle

Documents you’ll need

Passport, cédula or residency card — mandatory for line registration since 2025
Proof of address for fixed fibre
A local payment method for postpaid plans and fibre contracts

Things most newcomers don’t know

INDOTEL's Resolución 064-2025 made prepaid identity validation compulsory, with a 30 September 2025 deadline and suspension for lines that missed it. Registration here is now genuine.

The Dominican Republic used to be a place where you could buy an anonymous SIM from a stall. That is over, and the consequence for a newcomer is practical rather than philosophical: a line registered to someone else cannot be ported, recovered or replaced, and the operator will not discuss it with you. Buy in a store, with your own document.

Source: INDOTEL — Resolución 064-2025 on prepaid line identity validation

The right question about home internet in Santo Domingo is not the speed. It is whether the router is on the inversor.

Fibre in the Distrito Nacional is fast and cheap. But the Superintendencia de Electricidad's 2026 figures show Edesur customers averaging fifteen or more interruptions a month, and a fibre connection whose ONT and router sit on mains power goes down with every single one of them. Ask the landlord, and if the answer is no, ask whether you may move that socket.

Source: Superintendencia de Electricidad interruption statistics (2026)

Claro's advantage is coverage outside the capital, not inside it.

Within Greater Santo Domingo all three networks are adequate and Altice is often the better value. The moment you start driving to Jarabacoa, Barahona or the Samaná peninsula, Claro is the one that still has signal. Choose on where you will actually go, not on the in-city comparison.

Source: Community-reported; INDOTEL operator coverage data (2026)

Common mistakes to avoid

Buying a pre-activated SIM from a street seller — since the 2025 purge it is registered to someone else and you cannot port or recover it.
Signing a fibre contract without checking whether the router and fibre terminal are on the building's inversor.
Choosing an operator on in-city speed tests, then discovering the coverage gap the first weekend you drive into the interior.
Letting a prepaid balance expire while travelling and losing the number.
Assuming postpaid is available on arrival — it is a credit product and generally wants a cédula.

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

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