Before you start

An unlocked handset
A passport or cédula, required to register any SIM
A RUT and a Chilean bank account, for a postpaid plan
A handset that supports Chile's SAE cell broadcast alerts

Step-by-step

1
Buy and register a prepaid SIM
Available from operator stores in the plan, pharmacies, kiosks and supermarkets. Chilean law requires prepaid SIMs to be registered to an identity document, so bring your passport or cédula — there is no anonymous purchase.
In personWho: YouDay 1
2
Confirm SAE emergency alerts are active on your phone
Chile broadcasts emergency alerts — earthquake, tsunami evacuation, fire — to mobile handsets through the Sistema de Alerta de Emergencia. Check the emergency alert settings on the handset are enabled, and check the phone actually receives the periodic national drills. In this city that is not a formality.
Mobile appWho: YouWeek 1
3
Test coverage where you actually live before committing
The plan is well served by all four networks. The cerros are not uniformly so, and deep quebradas and the far western hills have real variation. If you can, stand at the address with a phone before signing a lease, and ask neighbours which network they use — the answer differs by hill.
In personWho: You
4
Move to postpaid once you have a RUT and an account
Contracts need both plus a credit assessment, which favours people with some Chilean history. Prepaid is genuinely adequate in the meantime and Chile is one of the cheaper mobile markets in Latin America.
In personWho: You
5
Choose your network for where you travel, not for Valparaíso
All four are adequate in the city. Chile is 4,300 km long and most of what makes it worth living here is far from the coast — Entel's rural and southern coverage is generally strongest, which matters more than any comparison made in the plan.
OnlineWho: You
6
Order fibre and ask what reaches the building
Fibre coverage in Valparaíso is good in the plan and the popular cerros and patchier further out, and installation in a heritage building on a stepped street can be genuinely complicated. Ask the landlord what is already installed rather than what is theoretically available at the address.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport or cédula, required to register any SIM
RUT and Chilean bank account, for postpaid
Proof of address, for fibre installation
Landlord permission, where a heritage building requires it

Things most newcomers don’t know

The emergency alert on your phone is a functional part of living here.

Chile broadcasts earthquake, tsunami and fire alerts to handsets through the SAE cell broadcast system, and Valparaíso is a city where all three are live risks rather than abstractions. A phone with alerts disabled, or a foreign handset that does not receive the Chilean broadcast bands, removes your first and often only warning. Check the setting in week one and confirm you receive the periodic national drills.

Source: SUBTEL / SENAPRED — Sistema de Alerta de Emergencia

Coverage differs by cerro, and the plan tells you nothing about it.

Valparaíso's topography puts deep ravines and steep back slopes in genuine radio shadow, and the four networks do not have identical hill coverage. Comparing operators from a café in the plan is comparing them where they are all fine. Ask the neighbours on the specific hill which network they use — it is a question porteños answer immediately and it is more reliable than any coverage map.

Source: community-reported; operator coverage maps

SENAPRED replaced ONEMI on 1 January 2023, and the older name is everywhere.

Ley 21.364 created the Servicio Nacional de Prevención y Respuesta ante Desastres and it took over from ONEMI at the start of 2023, with a mandatory rather than advisory framework for the agencies in the national system. Guides, apps and even some signage still say ONEMI. If you are looking for the official evacuation maps and alert channels, look for SENAPRED.

Source: Ley 21.364; SENAPRED

A RUT is required for a contract, which is another reason to get the provisional one early.

The RUT provisorio from the SII on form F4415 is available with a passport and visa before the cédula exists, and it unlocks postpaid plans along with the bank account and the lease. It is the same lever repeatedly, and it is the highest-value early errand in Chile.

Source: SII — RUT provisorio via form F4415

Common mistakes to avoid

Turning up to buy a SIM without an identity document — registration is mandatory.
Leaving emergency alerts disabled on your handset in a tsunami and fire zone.
Judging network coverage from the plan when you intend to live on a cerro.
Trying to take a postpaid contract before you have a RUT and a Chilean bank account.
Searching for ONEMI, which was replaced by SENAPRED on 1 January 2023.

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