Modernity has arrived to the quincentennial Antigua Guatemala.
Surely you remember all the talk about the cellular telephones available from Q100 with Q150 of air time and NO contracts or the sim cards (chips) available from Q25 that you can put in your flashed (liberated) cell phone to get a Guatemalan telephone number while in the country, right?
Well, my friends that was with old second generation (2G) cellular networks; that’s probably what you have now with your mobile phone in the U.S., Canada or Europe, unless you have a Blackberry or an iPhone.
Starting tomorrow, Friday 22nd of August, La Antigua Guatemala will be joining the cities of the world with third generation (3G) cellular networks and what better way to use this high-speed telephone networks than with an iPhone 3G in your hand. That’s right folks, two of three mayor mobile telephone companies will be selling the ubiquitous iPhone.
However, for now, only Claro (Telgua) will be sporting the 3G cellular network. But MoviStar (Telefónica) is said to be right behind it. Tigo (Comcel) is rumored to be in their last testing phase.
According to news published by Oscar Mota, a Guatemalan technology blogger, in DesdeGuate.com the iPhone 3G will be available from Q4500 without contract from Claro. That’s about three months of minimum wages. Nevertheless, I am sure the Guatemalan gadget and geek community will buy it like hot bread out of the oven. Other contractual plans will be available with both cellular carriers to bring down the price of this gadget.
So now these are some of connectivity options available in La Antigua Guatemala: ADSL Access, Cable Internet Access, Satellite Internet Access, WIFI, Edge, 2G, and 3G cellular networks. Am I missing something? Not too bad for a nearly-500-year-old colonial town.
Acknowledgements: I want to thank my good friend Nelo for agreeing to model with his iPhone in front of the San Francisco El Grande Church.
© 2008 – 2020, Rudy Giron. All rights reserved.
Claro already has a working 3G network, since few weeks ago. Early this month they have updated their network for more speed.
So, do you gonna buy a new iPhone 3G? Will be nice to see the iPhone 3G listed in your “Powerd by” section 😉
Cheers.
It is indeed wonderful for the upgrades to communications services in Central America. Soon we will all be wondering how we ever lived without the latest devices.
Great contrast between old and new! And great “proud owner” shot!
Hey Rudy, are you a commercial photographer? If not, you could be. Great shot!
Wow, I love what you did with the color in this shot! Very, very cool photo. Apple should pay you for this one!
And your model, Nelo… ¡que guapissimo! Por favor, dame su numero 😉
Janna, I’m right there with you, I was like ‘wow, who is that cutie?’ Rudy, is your friend single?
@Ladies, yes Nelo is single, available, rich and famous. 😉
Great photo. Love the background, the good-looking model, and, of course, your coloring. Very neat.
Cool photo, the old and the new! Those Iphones are pretty cool, and quite addictive. There are so many applications free to download. 🙂 Are the Iphones unlocked over there? And I’ll add the third ditto here, Nelo parece muy simpatico.
Globalization at its best? I really like the picture — lots of contrasts: old and new, color and grayscale, colonial era and modern era…I’m just dying for a chance to get to see Antigua and its charming atmosphere. Maybe by then the 3G might be a little cheaper!
Well, the pic is not so bad… is great. It will be better promotion for me than for the iPhone.
Is great to know that now many other people here will be able to have this amazing micro apple computer, a good taste for those that live on windows about the MacWorld.
pd: yes, i’m single, jeje.
Hey! I really like your blog, is one of my favorites…
When I go to Antigua Guatemala sometimes I take a similar photo, but you have a very different every day showing something that maybe I saw before but I did not pay it attention, that is soooo cool! See you at the Pizza´n Blogs! 😉
Can I put a local sim card in my iphone from US and do a monthly or other contract without cracking it or should I leave it in the States when I come for my language classes?
@Bill, you can only put a local sim card, “chip” as they call it here, if you phone is flashed, jail-broken, cracked, et-cetera. If your phone is jail-broken, then bring it and I recommend you buy a Tigo chip which has the best reception anywhere. Also, you may purchase a 3.5G Internet-ready chip and be able to have internet access everywhere there’s Tigo signal. 😉
thank you for that answer…I am now in Antigua eight weeks and bought a cheap phone but miss my iphone. Can someone here crack it here?…. and if so will it ever work back in usa? How would it cost to do?
I will also be in antigua in 2 weeks and i also would like to use my iphone for 1 month while on vacation. Can you give me more detailed information on how to activate the iphone in guatemala. What is the price of the 3.5G chip and the price of a contract for one month ?
@Alex, I recommend that you read the step-by-step guide that Braad put together at their web site entitled How To Get An IPhone On Tigo Without A Plan.
One important fact that Braad forgot to include is that there are no 3G data plans without contracts with Tigo. Once your phone chip/sim card/telephone number is data-plan-enabled, you can use your phone and pay by the byte, megabyte really. That’s Q25/1MB of 3G data transfers (that’s about $3 per 1MB) with Tigo. The other Tigo option is WAP data transfer for a daily fee of Q5/50MB ($0.60 per 50MB of transfers). If you opt for the WAP data transfers, you must send the word WAP to the number 805 to subscribe and Tigo will deduct Q5 everyday from your saldo (airtime). You have to make sure you only use the WAP TIGO server and not other, unless you want to incur per megabyte charge. 🙁
ps: what are those little owls all about? I see them in the sweet shops everywhere?
@Bill, these are owl banks. Read the following entry – https://antiguadailyphoto.com/2006/10/16/antiguas-owl-banks/
Hey Rudy,
Are there any current comments for this year at all? I only read OOOLD comments. Where is everybody?
@LaFille, if you search for iPhone on the website you will find new articles with new information and comments.