Compare Entel and Viva bundle details
Entel's mobile prepaid page lists data packages bought with *10#, the Entel app or its authorised electronic channels. It says these packages are available nationally to prepaid and postpaid customers, with use over 4G or 5G according to available coverage. One basic one-day listing showed 200 MB for Bs 2 at the time of checking. That small allowance is a useful illustration of the need to read the data amount, rather than buying by price alone before an Uyuni tour or a long bus journey.
Viva's help centre lists prepaid data bags through BancoSol's digital channels and Punto Sol neighbourhood service points. Its page showed, at the time of checking, a 1.5 GB pack for five days at Bs 10 and a 3.2 GB pack for ten days at Bs 20, with named Viva app and WhatsApp components. Those are operator-published examples, not a promise of the shop's current checkout; verify the live plan, validity, app conditions and any tethering restriction before paying. Keep ordinary data separate from a social-app allowance when estimating how much mapping or cloud use the plan will support.
ATT's public tariff tool distinguishes mobile internet, data bags, voice and combination products. Check the category, remaining balance and expiry before leaving a city where top-up is straightforward.
Check eSIM eligibility at the operator counter
Viva's help centre says an existing prepaid or postpaid line can be converted to eSIM and explains how it sends a unique QR code by email. Its detailed shop instructions ask the account holder to attend a central Viva store with identity documents and a valid email address. Because those instructions refer to a Bolivian identity card, a foreign visitor should ask Viva directly which travel document is accepted for a new local line rather than assume the same self-service path applies. Do this before counting on instant activation after landing.
Viva's eSIM instructions specify Wi-Fi and access to the account holder's email for installing the QR profile. For a traveller who wants to keep a home physical SIM for bank texts, a local eSIM can preserve both profiles on the handset. Label the lines clearly and set which one uses mobile data; test the local line before leaving the store.
The published Viva process does not establish a universal online tourist purchase. Bring the original travel document, phone and accessible email account, then ask what verification applies to a new visitor number.
Register the handset as well as the line
Tigo Bolivia's device-registration guidance says a handset's IMEI can be read by dialling *#06#, and that a foreign customer should visit a Tigo shop for its registration process. The operator says an unregistered device can be blocked after 72 hours from the point a SIM or eSIM begins receiving signal, affecting calls, texts and data. That is Tigo's stated procedure for its customers; check the current requirements with the operator you choose and complete the step before heading to a remote border or salt-flat trip.
Some dual-SIM phones have two IMEIs. Tigo says the identifier actually in use can be registered, and recommends both if the customer wants the ability to block the whole device after loss. Viva's eSIM instructions also tell customers to confirm IMEI registration, using *108# in its own process. An eSIM profile does not remove the handset-identifier question. Keep a record of the IMEI and purchase documents separately from the phone.
ATT provides an IMEI lookup to see whether a device has been reported stolen, lost or subsequently released. That is a status tool, not evidence of a blanket customs tax or an invented tourist exemption. If an imported phone fails to attach to a Bolivian network, ask the chosen operator whether registration, lock status or frequency compatibility is the issue before buying more data.
Use ATT measurements to frame coverage questions
ATT says its mobile drive tests measure coverage, download performance, latency and signal quality while vehicles travel through Bolivian cities and routes. In its July 2025 account the regulator said it detected weak signal, slow data and high latency in some measured sectors and directed operators to improve them. This is more useful to a traveller than assuming that a nationwide plan means seamless navigation from La Paz through the altiplano to Potosí.
The regulator also publishes 4G quality measurements supplied through devices placed in operators' networks. Such results are measurements at selected points and periods, not a signal promise for a named lodge, bus seat or mountain pass. Check each operator's current local coverage where the itinerary is hardest to change. Download offline maps and the next night's booking while still in a connected town; identify a meeting point if your group separates where messaging may fail.
Entel says 5G needs a compatible, homologated phone, suitable USIM or eSIM and coverage. Check the intercity road rather than choosing from a 5G logo.
Use El Alto airport Wi-Fi to finish setup
Bolivia's airport operator NAABOL says it provides free internet inside its international airports, including El Alto. That gives passengers arriving for La Paz a documented place to retrieve an emailed eSIM QR code, check a live operator tariff or message accommodation. It does not establish that a particular mobile operator has a counter in the terminal. If a local SIM needs registration, find a verified shop location and opening time before departure, or carry another way to navigate the first transfer.
NAABOL's airport page links El Alto with La Paz and mentions the city's cable-car system. Download the destination address and route on airport Wi-Fi before a transfer to the city or Uyuni.
Viva sends its QR instructions by email. Set up a local profile only when you can still reach those messages and the operator's support channel. After installation, turn off mobile data on the home line if its Bolivia roaming rate is unknown, then open a page using the intended local line to confirm it works.
Distinguish Andean postpaid roaming from prepaid tariffs
The Andean Community says its decision removing additional roaming surcharges applies to eligible postpaid service among Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, covering voice, SMS and data under the home plan's conditions. Its later tourism explanation again specifies postpaid users. That is not a promise that a Bolivian prepaid bundle or a home plan from outside the Andean Community has the same treatment. Ask the actual provider for the country list, eligibility and fair-use conditions before crossing.
Viva's prepaid roaming page shows separate international tariffs and warns that near a border a phone can automatically pick up a neighbouring country's network while still on the Bolivian side. That can change billing unexpectedly. Check the network name and data-roaming setting when travelling towards Peru or Chile, and use manual network selection if the operator recommends it for the particular location. Keep offline directions ready until the new line's coverage and price are confirmed.
The Bolivian Police site lists BOL 110 for police and 119 for firefighters. Save these before a long road journey and keep a voice-calling option. The police page does not say that a data-only eSIM can place emergency calls, so internet connectivity alone should not be assumed to provide that function. If you need help on a remote route, an offline map can make it easier to describe the last settlement or road junction to a dispatcher.
Networks our Bolivia plans use
These are the operators named on our plans for Bolivia, taken from the plan data, so the list follows the catalogue.
- Entel3G
- NuevatelLTE
- Telecel4G
- Telecel S.A.4G
- tigoLTE
- Tigo4G