Register the local line before relying on it
Uruguay's regulator, URSEC, links the rule requiring operators to keep identification records for prepaid and postpaid mobile customers. Antel's registration form says a customer with a Uruguayan identity card or a foreign document can register a prepaid line online. Bring the passport or other document used for the purchase, keep the number printed with the SIM, and make the registration step part of your arrival plan.
Antel's mobile help page describes activation in a particular order: enter the SIM PIN, use *611# and option 3 to register, then make the minimum required top-up. It says option 4 on that same menu can retrieve the service number if you do not know it. A visitor with an eSIM should use Antel's current activation instructions for the digital profile, while still allowing for the identification and top-up steps.
Movistar Uruguay likewise tells new prepaid customers to register their card and cites the same decree. This is a rule for local service rather than a special fee on a foreign handset. Ask the chosen operator which documents its sales channel accepts if the online form does not fit your passport or other foreign identification.
Antel eSIM purchase and the 30-day activation window
Antel says an eSIM can be bought through its online shop or at its commercial locations around the country. Its digital profile is installed with a QR code, and the operator gives customers 30 days after the purchase is confirmed to activate it. Do not buy so early that this window runs out before you can complete the setup. Check the phone's eSIM support and whether it is unlocked before paying for a local profile.
The Antel help page says the eSIM activation card costs the same as an ordinary SIM, but it does not make every prepaid top-up free. Keep the purchase message or QR code until data and calls have both been tested. Antel also notes that resetting a phone does not itself delete the installed eSIM; deleting the profile requires a separate action, so avoid removing it while troubleshooting a temporary signal problem.
A physical Antel card is still useful for a handset without eSIM support. The first data connection will depend on completing registration and the top-up, so save your accommodation address and onward travel details offline before reaching the counter.
Top up for days, data and calls
Antel lists a Recarga Combinada with 5 GB, Antel minutes and minutes to other companies for seven days. At the time of checking it cost 260 Uruguayan pesos. Its Super Combinada offered 30 GB and calling allowances for 15 days at 400 pesos. These are add-ons for a registered Antel line, not the price of the SIM itself, and the allowances on Antel's page are for use in Uruguay.
The operator says these recharges can be bought in its online shop, through miAntel, by SMS to 226, at Antel offices and through sales agents; some channels also support TuApp. Antel's help page describes a minimum recharge to activate a newly registered prepaid card. Check the current minimum and the desired bundle separately at purchase, because a first balance recharge and a data bundle may be different transactions.
For a short stay in Montevideo and Colonia, a seven-day bundle may fit better than a longer pack. For a route that includes Punta del Este or inland stops, select the period by the actual travel dates and leave some allowance for navigation between towns. The prices and included quantities above come from Antel's own catalogue and can change before travel.
Read the coverage map for your itinerary
Antel's public map separates LTE, 5G and older mobile technologies. It explicitly warns that a coloured area is indicative and service can be unavailable or limited at particular spots within it. Search the areas around your accommodation, and treat rural road sections or beaches differently from a central Montevideo address. A coverage outline cannot guarantee reception inside a bus or behind thick walls.
Antel says prepaid and contract customers can use its 5G network if they have a compatible device and are within its 5G footprint. Its 5G page claims a gradual rollout across all 19 Uruguayan departments, rather than continuous fifth-generation coverage on every route. When comparing phones, ask whether your particular model supports the operator's service; the network's availability on a map and a handset's 5G compatibility are separate questions.
Antel's mobile help also says a phone brought from abroad does not need registration with the National Customs Directorate merely to connect to a mobile service. That is a different issue from registering a new Uruguayan prepaid line to a person. Check that distinction if you encounter an IMEI registration claim online.
Crossing into neighbouring countries
An Antel prepaid top-up for domestic use should not be assumed to keep its data allowance when the phone crosses the border. Antel's roaming page explains that roaming prices differ from domestic service except for specific benefits. Its data-as-at-home arrangement in Brazil, Paraguay and Chile is described on a separate page as a benefit for eligible contract lines, with prepaid excluded.
For prepaid customers, Antel's roaming shop lists a separate daily internet package, and the operator advises customers to check the supported country and visited network. Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile have different arrangements on the main roaming page. Confirm the price and whether the package starts on purchase or first use before leaving Uruguay. If you use a separate travel data line, select that line for mobile data and keep the Uruguayan number only when its roaming settings and costs are understood.
The same border question applies in reverse: a home plan that works in Argentina is not automatically a domestic plan in Uruguay. Check your home operator's Uruguay country list before departure, particularly if arriving by ferry from Buenos Aires.
Use Carrasco Airport Wi-Fi for setup
Carrasco Airport's own travel guide says Wi-Fi is free across its terminal and notes charging points for devices. That gives an arriving passenger a place to retrieve a QR code, finish a form or contact accommodation before a local line is active. The airport guide is older, so check the current network name and access instructions at the terminal rather than relying on screenshots from a previous trip.
Download the QR code, account email and an offline map before flying as well. The airport connection is a useful fallback, but it does not solve a registration mismatch or an expired eSIM activation window. If collecting a physical SIM after arrival, retain your passport and the card packaging until the Antel registration and first recharge are complete.
Keep an emergency calling route
Uruguay's Interior Ministry says 9-1-1 is a free emergency call, available around the clock even without prepaid credit. It also offers an Emergencia 9-1-1 phone app; the ministry says the app needs a registered user, GPS and either mobile data or Wi-Fi to report an incident with location information. Save the number separately from the app so an internet failure does not leave you searching for it.
A data-only eSIM should not be assumed to provide ordinary cellular voice calls. The ministry's information confirms how to reach 9-1-1 by phone and how its app connects, but it does not confirm that every data-only profile can place a cellular emergency call. Keep a working voice line or another calling route, and test your device setup without making a test call to emergency services.
Networks our Uruguay plans use
These are the operators named on our plans for Uruguay, taken from the plan data, so the list follows the catalogue.
- AbiatarLTE
- Antel4G
- Claro5G
- Claro (CTI)4G
- CLARO URUGUAY4G
- CLARO UY4G
- Entel5G
- Movistar5G
- MOVISTAR5G
- Telefonica Moviles UY5G