Postal Services and Couriers
in Ecuador
In Ecuador, there are several postal services through
which you can easily send letters, cards, post cards and
packages to your loved ones. To see details on this information,
visit the section Postal
Services and Couriers.
Telephone Calls
The most used means of communication throughout the world
is the telephone because it is the quickest, most direct
and easiest way to communicate.
National Phone Calls
For local calls, all you have to do is dial the corresponding
7 digit number. For national calls to another province
from a normal telephone, you should dial the code for
the city that you are going to call. There are telephone
booths in every city where there is a list of national
and international dialing codes. To see the dialing codes,
you could ask in your hotel or in the telephone booths
or on the link on our website.
International Calls
For calling to Ecuador from outside of the country, you
should dial 011 (US and Canada) which is the code for
international calls, then dial the country code for Ecuador
(593) and finally the code for the province which is two
numbers and then the number you are trying to call. Let
us remind you that beginning last year, all of the telephone
numbers in Ecuador have 7 digits (the six numbers and
all are preceded by a 2).
For international calls from Ecuador, you should dial
001, the international code and then the country code,
the city code and then finally the number you are going
to call. If you are going to call from a telephone in
a house, it could be blocked against making these types
of calls. Rates vary according to the country you are
calling. The best thing to do for international calls
is to go to a public telephone booth because the rate
is more exact and reduced.
Public Telephone Booths
Almost every city in the country has public telephone
service that has a cost of 25 cents per minute for local
calls.
In addition to this, Bell South, Alegro,
Porta and Andinatel
also offer this service through calling cards of $2.00,
$3.00 and $5.00, that can be obtained just about anywhere.
If for some reason you cannot find a public telephone,
most restaurants, stores and other small businesses can
rent you their telephone for a cost of about 30 cents
a minute.
For inter-provincial calls, international calls and faxes,
we suggest you make these calls from Andinatel (the national
telephone company). The price of an average call is 35
cents a minute. Hotels generally offer telephones as well.
Cell Phones
Access to cell phones is now very common in Ecuador.
If you are planning to stay for a long time in Ecuador,
you should consider getting one. Prices vary from $70
- $300. Again, this service is provided by the companies Movistar, Porta and Alegro.
Cell phones start with 09.
Area Codes
02 Pichincha
03 Cotopaxi, Tungurahua, Pastaza, Chimborazo and Bolivar
04 Guayas
05 Galapagos, Los Rios and Manabi
06 Carchi, Esmeraldas, Imbabura, Napo, Orellana and Sucumbios
07 Azuay, Cañar, El Oro, Loja, Morona Santiago
and Zamora
