Ecuador has land line and cellular telephone service covering most
inhabitable areas of Ecuador, although cell service can be spotty
at times.
In general, it is not difficult to communicate within and outside
of the country.
Local Time
GMT minus 5 hours on mainland Ecuador.
Phone Booths
Calling cards for BellSouth and Porta phone booths are sold in small
shops throughout Ecuador and cost either $3 or $5. For dialling within
Quito, you need to dial 02 followed by the seven-digit number (which
begins with 2).
You can receive calls to a phone booth. These numbers are like cell
phone numbers in that they usually begin with 099.
Andinatel Phone Offices
For international calling, Andinatel, the national phone company,
has offices with phone booths (cabinas) sprinkled throughout the country's
major cities. Calls to the US and Europe cost around 35¢ per
minute.
Net2Phone
Many Internet cafés offer Net2Phone and other international
long distance services via the Internet for around half this price,
but the connection is often very poor.
Cell Phones
Cell phone access is widely available and heavily promoted. If you
plan to be in Ecuador for an extended stay, you may want to consider
a cell phone.
Again, service is available via BellSouth (US company) and Ecuador's
own Porta. Most cell phone numbers begin with 099, although more and
more 098 and 097 numbers are popping up.
Provincial Telephone Area Codes
In order to make calls to the interior of Ecuador from one province
to another, you will need to use the various provincial area codes.
When dialling within a province, no area code is necessary.
Below are Ecuador's 22 Provincial Area
Codes:
| Azuay
(Cuenca) |
07
|
Bolívar
(Guaranda) |
03
|
| Carchi (Tulcan) |
06
|
Cañar
(Azoguez) |
07
|
| Chimborazo
(Riobamba) |
03
|
Cotopaxi (Latacunga) |
03
|
| El Oro (Machala) |
07
|
Esmeraldas
(Esmeraldas) |
06
|
| Galápagos
(Pto. Baquerizo Moreno) |
05
|
Guayas (Guayaquil) |
04
|
| Imbabura (Ibarra) |
06
|
Loja (Loja) |
07
|
| Los Ríos
(Babahoyo) |
05
|
Manabí
(Manta) |
05
|
| Morona (Macas) |
07
|
Napo (Tena) |
06
|
| Orellana (Coca) |
06
|
Pastaza (Puyo) |
03
|
| Pichincha
(Quito) |
02
|
Sucumbíos
(Lago Agrio) |
06
|
| Tungurahua
(Ambato) |
03
|
Zamora (Zamora) |
07
|
International Dialling Code to Ecuador
(593) is the country code to call Ecuador from another country. This
needs to be followed by the provincial area code and then the seven-digit
number.
Useful Numbers:
Emergency: 911
Police: 101
Fire: 102
