Can I buy a sim card in Havana?

Question: Is it possible to buy a Cuban sim card for your cell phone in Havana?

Answer: You can bring your own cell phone to Cuba and buy Cuban SIM cards but you must rent a line in-country to use it. The cost is CUC 3/day and you will have to take out a minimum of CUC 10 credit for phone use.

To be activated for use in Cuba, your cell phone must be GSM working in the 900 MHz band width or else it won’t work. A tri-band phone is even better. Cell phones that are CDMA don’t function in Cuba.

SIM cards (pre-paid with a certain amount of time on it) are available from all Cubacel offices and enable you to call anywhere in Cuba and receive calls. These can be purchased for CUC 10, 20 or 40 each.

If you are in Havana, the two places where you can get your cell phone operational, rent a line and get SIM cards are Cubacel in Miramar (Calle 28 #510, Tel 05?880?2222 or 05?264?2266 for client attention) and the José Martí International Airport, where Cubacel has offices in both Terminals #2 and #3.

There are various ETECSA “telepuntos”, including in some hotels, where you can pay the credit charge for using a cell phone.

Note: Also see the information under “Can I use my cell phone in Cuba?”