Bolivia
Power & telecom standards in Bolivia
Connectivity Overview
Tempest Telecom offered dial-up internet access, WiFi hotspot access and broadband ethernet access in Bolivia. We also offered Iridium satellite Internet and Voice access in Bolivia for communications in rural areas without infrastructure.
Bolivia uses 220V at 50Hz. Power outlets are type A, C and telephone jacks are RJ-11.
Dial-up Internet Access
Tempest Telecom provided local dial-up access numbers in Bolivia at $0.155/minute. Travelers could connect using any standard modem with an RJ-11 telephone adapter.
WiFi Hotspot Access
Tempest Telecom provided WiFi hotspot access in Bolivia at $19.95/day for unlimited browsing.
Adapters & Power
North American (Type A/B) plugs are compatible. An adapter may not be needed for US travelers.
Standard RJ-11 jacks are used. Most international modems will connect without an adapter.
Bolivia at a Glance
- Capital
- Sucre
- Phone Code
- +591
- Voltage
- 220V / 50Hz
- Power Plug
- A, C
- Phone Jack
- RJ-11
- Currency
- Boliviano
- Dial-up
- $0.155/min
- WiFi
- $19.95/day
About connectivity in Bolivia
Bolivia uses 220V/50Hz with Type A and Type C outlets — a mix reflecting historic American (Type A) and European (Type C) infrastructure influence. The phone jack is RJ-11. ENTEL Bolivia (Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones), nationalized in 2008 after a period of private ownership under Italian Euro Telecom International, holds substantial market position. Tigo Bolivia (Millicom) and Viva Bolivia compete in mobile and broadband.
Bolivian commercial Internet emerged in the mid-to-late 1990s through ENTEL's consumer service and several regional ISPs. Per-minute metered dial-up dominated the late 1990s. The country's high-altitude topography (La Paz at 3,640m is the world's highest administrative capital) and dispersed rural population have shaped infrastructure investment patterns. ADSL rolled out through the 2000s with mobile data driving the bulk of recent connectivity growth.
ENTEL Bolivia introduced cardphone units in the 1990s with chip-card cardphones becoming standard. The Bolivian prepaid international calling-card market through the 2000s and 2010s served the substantial outbound Bolivian diaspora — concentrated in Argentina (the largest single destination, particularly in Buenos Aires), Brazil, the United States (the DC Metropolitan Area, particularly Arlington VA hosts a notable Bolivian-American community), Spain (Madrid and Barcelona), Chile, and Italy. Indigenous Aymara and Quechua-language calling sustained per-destination card volume to specific highland communities.
Tempest Telecom served Bolivia through dial-up POPs in La Paz and Santa Cruz de la Sierra. The Andean mining sector (Bolivia is a major lithium, tin, and silver producer), the lowland Amazonian operations across the Beni and Pando departments, archaeological-research operators across the Tiwanaku UNESCO heritage site, and the rural altiplano expedition customer base sustained Iridium and BGAN satellite demand.
Modern Bolivia has expanding 4G LTE coverage with FTTH concentrated in La Paz, Santa Cruz, and Cochabamba. 5G rollout began in 2023.
Tempest's services across Bolivia, 1997–2012
Tempest Telecommunications operated international connectivity services in Bolivia between 1997 and 2012 under a unified prepaid account that absorbed multiple service types onto a single customer credential. Customers in Bolivia drew from the same balance for pre-paid international voice calling, RADIUS-authenticated dial-up Internet roaming, metered Wi-Fi hotspot access, Iridium satellite voice, and Inmarsat BGAN data terminals. An attempted kiosk-payment federation (PATN, 1998) extended the same architecture to public Internet terminals but failed to reach scale.
Iridium satellite voice was available in Bolivia from approximately 2001 (post-bankruptcy relaunch). Thuraya coverage did not extend to Bolivia; Inmarsat BGAN data terminals filled the broadband gap from late 2005.
Nearby countries in Americas
Bahamas · Barbados · Belize · Bermuda · Brazil · Canada · Cayman Islands · Chile