Chile Forum

ok ty good to know ill just stick too the cell

I don't know, if you get a landline, stick to the old and proven Telefonica (now Movistar) system as they were around before the cable telephone vendors.

I have through a number of years of blackouts in Santiago and on the coast always found them up and running (dial tone which does not mean you will get through if the entire communication infrastructure is maxed), even had dial tone after the 8.3 (localized) quake.

Late last night/early morning because of the blackout, my pareja in Santiago could not get through to me on the coast via our Movistar cells (not even text messaging) but she could use that same Movistar cell to call my Telefonica/Movistar landline.

SO I have found the old copper based landline system ultra reliable in terms of being the last to go out and the first to be active after an "event."

Yea, having put all the phone systems in Chile through their paces these last weeks (we have at least one of every company, and my cell bill is going to be astronomical), here is my review in order of most reliable:

Almost all Cell phone sms work to some degree (stateless, so will work even if the system only comes up for a few seconds)
Land line phones for voice, but were often only able to call within the city and international calls did not work for days.
Cell phones for voice, were able to connect at a national level. Entel and Movistar. Entel came up the fastest, Movistar had the widest and most stable coverage when it came up later.
Internet over Movistar 3g/edge worked the most, when there was a cell network working.
When power was up, VTR cable had the most reliable internet, followed by telefonica. Telefonica del sur is just buys from telefonica their lines.
Claro smartcom was garbage everywhere, and took over a week to repair. It still is not working in many areas in the South.
Vonage VOIP for about a week was the only way for us to get an international call through, as long as the telefonica DSL was up and running.
Skype completely broke down in most of the country.

Sat phones bought in Chile from Chilean companies are a waist of money. All of them are routed through Santiago. Santiago goes down, sat phones as far south as tiera del fuego quit working. Buy sat phone service from a foreign company with ground stations outside of Chile. I had a long conversation with some guys we ran in to from phones without boarders in the field. Their sat phones were working, when Chilean sat phones were dead in Chile. They said what they are selling in Chile that they call sat phone, are not real sat phones.

eeuunikkeiexpat wrote:I don't know, if you get a landline, stick to the old and proven Telefonica (now Movistar) system as they were around before the cable telephone vendors.

I have through a number of years of blackouts in Santiago and on the coast always found them up and running (dial tone which does not mean you will get through if the entire communication infrastructure is maxed), even had dial tone after the 8.3 (localized) quake.

Late last night/early morning because of the blackout, my pareja in Santiago could not get through to me on the coast via our Movistar cells (not even text messaging) but she could use that same Movistar cell to call my Telefonica/Movistar landline.

SO I have found the old copper based landline system ultra reliable in terms of being the last to go out and the first to be active after an "event."

Yeah, I have Movistar/Teléfonica for my landline and that has been the easiset method of communication when there were problems. Last night with the blackout my Entel and my husband's Movistar cell phones did not work, but a friend was able to get through to us, landline to landline. It was similar last Thurday with the aftershocks. I did have some problems getting through to the US on the 27th and vice versa, but I am guessing the system for international calls is overloaded.

If the system is that weakened, there recently was a CME that should reach earth around Wednesday.

These events have been linked to electric grid failures in the past (not to mention earthquakes).

So keep them candles, flashlights and batteries handy. My generator died on my bencina blanca Coleman lantern yesterday.

eeuunikkeiexpat wrote:If the system is that weakened, there recently was a CME that should reach earth around Wednesday.

These events have been linked to electric grid failures in the past (not to mention earthquakes).

So keep them candles, flashlights and batteries handy. My generator died on my bencina blanca Coleman lantern yesterday.

had to look that one up - Coronal Mass Ejections - aka - solar flares -

gee - aren't the earthquakes and tsunamis enough

Dagny wrote:

eeuunikkeiexpat wrote:had to look that one up - Coronal Mass Ejections - aka - solar flares

Ask eeuunikkeiexpat about his special tin foil hat for such occasions (i.e. not the same as the one to be worn on normal days). There's a special rate for Allchile numbers, you would have to pay me a fortune to get me to part with mine!

Are you ready for more of the same...?
Better be?

(from WSJ)
UPDATE:Chile Power Grid Seen Unstable For A Week After Blackout

Chile's main power grid, which supplies electricity to about 90% of the population, will remain unstable for about a week following a blackout Sunday, President Sebastian Pinera said Monday.

He said the blackout, which resulted from a damaged transformer at one of the grid's substations, was a consequence of the massive earthquake that hit the country in late February.

"The blackout was undoubtedly linked to the Feb. 27 earthquake as it damaged the transformer" that burned out Sunday, Pinera said at an event inaugurating the school year.

The recently inaugurated president vowed that the damaged transformer would be repaired within 48 hours and that the transmission lines would be stabilized in a week.

"In the next seven days, we'll have a stabilized electricity system," Pinera said.

Chileans, already spooked by one of the strongest earthquakes on record and the hundreds of aftershocks that have continued to shake the country, found themselves in the dark Sunday night.

Power was restored slowly throughout the SIC grid and, by Monday morning, 98% of supply was reestablished, the country's National Emergency Office, or Onemi, said.

Energy Minister Ricardo Raineri, meanwhile, said he didn't rule out more blackouts as the SIC grid, which runs from the northern area of Tal-Tal to the southern island of Chiloe, is still vulnerable.

"It's possible, but for now we're asking everyone to help us out by using electricity moderately; until we can restore [grid] security, the situation will remain critical," Raineri told reporters.

The SIC grid has a gross installed capacity of about 9,400 megawatts, with 52% of that capacity coming from hydroelectric generators.

BTW... everything is just fine up here in Arica - no worries

No black out in Antofagasta

Please no taunting from the far north.

Seriously, far north is the only region of Chile left to experience a 80-100++ year MEGA quake. You guys should be preparing.

I wonder how much this will push the vote for the building of the mega dams in the south.

Blackout is first column news on Drudge... From Bloomberg

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... lrdVjnvBFk

“Things like this could happen in the future,” Energy Minister Ricardo Raineri told reporters in Santiago yesterday. “Recovering the systems is a difficult task” after the Feb. 27 quake, and there may be blackouts for “months,” he said.

Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, said back-up systems were used in several of its mines during the power cut.

...now I'm adding "100% off the grid power" to the build an earthquake proof house list.......