Registering a Foreign Cell Phone

Why should I register my cell phone? This question is very common and before I give you the steps to do it I will explain why we should do it

The Subsecretaria de Telecomunicaciones (SUBTEL) calls to register both cell phones and other devices (tablets, alarms, etc.) as required by the Multiband / SAE regulations, which was reactivated on November 10, 2018. now with a 30-day window that allows traffic in mobile networks, and is mainly aimed at those devices purchased abroad.

The Multiband / SAE regulations take care of two relevant issues. In the first place, it seeks to ensure the safety of people, since by requiring that mobile phones have the mandatory incorporation of technology to receive messages from the Emergency Alert System (SAE) of ONEMI, lives are saved in the face of the potential occurrence of some phenomenon that could put people at risk, receiving an alert, with a sound and vibration difficult to ignore, in addition to providing accurate information and clear instructions.

Secondly, in the meantime, the initiative shows in a simple way the compatibility of the telephone with the different technologies available in the country, providing clear information to users about their equipment, and about the bands in which this will work. It also facilitates the process of numerical portability, eliminating an important barrier, as users often behaved and their mobile phone could not work in the bands where the new company operated. 

1.- As of November 10, 2018, foreigners who travel to Chile and want to use their phone or other mobile device with a local SIM Card, must register them in the system so that they can continue operating in Chile after 30 days of activated the computer in the network.

2.- For such registration, within a period of 30 days, counted from the activation of the equipment in the network, you must contact a certifying company (www.multibanda.cl) and make an administrative registration. For this purpose, once your phone is activated, you will receive an SMS that will allow you to make such an online registration.

3.- You must provide some background information about your telephone and your personal information, as well as proof of your purchase abroad, making a declaration acknowledging this circumstance and the effects that your phone has not been approved.

4.- You can register one (1) FREE equipment per year, as long as the certifying company does not exceed 2% of your total records (of IMEI) in the system. In this case, to enjoy the tip, you can resort to another certification company, which has not exceeded that 2%.

5.- The certifying company will carry out this procedure, verifying that it is a natural person, that it is 1 team for each request of Administrative Registration, the fact of having acquired the equipment abroad (ticket, invoice, passport and / or passages, etc) and the correspondence between the IMEI printed on the equipment and the IMEI obtained by configuration.

With this the team will be registered and can use it in the network of the mobile company of the country that the phone allows.

6.- A telephone purchased abroad has not been subject to a homologation process, so it is not possible to ensure that your phone is compatible with the technologies (2G, 3G, 4G) advertised in this regard, nor is it possible to ensure that support the Emergency Alert System (SAE).

7.- If after a period of 1 or 2 hours after receiving the confirmation from the Certification Company that it made the registration of the same in the Centralized Database that does not work, contact the Chilean telecommunications company with which hired the service (be it plan or prepaid) since it belongs to the Sim Card that you are using.

Note: If you use your phone only in the roaming or WiFi mode, it is not necessary to make this registration.

Here is a page where you can see the address where you can register the phone in the same way to acquire a chip ask at the store if they can also register too. https://multibanda.cl/empresas-certificadoras/