Movistar in Chile

The figures here come from SUBTEL, Chile’s telecoms regulator, from Movistar’s own pages and from the Chilean and trade press, each with its date.

Movistar’s lines in SUBTEL’s count

SUBTEL’s count takes in every mobile line used at least once in the previous 30 days. At the end of June 2026 it found 5,403,952 Movistar lines, 22.8% of the national total, against 5,677,058 a year before. Most of them are contract lines: 4,730,477 in June 2026, with 673,475 prepaid. That left Movistar with 16.2% of the country’s prepaid lines and 24.2% of its contract lines.

How Movistar’s 4G and 5G grew

Movistar opened 4G on 14 November 2013 on the 2.6 GHz band, with coverage in all regions, and said it expected to double that coverage during 2014. Its 5G went live in December 2021, when SUBTEL announced that Movistar, Entel and WOM had activated the technology. Movistar had promised 5G in all 16 regions by March 2022, with 1,500 base stations, and in July 2022 it reported 5G in 340 communes and more than 500,000 customers using it.

By June 2026 SUBTEL counted 2,143,385 Movistar connections on 5G, more than the 1,945,842 it counted on 4G, and none left on 2G. In July 2026 the company said that more than half of the data crossing its mobile network in the Metropolitan Region used 5G, and that use of its 5G network nationwide had grown 25% in a year.

Who owns Movistar now?

Telefónica sold its Chilean business in February 2026. The buyer was a vehicle controlled by NJJ, with 51%, and Millicom, the group behind the Tigo brand, with 49%, which together bought 99.4% of Telefónica Chile. On 10 February 2026 SUBTEL said the company had guaranteed that its operations would carry on, and that it would meet the new shareholders. A board drawn from Millicom and NJJ was notified to the market regulator on 1 May 2026.

The company that sells the lines is still Telefónica Móviles Chile S.A., as Movistar’s mobile contract terms of August 2026 state. Millicom applied to register the Tigo trademark in Chile on 30 April 2026, but in October 2026 the chief executive, Carolina Vallejo, said no decision on a change of name had been taken.

eSIM on Movistar lines

Movistar’s eSIM page says the digital SIM costs nothing. A customer who takes a mobile plan installs it from the phone’s settings, and the line is then managed in the Mi Movistar app. For iPhones the page asks for an XR or a newer model; on other phones, dialling *#06# shows an EID number when the handset supports eSIM.

Getting a Movistar prepaid line as a visitor

Movistar said in October 2026 that it had opened or renovated 55 branches in recent months and planned 40 more before the end of the year. A visitor buying a prepaid chip there now goes through an identity check: under SUBTEL’s rules in force since 20 August 2026, the operator records the holder’s name, address and ID card or passport number before the line is switched on or recharged. The check can be done by fingerprint, face recognition, security questions or a two-step code.

The phone has its own rule. A handset bought outside Chile keeps working on a local SIM for 30 days after it first connects, under the IMEI scheme in force since February 2019; after that it needs to be on the register, which the mobile company or an approved certifier can do.

Install the eSIMSwitch it on after landingNo connection