Making telephone calls can be a complicated and exhausting process in Chile because the dialing codes change depending on whether you are using a landline or cell phone. Follow these simple instructions and you should be fine.

Local Calls
Landline to landline
To make a local call from a landline, dial the area code + telephone number. So, if you are in Santiago and want to call a local number from a landline, simply dial 2 + telephone number.


Cell phone to cell phone
The number 7, 8 or 9 prefixes all cell phone numbers. If you want to make a call to a local cell phone from a local cell phone, you need to dial the prefix + telephone number (for example, 9 + telephone number).

Cell phone to landline
To call a landline from a local cell phone you need to dial 0 + area code + telephone number. For example a call to Santiago would be 0 + 2 + telephone number.

Outside Chile to landline/cell phone
If you want to call a Chilean cell phone from overseas, you need to dial the international access code + country code + prefix + telephone number. The international access code for the U.S. and Canada is (011), and (00) for the U.K. So. If you want to call a Chilean phone from the U.K. dial 00 + 56 + 9 + telephone number).

Calling To/From Abroad

International calls to Chile
The international dialing code for Chile is 56. To place an international call to Chile, dial the international access code + country code + area code + telephone number. The international access code for the U.S. and Canada is (011), and (00) for the U.K. For example, if you want to call Santiago from England, you need to dial 00 + 56 + 2 + number.

International calls from Chile
When making an overseas phone calls you must dial the operator code + 0 + country code (of the destination you are calling) + area code + telephone number. Operator codes are three-digit numbers. The most widely used are:
Entel (123)
Movistar (181)
Telefonica (188)
VTR (111)

For example if you want to call New York in the U.S. using Entel, you need to dial 123 + 0 + 1 + 212 + telephone number.