Postal Services
Sending Mail and Packages:
Sending packages over two kilograms (5 lbs.) is very expensive: $25 and up. Packages under this weight limit cost up to $10 to mail and may take 8-10 business days to most North American destinations, longer to other parts of the world. Mailing letters and postcards costs between $0.80 and $1.20. Mail service from Ecuador to other parts of the world is reliable. Don't close your packages before you get to the post office, though; the staff is required to check the contents before the envelope or box is mailed. It is technically prohibited to mail jewelry, cash or other valuables, so use some discretion when choosing to mail something.
Quito has branches of international postal companies like DHL and FedEx in Quito. This is the best way to send express mail. However, for regular packages, stick to the national service, DHL and FedEx are easily triple the national post office price. You can also send packages with major airlines like American Airlines (go to their main office on Patria and Amazonas in Quito).
Receiving Mail and Packages:
If you plan to receive letters or small packages (under two kilograms), they will be delivered directly to your residence, hotel, guesthouse etc. Any boxes bigger than two kilograms must be picked up at a local post office. Any large package can be extremely difficult to retrieve from the main post office; you almost always have to pay high taxes on the package and the delays can take months. Given this possibility of delay, tell your friends and family back home to avoid mailing you large packages.
Phone Services
Calls from/within Ecuador
To make a call within Ecuador, drop the country code (593), and if calling within a province, just dial the last 7 digits of the number. If calling from province to province, dial 0, then the province code (2 for Pichincha, 6 for the northern coast, etc.) then the number.
Public phone booths are widespread and fairly user-friendly. Most mini-markets and pharmacies sell cards to use in the booths. Choose from Porta and Telefonica MoviStar and then use the corresponding telephone. Rates are not cheap (between 15-99 cents a minute) and vary depending on if you are calling a landline, a cell phone or an international number. Cards are sold in denominations of $3, $5, and $10.
If you need to make an international phone call, your best bet is to use a phone booth in an internet café in Quito, Guayaquil, Baños, or any other city with a lot of tourist traffic. Internet cafes take advantage of their internet connection to make cheap international calls from 10-30 cents a minute around the word. Andinatel, the national phone company, often has offices with booths from which you can make international calls. The rates are higher than in the internet cafés, but the connection is often better.
Cell Phones
Cell phones are very popular but also very expensive. The three major servers, Telefonica MoviStar, Porta, and Alegro, all have pre-paid and monthly plans. Rates, depending on your plan, are roughly $0.10-$0.50/minute to other cell phones and almost double for calls to landlines. Text messages run from 1-6 cents per message. There is no charge for incoming calls. If you have a cell phone in the USA or Europe and want to bring it with you, the conversion costs are high. It is usually a better idea to buy a cell phone in Ecuador.
Calling Ecuador from Abroad
To call Ecuador from another country dial  00 (011 from the US) + 593 (Ecuador’s country code) + the city code (Quito and surrounding area is 2, Guayaquil and surrounding area is 4) + the seven digit number. If you are only given six digits, add 2 to the beginning of the six digits. The national phone company recently decided it would be a good idea to have longer phone numbers and stuck a 2 at the beginning of every number nationwide. Numbers created recently begin with 3.
Rates to call Ecuador from abroad vary widely depending on your home country. Pre-paid phone cards are usually the best way to go: they can be found online or in grocery stores in Hispanic or international neighborhoods.  If you’re buying a phone card at a corner store, buy several and keep track of which ones let you talk the longest.  Some are a good deal, and some will rip you off badly.  Rates will be higher to call a cell phone. Also, check that your phone card does not have a high connection fee or your time will be up before you know it.