Before you start

Passport or carné de extranjería for SIM registration
A Lima address, for fixed internet
An unlocked or eSIM-capable handset
A Peruvian payment method, for most postpaid plans

Step-by-step

1
Buy a prepaid SIM at the airport or an operator shop on arrival
Registration is done at the point of sale against your passport. Prepaid packages with generous data are inexpensive and there is no contract, which suits the first months while your documents catch up.
In personWho: YouDay 1
2
Buy only from an operator shop or an authorised dealer
SIM registration fraud is a real problem in Peru and lines registered in someone else's name are used for extortion calls. Buying from a street vendor risks a line linked to a stranger's identity. The operator's own store takes ten extra minutes and removes the question.
In personWho: You
3
Move to postpaid once you have the CE and a local bank account
Postpaid plans are cheaper per gigabyte and bundle international minutes, but almost all require a Peruvian identity document and a local payment method. Coming from prepaid with the same operator usually smooths the credit assessment.
In personWho: You
4
Check the building before you choose an internet provider
Fibre availability in Lima is street by street and building by building. Movistar, Claro, WIN and Entel all have fibre footprints that do not overlap neatly. Ask the building's administrator which providers are already installed rather than trusting the coverage map.
OnlineWho: You
5
Expect an engineer visit and a wait for installation
Fixed installations commonly take one to three weeks and need building access. If your work depends on the connection, keep a mobile data plan with tethering running until it is live and tested.
In personWho: You
6
Keep your number when you switch operators
Peru operates number portability and it works well. Never cancel the old line before the port completes — the number is what your bank, Yape and every delivery app use to identify you.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport or carné de extranjería
Proof of Lima address, for fixed services
Peruvian bank details or card, for postpaid

Things most newcomers don’t know

SIM registration is mandatory and buying informally can attach a stranger's identity to your number.

Every line in Peru must be registered against an identity document, and the rule exists because unregistered lines were being used for extortion. Lines sold on the street are frequently registered to somebody else, which means you cannot recover the number, cannot port it, and are attached to whatever it was previously used for. The operator's own shop eliminates this entirely.

Source: OSIPTEL

Prepaid is not a downgrade in Peru, and it solves the first-months problem.

Postpaid plans want a Peruvian identity document and usually a local payment method, neither of which you have in week one. Prepaid packages with substantial data are cheap, widely sold and require only a passport at registration. Coming from a country where prepaid means an expensive stopgap, this is a genuinely different market.

Source: OSIPTEL

Fibre in Lima is a building question, not a district question.

Providers have wired the city unevenly and two flats on the same street can have entirely different options. Older buildings in Miraflores and Barranco in particular sometimes have only one viable provider or none. The building administrator knows exactly what is installed — asking them before signing a lease takes five minutes and occasionally changes which flat you take.

Source: community-reported

Your phone number is your identity in Peru's payment system.

Yape and Plin move money by mobile number, and banks, delivery apps and building intercoms all key off it. Losing the number — by letting a prepaid line lapse for too long, or by cancelling before a port completes — detaches you from your own payment rails and is much more disruptive than it would be elsewhere.

Source: community-reported

Common mistakes to avoid

Buying a SIM from a street vendor and inheriting somebody else's registration.
Signing a postpaid contract before you have a CE and a local bank account.
Trusting a coverage map instead of asking the building administrator.
Cancelling an old line before the number port completes.
Letting a prepaid line lapse and losing the number your Yape account depends on.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.