In the US, we don’t think twice about making long distance telephone calls let alone local calls. After all, calling your friend down the street costs the same as it does to call your mom across the country no matter how long you talk. But that wasn’t always the case. And it certainly isn’t the case in Brazil.

Even today, phone calls in Brazil cost money to make and they can be expensive. It's the reason why some businesses opt to block employees from making calls from office phones without authorization. It’s also why free calls using VOIP services such as Whatsapp are so popular.

Calls to landlines in Brazil are the cheapest while calls to mobile phones are the most expensive. But it also depends on the region of the country that you’re calling, the phone provider, and the length of the call. Often calls to the same provider are free, which is why you’ll see some people carrying two phones or even one phone with two chips from different companies.

Phone calls are just one more expense to consider when starting a business in Brazil. What policies will you put in place to prevent improper use of work phones? Have you considered the costs of telephone calls in your budget? Will the company pay for its employees’ mobile devices and calls?

As with all things in Brazil, it’s just not as simple and straightforward as it ought to be. But at least now you won’t be surprised when you get that pricey bill in the mail.