Telegrams can be sent over the phone or at post offices and hotels. Full IDD services available for the whole country and abroad. Public telephones require metal discs called 'fichas', which can be obtained from cash desks or newspaper kiosks. Rio's airport provides 24 hour telecommunication services. The domestic telex service now covers the whole of the country.
Services are reasonably reliable.
Sending mail registered or franked will eliminate the risk of having the stamps steamed off. Airmail service to Europe takes four to six days. Surface mail takes at least four weeks. The only English newspaper is The Brazil Herald in Rio. Also in Rio there is an English Language publication, the Rio Visitor which gives tourist information.