[babble]

25jive1, I am sorry to hear that you have had difficulties with both of your telcel sims. As you have discovered, it is now nearly impossible for a tourist to activate a mexican sim without help.

For a tourist who speaks spanish fluently, this is the official process for registering a mexican sim:

Step 1 (To register ownership of a sim card). Insert the sim card in your phone and dial *264. A telcel customer service agent will ask you for your name and mexican contact address. Afterwards, you will be told that you now need to dial *333 to register your sim card in the national phone database.

Step 2 (To register the sim card in the national phone database): Dial *333 and choose the correct option from the voice menu list. Although you can change the language of the menu list from spanish to english, this is not going to help because the customer service agent will probably only speak spanish. You will be asked for your name and address once again, and you will also be expected to give your "CURP" number, which is a mexican national identity number. If you cannot provide a CURP number, you will be told that "there is a problem with the computer system at the moment" and you will be asked to use the automated SMS system to register your sim card.
The automated SMS registration process requires you to send a text message with details of your full name and data of birth to a special sms number. A telcel computer will then use this data to check if your name is present in the national database of CURP numbers. If you do not have a CURP number, do not waste your time trying to send a SMS registration message - you will not succeed!

You can only make and receive normal calls with your sim card, once it is registered in the national phone database.

For a tourist who does not speak spanish fluently, here are two suggestions for registering a mexican sim:

1. Ask a spanish-speaking friend, relative, or acquaintance to help you. You need the help of someone who has a CURP number and who will register your sim in their name. Do not be surprised if your helper looks shocked when you ask for help. The purpose of the telephone registration process is to help prevent crime: kidnappings, extortion, telephone threats. Few people will register a telephone in their name for someone else.

2. Or alternatively, find the nearest telcel office that offers "Authorized Client Customer Service" (Telcel servicio al cliente). Ask a spanish speaking friend to dial *264 to obtain the address of the nearest office for you. (Although there are thousands of "Authorized Telcel resellers" - they are unlikely to be able to register sims for tourists. You need to take your sim and passport to an official Telcel customer support office. You will also be expected to provide a mexican residential address.)

Top-ups:

Telcel top-ups are more complicated than you imagine. There are "top-up vouchers", "electronic top-ups" and "online top-ups". You need to be careful if you use the cheapest $20, $30 and $50 "electronic top-up" services, which are paid for in corner shops and supermarkets.

If you make an "electronic top-up" of $20, your new credit balance will last for 10 days.
If you make an "electronic top-up" of $30, your new credit balance will last for 15 days.
If you make an "electronic top-up" of $50, your new credit balance will last for 30 days.

For example, if your old balance is $250, after an electronic top-up of $20, your new balance of $270 will only last for 10 days before it is all lost, unless you make a new top-up sooner!

With any kind of top-up of $100, or more, the new credit balance will last for 60 days. On day 61, any remaining credit is lost.
A telcel telephone number remains active for 180 days after the last top-up.

Final comments:

- The telcel network is reputed to be the most reliable mexican network.
- Telcel GPRS data transfer costs are very cheap, especially for people on the prepaid "Amigo Tariffs" (2 centavos per kilobyte). Movistar charges 14 centavos per kilobyte.
- Prepaid telcel sims can roam in USA, Canada, South Africa(!), as well as in several latin american countries, and on a few tourist ships, but not in Europe.
- Prepaid movistar sims can roam in over 200 countries.
- The prepaid "Amigo" tariffs offer 30-day blackberry, and nokia email, options for about 499 pesos. Unless you know what you are doing, these services are only intended to be used by customers who have bought phones directly from telcel!

Starter minutes only last for a few days. I have never heard about telcel having a "per day network charge". Very strange! I doubt that this is true...