Prepaid unlimited gprs data now in Mexico

RTuesday · 19-11-2008, 01:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by money69

So, my point is, if you get the bonus thinking you can use it for whatever just be careful, it might be the same on Telcel.

Agreed, this is why I wrote "should reduce".

But it's a good point, so I checked. Soon after filling with a 200 peso card I get (60 pesos free):

Saldo del teléfono: $ 211.55
Saldo regalo : $ 59.19
Saldo ideas : 7.00 SMS

The balance enquiry charge (0.81 pesos) gets deducted from the "gift" balance. I then tried a bit of pay-as-you-go data, and it was also deducted from the "gift" balance, so it seems to get used first. When I try out the one-day access soon (I'll also play around with Joiku to get a mobile hotspot) I'll double-check that also deducts from the gift balance first.

Best case then, if that works, if you used an account just for data, and refilled with 500 peso cards (currently +400 pesos bonus), and buy 30 days access at a time via the online portal (where the price is 764 rather than 799) is 14.15 pesos per day - USD 1.08, about $32 a month.

This can change at any time though - for example the "pay per call" tariff is now in blocks of 15 minutes at a time, not 20 minutes like it used to be (in region 1).

When 3G gets here it'll beat my existing fixed-wireless internet connection. Even without 3G it's fine as a backup.

money69 · 20-11-2008, 02:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by RTuesday

Agreed, this is why I wrote "should reduce".

But it's a good point, so I checked. Soon after filling with a 200 peso card I get (60 pesos free):

Saldo del teléfono: $ 211.55
Saldo regalo : $ 59.19
Saldo ideas : 7.00 SMS

The balance enquiry charge (0.81 pesos) gets deducted from the "gift" balance. I then tried a bit of pay-as-you-go data, and it was also deducted from the "gift" balance, so it seems to get used first. When I try out the one-day access soon (I'll also play around with Joiku to get a mobile hotspot) I'll double-check that also deducts from the gift balance first.

Best case then, if that works, if you used an account just for data, and refilled with 500 peso cards (currently +400 pesos bonus), and buy 30 days access at a time via the online portal (where the price is 764 rather than 799) is 14.15 pesos per day - USD 1.08, about $32 a month.

This can change at any time though - for example the "pay per call" tariff is now in blocks of 15 minutes at a time, not 20 minutes like it used to be (in region 1).

When 3G gets here it'll beat my existing fixed-wireless internet connection. Even without 3G it's fine as a backup.

All good information, please let us know what happens. Im in Mexico about once a month and I could use this.

RTuesday · 22-11-2008, 06:15

Took me a while to realize, but the reason the Telcel Amigo online account portal shows the 30-day rate as 764 pesos rather than 799 pesos is because my account is in a border area.

Here the included IVA (VAT, sales tax) is 10%, rather than the 15% that applies in the rest of Mexico. (799 / 1.15 * 1.10 = 764). (Same for SMS: 0.81 rather than 0.85).

So it's not an online discount.

RTuesday · 24-11-2008, 01:51

I've been testing this today (as it'll be my back-up internet if my main connection is down for a while).

There's good news and bad news.

The good news: the "1 day" connection is 24 hours from when you request it, not a calendar day. After texting BAT1 to 5050 you get back (about 10 seconds later) a confirmation message showing the time your unlimited service expires, which is 24 hours ahead. (the time shown is Mexico City time, even if you're in another time zone).

The bad news: the money (66.81 pesos in border areas, 69 pesos elsewhere) is NOT deducted from the bonus time first. Unlike texts and pay-as-you-go internet it comes only from the actual money on the account. This limits how low the price can go (you could still use the bonus time for PAYG internet most days to quickly check email, and just sign up for a day when you actually need a longer connection).

This is with my laptop (Ubuntu Linux) tethered to my Nokia E51 with bluetooth. Gets around 192kb/s download, 96 kb/s upload. There are several hops on Telcel's internal network before the connection comes out onto the internet in Mexico City, so quite long latency to get anywhere. But good enough for basic email and web.

It's very flexible for short-term visitors, and usable (if a bit pricey) for seasonal residents, especially given the months it can take to get a normal phone+internet.

RTuesday · 16-01-2009, 19:33

The prices on Telcel's prepaid unlimited data were reduced today, by about 25-30%. They sent a text message to customers to announce it.

It's now 47 pesos (US$3.35) for a day (24 hrs), 76 pesos ($5.40) for 2 days (that's a new period), reducing to 621 pesos ($44.35, under $1.50 a day) for 30 days. These are border-area prices, it's about 5% higher inland (different VAT rate).

Still the same volume limits for 3G though (100MB/day, 3GB/mo at the higher speed, then dropping to low speed).

	(#3)
RTuesday (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 344 Join Date: 28 Mar 2005 Location: See flag Country:	22-11-2008, 06:15 Took me a while to realize, but the reason the Telcel Amigo online account portal shows the 30-day rate as 764 pesos rather than 799 pesos is because my account is in a border area. Here the included IVA (VAT, sales tax) is 10%, rather than the 15% that applies in the rest of Mexico. (799 / 1.15 * 1.10 = 764). (Same for SMS: 0.81 rather than 0.85). So it's not an online discount.

	(#4)
RTuesday (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 344 Join Date: 28 Mar 2005 Location: See flag Country:	24-11-2008, 01:51 I've been testing this today (as it'll be my back-up internet if my main connection is down for a while). There's good news and bad news. The good news: the "1 day" connection is 24 hours from when you request it, not a calendar day. After texting BAT1 to 5050 you get back (about 10 seconds later) a confirmation message showing the time your unlimited service expires, which is 24 hours ahead. (the time shown is Mexico City time, even if you're in another time zone). The bad news: the money (66.81 pesos in border areas, 69 pesos elsewhere) is NOT deducted from the bonus time first. Unlike texts and pay-as-you-go internet it comes only from the actual money on the account. This limits how low the price can go (you could still use the bonus time for PAYG internet most days to quickly check email, and just sign up for a day when you actually need a longer connection). This is with my laptop (Ubuntu Linux) tethered to my Nokia E51 with bluetooth. Gets around 192kb/s download, 96 kb/s upload. There are several hops on Telcel's internal network before the connection comes out onto the internet in Mexico City, so quite long latency to get anywhere. But good enough for basic email and web. It's very flexible for short-term visitors, and usable (if a bit pricey) for seasonal residents, especially given the months it can take to get a normal phone+internet.

	(#5)
RTuesday (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 344 Join Date: 28 Mar 2005 Location: See flag Country:	16-01-2009, 19:33 The prices on Telcel's prepaid unlimited data were reduced today, by about 25-30%. They sent a text message to customers to announce it. It's now 47 pesos (US$3.35) for a day (24 hrs), 76 pesos ($5.40) for 2 days (that's a new period), reducing to 621 pesos ($44.35, under $1.50 a day) for 30 days. These are border-area prices, it's about 5% higher inland (different VAT rate). Still the same volume limits for 3G though (100MB/day, 3GB/mo at the higher speed, then dropping to low speed).