Mexico prepaid SIM

petkow · 01-02-2010, 14:40

I was there during the last month and I bought a Telcel Amigo pack for 149 pesos. (8 Euros) That also came with 50 pesos of credit. Be prepared to go to a main Telcel office, as the smaller shops will not be able to sell you without you having a national ID number. In a Telcel shop you can buy with a photocopy of your passport.

I mainly used my SIM for incoming calls (I had setup a callback) but overall it served me very well. Incoming calls are free only in your area code, which is usually quite a small area. In my case it was a 50km length of the coast, but I was there most of the time.

Do a search for Telcel here on the forum. The other provider is Movistar, but I think their prepaid packs are a bit more expensive. Maybe RTuesday will also come back with some more details.

Edit: To call Europe, the best rate I found was with dialnow.com or rynga.com. The callback to Mexico is 5c/min or 6c/min, and rates to most landlines to Europe are 0c/min so total price is 6c/min! You need to download the Betamax Java voipclient for your phone from voipbuster. Too much to explain for that, but there are already some good instructions elsewhere here on the forum. Just do a few searches.

RTuesday · 03-02-2010, 01:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by petkow

Maybe RTuesday will also come back with some more details.

I would just add that the price of the startup pack may vary by region, in some areas it's 200 pesos.

As you mentioned, make sure you get a sim in the area code where you will be using it most often, to avoid domestic roaming charges.

Like calling European mobiles, it can be very expensive for somebody to call your Mexican mobile directly - for example the standard British Telecom daytime rate is around a pound (EUR 1.15) per minute! (and still 30p/min on their discount plans).

For incoming calls, localphone UK do a free UK landline number that can forward to Mexico mobile for 6.4p/min (localphone US is cheaper at 8.8c/min). Either of these would be a way to receive calls without it costing the caller too much (and also makes it easier for them).

Sorry, I don't have any better suggestions for international outbound calls from Telcel, as I use other ways for that (mainly voip).

petkow · 03-02-2010, 13:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by RTuesday

.... suggestions for international outbound calls from Telcel, as I use other ways for that (mainly voip).

I also mainly stuck to Voip, but there is one decent route for making cheapish international calls with that Amigo pack via gateways/calling cards in the USA. First of all they advertise that you can nominate Mexican numbers to call for a fixed fee. However these have to be Telcel numbers so unfortunately it is not possible to nominate a local gateway for example. Gateways in Mexico have ordinary landline numbers and these get charged at 4 Peso/min (22c/min) from Telcel Amigo.

However, what they do not make very clear is that you can also nominate 10 USA numbers that you can call for a fixed fee of 11 Pesos (€0.60) for 10 minutes which is only 6c/min. You can then nominate a local access number of one of the Betamax providers in the USA, and make onward calls to Europe at no further charge.

mingelli · 03-02-2010, 15:56

I was planning to use it mainly to receive calls
using a callback. Main point I understand is ho buy
The sim in the are of use to avoid charges for incoming
calls using the callback.

	(#1)
petkow (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Pioneer Posts: 696 Join Date: 01 Aug 2006 Location: Madrid Country:	01-02-2010, 14:40 I was there during the last month and I bought a Telcel Amigo pack for 149 pesos. (8 Euros) That also came with 50 pesos of credit. Be prepared to go to a main Telcel office, as the smaller shops will not be able to sell you without you having a national ID number. In a Telcel shop you can buy with a photocopy of your passport. I mainly used my SIM for incoming calls (I had setup a callback) but overall it served me very well. Incoming calls are free only in your area code, which is usually quite a small area. In my case it was a 50km length of the coast, but I was there most of the time. Do a search for Telcel here on the forum. The other provider is Movistar, but I think their prepaid packs are a bit more expensive. Maybe RTuesday will also come back with some more details. Edit: To call Europe, the best rate I found was with dialnow.com or rynga.com. The callback to Mexico is 5c/min or 6c/min, and rates to most landlines to Europe are 0c/min so total price is 6c/min! You need to download the Betamax Java voipclient for your phone from voipbuster. Too much to explain for that, but there are already some good instructions elsewhere here on the forum. Just do a few searches. Last edited by petkow; 01-02-2010 at 14:50.. Reason: Added use of voipclient

	(#4)
mingelli (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Fan Posts: 149 Join Date: 22 Mar 2009 Location: Italy roaming on my yacht Country:	03-02-2010, 15:56 I was planning to use it mainly to receive calls using a callback. Main point I understand is ho buy The sim in the are of use to avoid charges for incoming calls using the callback.