Mexico prepaid SIM

[adahary]

Hi,
I got a new telcel SIM on ebay and would like to know how to activate it.

I'm out of Mexico and when I install it in an unlock phone I get no signal - I guess it should be activated first.

Can I activate it out of Mexico?

I just want to arrive to Mexico with an active and reloaded SIM ready to make in/out calls.

Regards
Assaf

[babble]

Originally Posted by adahary

Can I activate it out of Mexico?

No, no chance outside Mexico! Wait until you arrive in Mexico and then search for someone who will activate it for you.

Offer lots of money!

P.S. You can only roam with prepaid telcel sim cards in the "Americas" and in South Africa! You will never receive a signal in Israel.

[babble]

Prepaid telcel sims can also roam in France and Spain now!

Carlos Slim has finally spotted the market for roaming tourists in Europe!

[babble]

Amigo mobiles can now also roam in the UK, and in Germany.

[RTuesday]

Originally Posted by babble

Amigo mobiles can now also roam in the UK, and in Germany.

Thanks for spotting that, also includes France and Spain, plus South Africa, as well as many central/south America countries. But at US$2.66/min in/out for voice calls in Europe (double the US/Canada price), 78c for outgoing sms, it's not exactly cheap. Data is US$17/MB.

[babble]

Originally Posted by RTuesday

But at US$2.66/min in/out for voice calls in Europe (double the US/Canada price), 78c for outgoing sms, it's not exactly cheap. Data is US$17/MB.

Telcel's roaming tariffs are not intended to be affordable for the majority of its customers, and especially not for those who roam with a prepaid sim. However, amigo sims can receive SMS text messages for free while roaming.

Replying to incoming mexican text messages is not so easy, if you prefer not to pay telcel's outgoing roaming rates. And unfortunately, there are not so many reliable methods of sending an SMS into Mexico without using a mexican mobile phone. But sometimes it can be done cheaply online using, for example, fishtext (2 euro cents per text message). For these texts to be received successfully in Mexico, they have to be sent anonymously and in the format: 00521 plus 10-digit mobile number.

Just how affordable are telcel's roaming fees?

Well, some of my neighbours cannot afford to buy even the most basic nokia phone, and the amigo blackberry global roaming fee looks perhaps a little excessive at 448,80 USD per month (30 days x 14.96 USD), even for wealthier mexicans who travel abroad. Especially so, when someone who can top-up a tesco sim in the UK can get an almost identical roaming service for 5 GBP per month.

Look at it this way: for 450 USD per month, I could buy more tacos than I could ever eat!

[babble]

And the latest country to join the amigo roaming network is... let me open the envelope... Switzerland! ... Welcome Switzerland!