Prepaid unlimited gprs data now in Mexico

[RTuesday]

Originally Posted by money69

Rtuesday, did you say you where on the per minute plan???
...
Overall, for 3G data Id have to say its better to go with Telcel.

Sorry, don't understand what you mean by the per-minute plan. I have one Telcel sim on the "per call" plan (under a dollar for 15 mins to the US) and one on the standard rate (used mainly for incoming, it's a "house" phone).

I don't have a 3G tower here yet, otherwise it could be viable as a main connection, although even with GPRS/Edge it's good enough as backup.

Watch those download limits though if you do have 3G - the 3GB limit for 30 days means if you blow through it in the first few days, you're back to slow speeds for the rest of the month!

[VladS]

Can any of the active Telcel users clarify the extra costs and limitations (if any) when using the service outside the town it's based in (eg a DF based card in Cancun).

Thanks!

[RTuesday]

Originally Posted by VladS

Can any of the active Telcel users clarify the extra costs and limitations (if any) when using the service outside the town it's based in (eg a DF based card in Cancun).

For Telcel Amigo prepaid data: the tariffs are the same nationally, no roaming involved.

For voice calls, a difference is you also pay (about 2.30 pesos/min) for incoming calls when roaming outside your home "region" (small group of states). Outgoing calls don't change.

[VladS]

Originally Posted by RTuesday

For Telcel Amigo prepaid data: the tariffs are the same nationally, no roaming involved.

That's great!!!

Originally Posted by RTuesday

For voice calls, a difference is you also pay (about 2.30 pesos/min) for incoming calls when roaming outside your home "region" (small group of states). Outgoing calls don't change.

So I take it you get free incoming call in the whole region not just in the local town you're in? In other words, a Cancun based SIM would still get free incoming anywhere in Region 8 (Yucatán, Tabasco, Campeche, Quintana Roo, Chiapas)?

Also will the per call plan work the same out of region?

Thanks!

[RTuesday]

Originally Posted by VladS

So I take it you get free incoming call in the whole region not just in the local town you're in?

Sorry, I got confused and forgot the small print "* Applies "The caller pays" in calls when the mobile user is within their city of origin." - in other words it's still only free incoming in your home city (area code), not region. For me there's not a lot of difference as I'm rarely outside my home area code (it's 150 miles long). Sorry for misleading you.

Outgoing calls are the same price where-ever you're calling from (in Mexico) so there's no roaming difference for the "pay per call" rate. Nor data.

[adam917]

I'm curious - is roaming to the US or Canada possible with one of those SIMs? If so, what are the rates? Prepaid data really sucks in the US & even more in Canada, where no useful options exist.

For the US, there's AT&T and they charge over 10 $/MB though they also have an add-on that works for 30 days & gives you just 1 MB for 4.99 - pathetic!

In Canada, data does exist on pre-paid but the rates are astronomically high: 3 to 5 cents PER KILOBYTE! It really is cheaper to roam there!

[RTuesday]

Originally Posted by adam917

I'm curious - is roaming to the US or Canada possible with one of those SIMs? If so, what are the rates?

It's possible (US only, not Canada), but not at all affordable.

Voice roaming is around $2.20/min in and out (with very limited border areas at half that price). Can be expensive if I forget to switch the SIM after crossing the border! Still, it's handy for checking balances while in the US (and it can be refilled online).

Data roaming is $0.017/kB - so $17/MB. Not recommended! The unlimited deal DOES NOT work outside Mexico.

Prepaid data in Mexico is 0.04 pesos/kB which is 40 pesos or $3/MB - still way too much to use - which is why these new daily/monthly rates are such a great deal (within Mexico only).

[money69]

Rtuesday,

Sorry, I meant per call. Im going to need to pickup a Telcel sim next time im there. Im a little concerned about getting onto the "por llamada" plan because they gave my GF crap about switching to it and she never ended up getting it, any advice to make sure it gets done like it should???

[RTuesday]

Originally Posted by money69

any advice to make sure it gets done like it should???

Not really, sorry. It worked for me about a year ago on the first SIM (the store phoned up and sorted it for me).

For the second SIM, they couldn't get through to customer service so I was going to go back but never bothered, as that SIM is only used for local calls (short local calls are cheaper on pay-per-minute than pay-per-call) and incoming.