Best prepaid offering for Mexico?

[petkow]

A friend of mine has just got a second home in Mexico, and is likely to be spending substantial amounts of time there in the future.

Does anyone have good experiences of a long validity SIM which is decent for incoming calls and ougoing back to Spain? I had a look at PrePaidGSM: Telcel (Mexico) but I am a bit confused about what the deal is with international incoming getting charged separately to local incomings? I could of course do the research myself, but any heads up will be appreciated.

Whilst she is there, I intend to setup a divert from her normal Spanish Movistar contract number to a local Madrid DID and then get that forwarded to her Mexican number.

[RTuesday]

I've been using Telcel, it does the job for a local phone. See my previous messages in this section for how it can be refilled online to keep it active (each refill is only 2 months but rolls over balances) and other stuff about Telcel.

Incoming calls, even international, are free in the receiver's home area (changed a year or so ago). Forwarding calls to Mexico from Europe can get expensive - over a Euro a minute on Movistar ES (although still cheaper than roaming).

I don't know the international call cost on Telcel to Europe - the base tariff is about 12 pesos (nearly a dollar) per min even to the US, so you can be sure it's not cheap. There are some "pay per call" deals but they only apply to the US/Canada.

So simply using a local SIM in place of the Spanish one is going to save her some money over the 2,30 Euro/min roaming rate, but it'll still work out very expensive if she has lots of calls to/from Spain.

To really be cheap, you'll need something more creative (maybe a VOIP account with Spanish and US DID numbers, and a low cost route out to Mexico mobile...).

But the easiest option would be to send the Spanish phone direct to voicemail when in Mexico - maybe leave the sim in a spare phone so she gets notifications of messages left and can receive texts - then pick up the messages and make outgoing calls from Mexico with callback to the Mexico sim (callbackworld for example is US 24c/min to a Spanish landline, 41c Spanish mobile) or a calling card. By not forwarding the Spanish number she can explain her absence on the outgoing message, and also not be woken up really early when a european calls her in their morning!

[petkow]

Thanks for that very informative reply RTuesday. I think Telcel sounds good for her. So I need her to try and get a SIM in the area code where she is based I suppose? ASNy hurdles in buying one? Is it just a case of picking one up in a local Telcel store once there?

For incoming, I do not intend to forward from Movistar direct as that is way too expensive. I plan to forward to a local Madrid DID which will get charged at around 8c/min as per her normal plan but will at least meet minimum consumption as required per her Movistar contract. The plan is that the DID will forward to her Mexican Telcel, which can be done pretty cheap through one of the Betamax offerings.

I suppose outgoing can be done pretty cheap from Telcel and calling a local Mexican calling card rather than calling direct? Anyone have any experience with that?

[RTuesday]

Originally Posted by petkow

I think Telcel sounds good for her. So I need her to try and get a SIM in the area code where she is based I suppose? Any hurdles in buying one? Is it just a case of picking one up in a local Telcel store once there?

Yes, make sure the sim is as local as possible, ideally the same town. The store (including some independent dealers) should register it for her, by phoning up a call center. A local address is needed (not always verified) and some form of ID - might be more required now as there is a plan to even start collecting fingerprints for mobile phone owners.

Forwarding via a Spain DID will save a lot, but if she gets a lot of calls she might like some way to turn it off at times. If sombody calls her at 9am in Spain it will be 3am in most of Mexico (1am in Baja California).

I suppose outgoing can be done pretty cheap from Telcel and calling a local Mexican calling card rather than calling direct? Anyone have any experience with that?

I've mainly used callback, including web/voip callback, as I already have the accounts. And the "pay per call" tariff for the US (about a dollar per 15 mins or part). With a calling card you still have the "local call" cost which is higher than most countries.

She'd be better off using a VOIP phone at home for calls to Spain, when possible. Assuming she can get internet.

There is also Movistar in Mexico (also owned by Telefonica) but I don't see any deals for their customers across borders (unlike some of the Vodafone deals), and I don't know that they can be recharged online. Telcel has better coverage and more places to get recharges.

[petkow]

Thanks again!

Originally Posted by RTuesday

Forwarding via a Spain DID will save a lot, but if she gets a lot of calls she might like some way to turn it off at times. If sombody calls her at 9am in Spain it will be 3am in most of Mexico (1am in Baja California).

Yes good point. I suppose the trick is to just switch the Mexican phone off. I presume it will then divert to the Mexican mailbox (... at diverted call cost from Spain off course).

I've mainly used callback, including web/voip callback, as I already have the accounts.

Yes, I think I will try get her to do the same, though I think most calls will just be short. I guess short calls back back to Spain via Telcel direct will still be a LOT cheaper than what she does know which is to use her Spanish Movistar paying something like 3 euros a minute!!

[petkow]

Big oops. I just had a look at the Telcel website and it looks like there is no Telcel coverage in her town (Ixtapa which is in Guerrero State). Might have to check the Movistar route after all.

[RTuesday]

Originally Posted by petkow

Big oops. I just had a look at the Telcel website and it looks like there is no Telcel coverage in her town (Ixtapa which is in Guerrero State). Might have to check the Movistar route after all.

Strange it's not listed even under Zihuatanejo but the local expats there seem to use Telcel:
Phoning local information - Ixtapa Zihuatanejo -

The GSM world maps are a bit lacking in placenames but it should be around here:
GSM Coverage Maps | Mexico | Radiomovil Dipsa SA de CV (TELCEL) (TELCEL GSM) | Coverage Map

[petkow]

Originally Posted by RTuesday

Strange it's not listed even under Zihuatanejo but the local expats there seem to use Telcel:
Phoning local information - Ixtapa Zihuatanejo -

The GSM world maps are a bit lacking in placenames but it should be around here:
GSM Coverage Maps | Mexico | Radiomovil Dipsa SA de CV (TELCEL) (TELCEL GSM) | Coverage Map

That is strange. There probably is coverage, but I'll get her to do a check when she's there.

In any case, I'll just get her to pick up a local SIM of whatever is available where she's at. Then I'll point the DID at whatever number she gives me. Talking of DID's, does anyone have any experience with these guys?
NETELIP -- Talking has never been so cheap!

They seem to give a free Spanish "Nomad Malaga area code" number with their accounts. 17c to forward that to a Mexican SIM doesn't seem too bad! However, I have never heard of a 851 area code. Definately not Malaga which is 952

I know it can probably be done cheaper such as via Betamax, but then I would need to hire a 3rd party Spanish DID as well (as Betamax no longer do them).