´ó¿§¸£ÀûÓ°Ôº

bobbyr wrote:

hi i use a usa att 14.88 phone and calls from mex. to us and canada are 25 cents a minute i think free text i have used for 6 years now ..buy at wal mart 14.88 for phone with a camara cheap ...also i have  a unlocked phone / but cheap phone is all you need ...att pay as you go 25 cents per minute thats all the charge is

Somehow it strikes me that 25 cents a minute is very expensive. Hoping that it's a typo.

joaquinx wrote:

Having just bought a SIM, it's 100 pesos. 116 with IVA.

Two weeks ago in Zamora, Michoacan, a Movistar SIM cost 100 pesos AND came with a month's worth of unlimited calling and to any number in Mexico, US and Canada plus 300MB of data with Facebook, Twitter and one other social media unlimited.  Continuing that deal would be 100 pesos a month.  The SIM was essentially free.

I had a chance to try calling while in Texas.  I was able to call numbers in Mexico but mostly not in the US.  They must be still working out the bugs of this fairly new arrangement.

Different companies have different plans/prices.

rubytue60 wrote:

And how much will she pay PER CALL?

As little as $5.71 for unlimited calls and text for a month with a Movistar SIM.
Telcel might be more. 
Of course she can receive calls if she lats everyone know what her Mexican number is and callers will have to pay whatever their phone companies charge.

Is using Skype out of the question?

joaquinx wrote:

Telcel Sim is 116 pesos including IVA tax.

Does that include any air time?

rubytue60 wrote:

No, we cannot use Skype.   We will not have internet access for the 8 days.   So it would just be talk and text to and from the U.S.A. for emergency purposes and to say hi to our kids.

I will tell my friend.   I am still perplexed as to why they would charge her $1. per minute.   I don't think she did her research correctly.     Thank you so much!

Without an international plan, T-Mobile charges about that for calls from the states to other countries.  They do it because they can.

Depending on where you are, you may be close to free Internet most of the time.

joaquinx wrote:

You don't need Internet for Skype. It works well on data.

True, but it was not clear if they'd have data.
With the Movistar 100 peso/month deal the SIM is free because you get the 100 peso unlimited talk, text, Facebook, Whatsapp Twitter and 300MB additional data.  It expires and cancels at the end of the month unless you reload.

Sparky McBiff wrote:

They likely quoted her $1/minute because that is what they will charge for "roaming".
Anyone with any experience knows that when you go to a foreign country it's always best to simply just get a local SIM card to use on your phone (making sure that you phone is unlocked of course) rather than using your regular providers roaming.

These days most US cell providers will unlock your phone free.
If not , there are many places in most towns in Mexico that will unlock you phone for from 100 to 250 pesos.  I've had it done on 3 different phones over the years with never a problem.

Say 250 pesos for unlocking and 100 pesos for a SIM and unlimited talk and text to the US.  That's about 20 bucks.  Will that be less than what you'd use at $1/min.  It's up to you.

Checking T-Mobile's website, even the most economical recent phones do have a SIM.  You can Google "SIM type Make and model of phone" and the results will contain links that indicate if the phone has a SIM.

travellight wrote:

If the phone is digital they can't unlock it.   .

Is digital? All cell phones are digital. I believe you meant to use another word.

j masq wrote:

I am moving to San Miguel de Allende next week. I was concerned about  about the phone. But AT&T recently has free calling and texting to the US from Mexico and 1 Gb for internet. I used it in November when I was there. They would not unlock my phone though for another few months.

Since you're moving, there's a chance you can save some money depending on what you're paying T-mobile.

Getting your phone unblocked in Mexico is simple and cheap, $15 or so.

I have a T-Mobile SIM on pay as you go to use when I'm in the States.  $3.00/mo. to keep my number and 30 min, talk & text per month.

I have a Movistar SIM here in Mexico.  SIM was free with a 100 peso (<$6.00USD) per month plan that gives me unlimited talk and text to the US, Canada and Mexico.  I may not need the T-Mobile account anymore.  The plan is supposed to include unlimited talk and text from the US and Canada too.  I need to check that feature out next time I'm in the US in Apr.  Oh, and it includes 380MB of Internet.  Other amounts of Internet (Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp unlimited on all) are available at very reasonable prices.  Performance has been excellent here in Mexico.