# Cell Phone Advice



## prgoddess (Jan 12, 2009)

I will be moving to Monterrey next week for at least a year and will need to get a cell phone. Can anyone offer any advice as to the best way of going about getting one? Are there contracts like there are in the US? Do they offer free phones with contracts? Can anyone suggest websites of companies I should check out?

Thank you!
amy


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

There are many options and there seem to be cell phone vendors on every corner or in every large store or shopping center. If you speak Spanish, no problem. If not, take a friend with you to translate.


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## Lauren5020 (Dec 14, 2008)

I moved to Monterrey last year and chose to purchase a "pay as you go" type phone. You purchase the phone and then buy cards to add minutes. 
This way, no contract, no bill! 
You can go to any TelCel cell phone store (in any mall) and buy an AMIGO phone (this is the name of the pay as you go plan). Anytime you run out of minutes, just go to the 7-11 or Oxxo and purchase a new card (100, 200, 500 pesos). 

If you prefer a contract (probably cheaper), you could ask about that at the phone store...not sure if you'd be eligable without proof of your Mexican address (FM3, etc.). 

Let me know if you have any other questions about Monterrey! I've really enjoyed my time here. 




prgoddess said:


> I will be moving to Monterrey next week for at least a year and will need to get a cell phone. Can anyone offer any advice as to the best way of going about getting one? Are there contracts like there are in the US? Do they offer free phones with contracts? Can anyone suggest websites of companies I should check out?
> 
> Thank you!
> amy


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## AcapulcoGringo (Mar 1, 2009)

There are 3 cell phone comapnies in Mexico I will list in biggest and best coverage first

Telcel (owned by Calros Slim, richest man in the world)
MoviStar (Spanish Company)
Isuacell / Unefon (onwed by Salinas group same as Elektra and TV Azteca)

Telcel has the best covergae and most subscribers, and here iots cheaper to call the same company so best to get a telcel becauese most peole have one.

I think like 80 percent of people have pay as you go and really there is not that much diff in prices.. Plus when you buy airtime in big incriments you get extra airtimre... for example you buy 500 pesos and you get 500 pesos free!

Within each companis prepaid service they each have diffrent plans to choose from.. some cheaper to call the states, etc etc.. I recomend going to their websites (all in spanish only) and comparing them prior to buying!

telcel and movistar use GSM technology and iusacell / unefon use CDMA

if you buy or have a GSM phone in the us (att or tmobile) you can pay to have it unlocked and then all you have to do here is buy a sim card and pop it in and go!

I bought a palm treo 750 in on ebay in the states for 150 bucks , it was unlocked, and it works perfect.. That phone here cost over 800 bucks


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## Kbris (Feb 19, 2009)

*Elaborate a little bit por favor*



AcapulcoGringo said:


> There are 3 cell phone comapnies in Mexico I will list in biggest and best coverage first
> 
> Telcel (owned by Calros Slim, richest man in the world)
> MoviStar (Spanish Company)
> ...


I'm headed to Mexico in April. I have an unlocked blackberry GSM that I plan to take with me. I plan to buy a sim card when I arrive in Guadalajara. My question is how often do you use your phone to call the USA and what are your average monthly costs. Also, do you use skype as a adjunct for long distance. I'd be very grateful if would be so kind as to expand and share your knowledge about phone use with me. Thanks.

Keith Bris
Mesquite, Nevada


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## AcapulcoGringo (Mar 1, 2009)

The Sim card will cost apx. 150 pesos and will have about 50 pesos worth of initial airtime on it... (Telcel)

I keep another phone, (movistar) in order to call the states , easiliy.. on the "por llamada" plan you can call the states for 15 minutes (1 sec up to 14 min 59 sec) for 11.90 pesos... I think Telcel has a similer plan BUT when your on that plan it makes it exspensive to call local numbers, meaning people with telcels... 

I do have skype and keep a us number and unlimited us calling for the us and canada for less than 5 bucks a month... and i would recomend bringing a phone from the US that you can plug into a internet router,. it makes it easier and they are hard to find here!

I spend about 700 pesos a month on Telcel because I pay for unlimited Data usuage (I have a Palm Treo 750).. But good news for you the blackberry unlimited plan for prepaid is like 450 a month (pesos) what blackberry do you have? because some you can use that to connect to your laptop for internet...


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## Kbris (Feb 19, 2009)

*Thanks for the response*



AcapulcoGringo said:


> The Sim card will cost apx. 150 pesos and will have about 50 pesos worth of initial airtime on it... (Telcel)
> 
> I keep another phone, (movistar) in order to call the states , easiliy.. on the "por llamada" plan you can call the states for 15 minutes (1 sec up to 14 min 59 sec) for 11.90 pesos... I think Telcel has a similer plan BUT when your on that plan it makes it exspensive to call local numbers, meaning people with telcels...
> 
> ...


My Blackberry's a model#7290. I'm unsure about the laptop/internet connection except that it has a usb cable and port, so I may be able to do that. I have a Skype usb phone and a USA/Canada unlimited account for which I pay $30/year. I'm not sure what you mean "plug into an internet router". I just plug my phone into my laptop. Is your Telcel account a contract account? Is the Movistar plan the same as a per call plan in the USA? Sounds like you have most bases covered for communication. I figure if I can keep my phone services to around $50 in Mexico I'll be doing well. Do major airports like the one in Guadalajara have a phone kiosk for sim cards. Would be handy to connect as soon as I arrive so that I can call local contacts. Thanks for the wealth of information.


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## AcapulcoGringo (Mar 1, 2009)

Both my telcel and movistar are prepaid, as I mentioned before there is really no benifit to signing a contract here, and no real cost savings.. Plus the phones they gove you for free or discount with a contract are not too good, and I prefer to buy my phones on ebay unlocked so I dont need phones from them... 80 to 90 percent of all cell phone users use prepaid system here... its a little diffrent than in the US or wherever, that prepaid is for low income people.. here even rich people have prepaid.... I only have one friend that has a contract, and he is unhappy with it!

when I say a skype phone I mena one that does not require a computer to be on and skype loaded... they sell phones that have skype software installed, meaning that you can plug it directly to your internet modem or router and dont even need a computer, thus always being on, and not dependant on computers memeorey, etc etc ... much easier! they even sell skpye wireless phones that use wifi connection, they look like cell phones...

the 7290, i think you can use for internet sharing, but your connection will be slow because it is kinda an older phone (I had one for a while on my movistar) BUT it will work fine for phone and text, and even for blackberry services (450 a month with telcel)

some airports may have places that sell chips... I know in Mexico city if you go through there, they have a customer service center on the upper level of the unsecure area in front of the airport.....

if not, you can stop at an OXXO or 7 eleven and buy a "chip por Telcel"

hope I helped!


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## f3drivr (Nov 18, 2008)

You might also want to look into MagicJack for calling home. It looks like a usb memory stick, you plug it in to a usb port on any computer with internet access and then plug a normal telephone into it. You also have the option of using the included softphone with a headset. You get unlimited calling to US/Canada for $40 for the device and the first year's service and $20/year after that. If you have a decent internet connection the sound quality is quite good. 

If you are looking for something you can use to call home over wifi without a computer there are iphone apps available for this. Fring is available free from the apple appstore and works with any VOIP account including Skype. There is another app available from Cydia for Jailbroken iphones called Siphon which sounds better than Fring. It only works with SIP VOIP services (Skype is not SIP).


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## AcapulcoGringo (Mar 1, 2009)

yes but I have a 3g windiws mobile phone with skype and telcel (carlos slim) somehow keeps it from workign well... On att in the us it works fabulous here does not work


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## f3drivr (Nov 18, 2008)

AcapulcoGringo said:


> yes but I have a 3g windiws mobile phone with skype and telcel (carlos slim) somehow keeps it from workign well... On att in the us it works fabulous here does not work


VOIP for the iphone is not supposed to work over 3g because Apple forbids it but there are ways around this. Mine works over 3g and wifi in Canada. Never tried 3g in Mexico but it works fine over wifi. I recently found a way to extract the SIP credentials from my MagicJack and program them into Siphon on the iphone which by the way is against MagicJack's Terms of Service Agreement. There is a slight voice delay but other than that the sound quality is very good. I have a Seattle phone number and unlimited calling in North America that I can use from anywhere in the world where there is wifi available. The app does not run in the background so I can not get incoming calls unless the app is running but voicemail messages go right to my email so I can just check my email and call them back.


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## Avatar (Jan 12, 2010)

Hello Iam new here and I was wondering if my Telcel phone will work in Guatemela?
Can I buy prepaid minutes without having to get anew sim card? I have the Telcel phone from previous trips to Mexico, Chiapas area, now I am going to check out Tikal and Flores Guatemala.
Any help greatly appreciated.
Thanks


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Welcome to the forum. Perhaps someone will come to your rescue with an answer. I don't know.


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