BajaNomad - Cingular Cell Phone Usage

Cingular Cell Phone Usage

Mike Supino - 6-2-2005 at 09:24 AM

I've notified Cingular to activate service in Mexico.
My question is:
How do I dial out to the U.S. and to other cell and Satellite phones with U.S. phone numbers while I'm in Mexico?
Thank you in advance!

capt. mike - 6-2-2005 at 09:30 AM

Mike, 001 then the full number i think works.

Bruce R Leech - 6-2-2005 at 10:34 AM

check there website they have customer service. http://www.cingular.com/indexc

elizabeth - 6-2-2005 at 12:08 PM

Captain Mike is correct...simply dial 001, then the area code and phone number. It does work. I have Cingular service activated for Mexico, and had AT&T before they merged. Have not had a problem. Cost is .79 a minute.

I did not activate Cingular for Mexico

BajaVida - 6-2-2005 at 01:09 PM

and it did not work

JZ - 6-2-2005 at 01:47 PM

Cingular has a North America plan. Different rates for different minutes, but the lowest priced one starts at $58. Free calling all over North America (i.e. no long distance charges, but roaming may apply). 400 minutes and 1000 weekend minutes.

When in MX, you only pay roaming charges, which I'm told are .19 a minute.

Seems like a great plan, I just had my company switch me to that.

Anonymous - 6-7-2005 at 09:50 PM

i also have cingular

and have turned on international calling, and then if you pay 3.99 extra a month for a special mexico plan -- they drop rate from dialing out of mexico goes from .79cents to .39 cents a minute. Supposedly no additional roaming..

Ok - my problem is my phone is a dual Mhz phone, but I think it is not the right Mhz for Mexico (baja) . Cingular customer support says it's not, but then again, one rep said it was ok... don't want to chance it..

anybody know what Mhz i'll need. Going from TJ all the way to Cabo. Thanks

David K - 6-8-2005 at 12:04 AM

There is no cell service in central Baja yet... But, Antonio who has 'Movie Star' cell phone service can use them in El Rosario as they put a tower up near Punta Baja he said.

Last trip:
On my Sprint PCS phone, in Ensenada and perhaps other city areas with 'digital roaming', I can call out with 001 + the full U.S. number, and it is totally clear. Near the Pyramid Resort and Baja Mar I got 'Analog roaming' and I could receive calls, but they are scratchy, but I can't call out... just get a Spanish message I couldn't understand.

Price - 6-8-2005 at 12:19 AM

Anyone know how well t-mobile works in San Felipe ? :?:

BajaRob - 6-8-2005 at 05:52 AM

I just switched to Cingular with the North American plan. For $60 per month I receive 450 anytime minutes and 1000 night and weekend minutes. There is no roaming nor long distance charge for our calls in Canada, US, or Mexico. The service is excellent in the San Felipe area. In our area, the service works through Telcel just like our bag phone with the yaggy antennae. Rob

pokey - 6-8-2005 at 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Price
Anyone know how well t-mobile works in San Felipe ? :?:

T-Mobile charges me 1.49 a minute in Mexico. I'll cancel service with them as soon as I'm able and get a nextel phone. According to the Nextel web site they charge .10 a minute in Mexico.

Subastador - 6-8-2005 at 11:10 AM

Fine, but Nextel DOES NOT WORK in Mexico, anywhere except Tijuana. Took mine all the way to Mulege last fall, and Nada Servicio anywhere. Our AT&T worked in & near Loreto just fine, with no special activation done. On the bill, those calls were charged as roaming at about $.69 per minute.

pokey - 6-8-2005 at 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Subastador
Fine, but Nextel DOES NOT WORK in Mexico, anywhere except Tijuana. Took mine all the way to Mulege last fall, and Nada Servicio anywhere.

Check this out http://nextelonline.nextel.com/en/services/walkietalkie/inte...

Nextel is all the rage here in Ensenada. At ten cents a minute (billed to the second) it is the most affordable mobile telephone available. Beets the hell out of paying Carlos Slim (telcel) 4 pesos a minute for local calls. :coolup:

JZ - 6-8-2005 at 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BajaRob
I just switched to Cingular with the North American plan. For $60 per month I receive 450 anytime minutes and 1000 night and weekend minutes. There is no roaming nor long distance charge for our calls in Canada, US, or Mexico. The service is excellent in the San Felipe area. In our area, the service works through Telcel just like our bag phone with the yaggy antennae. Rob

Roaming charges apply for calls made in Mexico. Cingular has to pay the MX carrier.

Subastador - 6-8-2005 at 05:56 PM

Quote:

Nextel is all the rage here in Ensenada. At ten cents a minute (billed to the second) it is the most affordable mobile telephone available.

May work great in Ensenada, but not anywhere much south of there, (Cabo may be good, don't know). It definitely does not work in my part of Baja. {Mulege}.

Reeljob - 6-8-2005 at 07:17 PM

I have used AT&T (now Cingular) for several years in Baja. It works in Cabo, Ensenada, Loreto, La Paz, and from the South to the North end of Cedros Island on a boat. It works in Turtle Bay, in Todos Santos, from the airplane over San Felipe and Hermosillo. It works in Guyamas, San Carlos, Mazatlan and I can't even remember some other places that I forget about.

Nuff said?

Anonymous - 6-9-2005 at 09:45 AM

El Jefe here;
Make sure with any plan that you know what the roaming charges will be in Mex. My wife signed up for Verizon's North America plan under the assumption that there would be no roaming charges; at least that was what she understood the sales person had said.

Just the other day I got a bill for $527. :mad:

Buyer Beware. The cell phone companies and the airlines have the most confusing/deceptive pricing structures going.

Verizon did split the difference with me and took $200 off the bill. No more long late night talks to my sweetie in Baja!

I'm going to look into Skype etc. and see if it will work at the WiFi connection at Brisa.

Telcel

MrBillM - 6-9-2005 at 10:06 AM

If you're going to be in Baja for awhile, consider a Telcel prepaid phone. They have various promotions for as low as $50 for a Nokia Phone including 300 pesos of airtime good locally and to the U.S. Phone cards are available in 100 and 200 peso amounts. Their automated service for checking balance and adding time is available in either English or Spanish. They will work Anywhere that ATT / Cingular does since they roam on Telcel's network.

Use the phone and throw it away when you're finished.

Anonymous - 6-9-2005 at 01:17 PM

ok... so lots of information... BUT when in Baja what Mhz frequency does my phone need to be??

850? 900? 1800? 1900? Call cingular several times and they don't know, so they suggest buying a new phone...

and that is not a option too expensive.

BajaRob - 6-10-2005 at 06:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by JZ

Quote:

Roaming charges apply for calls made in Mexico. Cingular has to pay the MX carrier.

Cingular roaming charges

BajaRob - 6-10-2005 at 06:31 AM

and long distance charges do not apply to GSM dual band handsets on the North American plan for calls placed in the US, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Mexico, and Canada. Rob

rob

jerry - 6-10-2005 at 07:43 AM

what about roaming charges?? i get a lot of conflecting answers from celuare and the leaflet is as clear as mud
have a good one jerry

Jerry

BajaRob - 6-10-2005 at 08:28 AM

The plan description is very clear re roaming & long distance. Check out http://cingular.com. Rob

Anonymous - 6-10-2005 at 08:48 AM

Rob: I can't find the info on Cingular's site (can you tell us where to find it). The Cingular rep told me roaming charges apply at .19 / minute. But I did see another site (not Cingular) that said it was included.

I'm skeptical about that, but if true, wow, Cingular would definitly be the only way to go.

anon

BajaRob - 6-10-2005 at 10:21 AM

Cingular has been the hot ticket here for some time in the South Campos. The North America plan is great for us as we also pay no roaming nor long distance fees from British Columbia where we spend our summers. It is all very clear in Cigular's flyer " NAP BR 0205 0005 E 78490. Rob

JZ - 6-10-2005 at 11:40 AM

Thanks Rob. I still wasn't able to find that on Cingular's site, but did find it on the web using the info you provided.

The program definitely states in bold letters that no long distance or roaming fees apply in the US, MX, Puerto Rico, or Canada. Okay, here is where I think the difference lies. The fine print states that no roaming charges apply for call made on the Cingular North America Network, but do apply for calls orginated on another carrier's network.

The key question is when are you on the Cingular North America Network. The map on the program shows this as expanding into Baja and the mainland, but I definitely don't see Cingular come up on my phone when on the mainland in San Carlos.

roaming

jerry - 6-10-2005 at 12:13 PM

so it looks like if im in baja i wont be on cingulars network so calling out to the U.Swill have roaming charges?? the fine print is a wounderfull thing
have a good one jerry

anyone got a bill yet??

jerry - 6-10-2005 at 12:19 PM

that has celulare north american plan made calls from baja?? to the US was there roaming?? or for that matter was there any roaming for any calls??
proof of the pudding is in the eating
have a good one jerry

JZ - 6-10-2005 at 12:34 PM

Jerry: regardless, the Cingular plan is the best I've seen from the US carriers by a wide margin.

My Friend has cingular

Keri - 6-10-2005 at 01:05 PM

Her first bill had $500 in roaming charges. She called them and they took off all the roaming charges. She had asked specifically about roaming charges from Baja before she signed up because she lives in bajamar.. (I'd suggest getting it in writing from whomever you sign up with. )k

[Edited on 6-10-2005 by Keri]

no suprise for me

jerry - 6-10-2005 at 04:59 PM

when i had att it was the same ball game tell me one thing get billed another how ever they did make ajustments
now with cingular i have called twice,got leaflets, stoped by the store 3 times and the booth at the mall and i get conflecting storys at first they say no long distence and no roaming then when i ask about the fine print they say oh yes but i dont think that applys and i get as many different answer as the ppl i have talked to NOONE KNOWS WHATS GOING ON one thing they did say for sure that a second phone cannot be added to the north american plan guess time will tell keep up the info
have a good one jerry

JZ - 6-10-2005 at 06:46 PM

Let us know what you find out; I'll ask someone I know that is using Cingular on the mainland.

I just got the North America plan, but my work pays the bill and I never see it.

baja cingular

jerry - 6-11-2005 at 06:51 AM

the main land is a whole different ball game then baja seems someone on baja has it all tyed up different rates apply to baja have a good one jerry

Anonymous - 6-20-2005 at 08:17 PM

ok , both networks in Mexico ; TELCEL & Movistar operate at 1900 Mhz, so my existing phone will work , no need to upgrade

just called cingular.. they said they no longer offer any North American Plan..

said would need to turn on international calling (no charge) and without any plan, making an international call from MX to USA would be 1.29 minute , plus 79 cents for roaming.

Getting the 3.99 month plan, drops the calls to .09 minutes, plus 79 cents for roaming...

Seems you can't drop or lower the roaming..

How is everybody signing up for this North America Plan, when they tell me they don't offer it.... I am a cingular customer from Los Angeles.

thanks

Anonymous - 6-20-2005 at 09:25 PM

well after reading all the recent post about North America Plan.. i hung up and call cingular again... they DO have the plans, it seems the new customer service reps are not being told about them in training (hmmmm)...

450 minutes = 59.99 /month 850 mins = 84.99 / month
1700 mins = 99.99 / month 2700 mins = 149.99 / month

Said TELCEL/Movistar occasionally likes to throw on roaming onto your bill, but with the North American Plan, NO ROAMING EVER!! Canada, Mex, USA and Some of the islands are all part of the plan..
if they put roaming, just call Cingular and they will drop the charges... this plan is awesome!!

JZ - 6-20-2005 at 09:44 PM

That is great news! I wish someone with the plan could give us more direct info.

elgatoloco - 6-20-2005 at 11:39 PM

We have the plan. Waiting for the first bill. What ever it is it's worth it.

I am not retired. :biggrin:

jeans - 6-21-2005 at 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Anonymous

450 minutes = 59.99 /month Said TELCEL/Movistar occasionally likes to throw on roaming onto your bill, but with the North American Plan, NO ROAMING EVER!! Canada, Mex, USA and Some of the islands are all part of the plan..
if they put roaming, just call Cingular and they will drop the charges... this plan is awesome!!

We have the North American Plan. It works GREAT! HOWEVER, I had a terrible time at first because I bought it through a Mobile Solutions kiosk at a mall. Those idiots sold me a plan that Cingular would not honor. Cingular told them within a week they had made a mistake, but I was not told.....until I got a whopping bill. Then MS gave me the runaround, would not return my calls. The kids they have working in the booths are clueless and will say anything to get a sale.

Cingular was very understanding. They took off ALL extra charges, including the only time my mother used the phone outside of Rosarito. She called me from El Rosario (Baja Cactus Motel) in January. It was crystal clear.

I just this minute got off the phone with Cingular and was told there was no roaming charge anywhere from Mexico to Canada. We are on the 450 minutes = 59.99 /month plan.

When calling her in Mexico, you hear the Telcel foreign ring. That freaks people out the first time they call her because they think they are being charged for a foreign call....or that they are causing her roaming charges. They are amazed to learn that it is a flat rate. Being cautious about long distance charges is so ingrained in people, I can't get mom to use all of her minutes!

One last thought. I had to program two sets of numbers for her: one set with 001 before each number for when she is at home in Mexico, and one without 001 for when she's up here.

[Edited on 6-21-2005 by jeans]