jaymtb
Junior Nomad
Posts: 92
Registered: 3-30-2004
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Telecel Sim Card in ATT phone ?
Has anyone purchased a Telecel sim card to use in an ATT GSM phone? I assume this would give a Mexican number?
Details, where bought? rates, recharge, etc?
Many Thanks,
Jay
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danaeb
Senior Nomad
Posts: 991
Registered: 11-13-2006
Location: San Diego; El Centenario
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I had an older ATT phone (that was still far better than the cheap telcel phone I purchased). Call ATT customer service to give you the unlock code.
You'll have to provide the required info. When you insert your Telcel sim, you'll be prompted to enter the code. Works like a charm.
https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/client/en_US/
I bought my telcel phone and sim in La Paz, but I don't remember the cost of sim only. You'll need your passport to register the phone number. You
can buy minutes at any OXXO.
[Edited on 9-5-2013 by danaeb]
Experience enables you to recognize a mistake every time you repeat it.
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tehag
Super Nomad
Posts: 1248
Registered: 1-8-2005
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Telcel sim
Had an old Telcel Amigo-plan phone. Bought an unlocked iPhone. Cut the Telcel sim with a sim cutter from Amazon and put it in the iPhone. Works fine,
same number as original Amigo. I can buy fichas anywhere for more time. If you don't make a lot of calls or use Telcel for data, it's much cheaper
than any plan I know of. Works anywhere, either side of border, but I buy a $15 ATT sim when I'm in the US for more than a day or so. That's a new
number every time, but cheaper than roaming charges. Then I put the Amigo card back in when I cross the border. Telcel also sells an iPhone chip for
Amigo-plan users, $40 some dollars.
Certainty is the child of ignorance, knowledge is the mother of doubt. Question everything!
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TecateRay
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Posts: 346
Registered: 9-6-2006
Location: La Mesa, CA
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What are costs with Telcel phone/minutes
I am thinking of upgrading my AT&T phone to a smart phone and will have my old phone available to convert what are the costs?
How much for the SIM?
How much per minute within Mexico to Mexican numbers?
How much per minute to call a US cell located in Mexico?
How much per minute to call to the US?
All questions refer to me being in Baja and making calls.
I would appreciate your help here, since AT&T makes a fortune off me when I am in Baja.
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C205Driver
Nomad
Posts: 266
Registered: 8-25-2008
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. . .Just came back from my local phone company - Golden State Cellular ( associated with Verizon for roaming ) & the technician told me that
iPhones are unlocked if out of the USA; just buy a Telcel SIM card when over border, turn phone OFF & then install SIM card ( no sim card in our
), turn phone ON & voila, phone will be on Telcel network & buy minutes as you wish. . .Anyone else????
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wiltonh
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Posts: 306
Registered: 2-2-2007
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I have been using an old iPhone in Baja for the last 3 or 4 years and there are a few more things you should know.
1. I have an unlocked iPhone 3G and iPhone 4. The card that worked in the 3G did not work correctly in the iPhone 4 after cutting it down. I took
it into the Telcel office in La Paz and they tried several Sim cards until they found one that worked.
2. It can take a lot of time to purchase a Sim card as they have to fax your passport info to Mexico City and get it approved. The first year, I
just let the Sim card expire and had to go through the process again. It was shorter the second time.
3. At that time there was no place in the states to put money on the Sim so after a few months I lost the number. I hear there is now a way on the
Telcel site to put money on a Sim and charge it to your Visa. This is new but there is a web site called Pinzoo.com and they will do it just fine.
4. I put $10 on the Sim every 3 month and that keeps me from loosing the number.
5. Telcel and AT&T have some sort of agreement so that the Telcel Sim will work in the US. I ended up on a camping trip in the US and needing a
phone in a place where AT&T had the only network. I had to turn on Global Roaming and two short text messages cost me about $4.00 US.
6. A very short phone call was about the same amount. Don't use a Telcel card in the US unless you are willing to pay a lot. Since it is a prepay
card, you will never get a big bill but the money you put on will go very fast.
7. Calling locally in Mexico is cheap. I never calculated it per minute but the charge was so small it hardly mattered.
8. I do not use it to call the states so I do not know the cost. We use a program called TextMeNow which works very well on even a very slow wifi
connection. It takes much less bandwidth than something like Skype.
Wilton
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chuckie
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6082
Registered: 2-20-2012
Location: Kansas Prairies
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My ATT Phone just switches to Telcel when I am in Mexico....
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dasubergeek
Senior Nomad
Posts: 694
Registered: 8-17-2013
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How much it costs depends on how much you recharge in a month. The more you recharge (up to 200 pesos), the cheaper it gets. It can be as little as
$1.98 (pesos) per minute to call anywhere in Mexico, Canada or the US, though the usual price is $3.98. I believe text messages are $0.88 each, but I
could be wrong.
You can buy Internet plans by texting a code to 5050. I usually text "bajo7" which gives me 200 MB that expires after one week. It costs $59, or about
US$4.50.
Here's the complete list (sorry, Spanish only, but pretty easy to figure out): http://www.telcel.com/portal/personas/amigo/detalles/paquete...
[Edited on 9-9-2013 by dasubergeek]
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C205Driver
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Registered: 8-25-2008
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. . .Thanks for all the answers!
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