New fees for calling cell phones in Mexico
Nov 6, 2006, 3:54 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Sacramento, California, USA
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New fees for calling cell phones in Mexico
Say adios to cheap calls to cellphones in Mexico.
Starting today, the Mexican government is imposing a surcharge of at least 14 cents a minute to complete international calls to cellphones, more than doubling or tripling rates callers pay.
(...)
The surcharge was imposed by Mexico's version of the Federal Communications Commission as part of an overhaul of how mobile phone companies bill their customers. For six years, Mexico has been moving toward a system in which the calling party pays all the costs of a call to a cellphone, including long-distance charges. That makes the incoming call free to mobile users.
Mexico's surcharge does not apply to calls made to land-line phones in Mexico or to walkie-talkie systems used by some cellphone carriers. At least four smaller Mexican cellphone carriers have obtained a court order, applying only to them, to block the surcharge.
But the country's largest phone company, Telefonos de Mexico, or Telmex, said it would abide by the Mexican authority's new fees. The fees are negotiated individually between Mexican phone companies and their counterparts in other countries.
Most of the money collected will go into the coffers of companies controlled by Mexican entrepreneur Carlos Slim, the world's third-richest man with a net worth of $30 billion, according to Forbes magazine. Slim controls Telmex, which has 94% of the Mexican land-line market, and America Movil, whose Telcel subsidiary has 80% of the Mexican mobile market.
AT&T Inc. and Sprint have been alerting their customers about the new fee, but customers still unaware of the higher cost "may suffer sticker shock," said Sprint spokeswoman Kathleen Dunleavy. Verizon Communications Inc. will absorb the fee for three months as it notifies customers, spokesman Jonathan Davies said.
Having the caller pay all cellphone costs is prevalent in Europe. The trend never caught on here, despite efforts to implement it. On land-line phones, the calling party has long paid the freight on the call, but the U.S. mobile market grew up with each party sharing the cost.
Starting today, the Mexican government is imposing a surcharge of at least 14 cents a minute to complete international calls to cellphones, more than doubling or tripling rates callers pay.
(...)
The surcharge was imposed by Mexico's version of the Federal Communications Commission as part of an overhaul of how mobile phone companies bill their customers. For six years, Mexico has been moving toward a system in which the calling party pays all the costs of a call to a cellphone, including long-distance charges. That makes the incoming call free to mobile users.
Mexico's surcharge does not apply to calls made to land-line phones in Mexico or to walkie-talkie systems used by some cellphone carriers. At least four smaller Mexican cellphone carriers have obtained a court order, applying only to them, to block the surcharge.
But the country's largest phone company, Telefonos de Mexico, or Telmex, said it would abide by the Mexican authority's new fees. The fees are negotiated individually between Mexican phone companies and their counterparts in other countries.
Most of the money collected will go into the coffers of companies controlled by Mexican entrepreneur Carlos Slim, the world's third-richest man with a net worth of $30 billion, according to Forbes magazine. Slim controls Telmex, which has 94% of the Mexican land-line market, and America Movil, whose Telcel subsidiary has 80% of the Mexican mobile market.
AT&T Inc. and Sprint have been alerting their customers about the new fee, but customers still unaware of the higher cost "may suffer sticker shock," said Sprint spokeswoman Kathleen Dunleavy. Verizon Communications Inc. will absorb the fee for three months as it notifies customers, spokesman Jonathan Davies said.
Having the caller pay all cellphone costs is prevalent in Europe. The trend never caught on here, despite efforts to implement it. On land-line phones, the calling party has long paid the freight on the call, but the U.S. mobile market grew up with each party sharing the cost.
Nov 7, 2006, 8:48 am
#2
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One answer is for those we call in Mexico to avail themselves of a VoIP system if they have a computer and high speed Internet access, becoming more common every day in Mexico.
When I call my relatives in Mexico, I call the local telephone number that connects with their Vonage system - and when they call me it shows up as that number. Voila, no taxes, a US telephone number, unlimited time for something like US$14.05 a month.
Meantime, Carlos Slim, who controls Telmex / Telcel, had a bomb attack carried out on one of his flagship Sanborns restaurants in Mexico City yesterday. And the world's third richest man will continue to get richer, at our expense. You can help him even more by shopping at CompUSA, wholly owned by Grupo Carso, with Carlos Slim Domit as CompUSA's Chairman.
When I call my relatives in Mexico, I call the local telephone number that connects with their Vonage system - and when they call me it shows up as that number. Voila, no taxes, a US telephone number, unlimited time for something like US$14.05 a month.
Meantime, Carlos Slim, who controls Telmex / Telcel, had a bomb attack carried out on one of his flagship Sanborns restaurants in Mexico City yesterday. And the world's third richest man will continue to get richer, at our expense. You can help him even more by shopping at CompUSA, wholly owned by Grupo Carso, with Carlos Slim Domit as CompUSA's Chairman.