SIM card options for Mexico
 

SIM card options for Mexico

What company sells the best SIM CARD in Mexico (with prepay).

In the US, I chose T-mobile, because it was easy, cheap and nationwide, including anytime minutues available at any 7-11 in the form of a top up voucher.

What would the Mexican equivalent be?

I use amigo telcel ---easy to get and recharge is pretty simple -- coverage is good---

plus you can get good deals...like buy 500pesos worth and get 400 free -- so you get a total of 900pesos at one time....

amigo telcel? where do i get its SIM CARD (in tj)?

I hear Telcel from a lot of people is the best bet, but is that really the best option for around the country travel in Mexico?

I mean I don't need a company that specializes in long distance rates or focuses on calls back to the US.

Instead, I'm looking for quality and price, and to use my phone only to make local Mexico to Mexico calls and send local SMS.

Is my best bet still TelCel?

Or would the other options do better? Movistar? Iunacell?

Does anyone know if you can buy a local SIM card in a shop at the Cancun Airport?

Or if anyone has been to Cancun recently, or is going soon, perhaps I could take your no-longer-needed SIM card off your hands. :)

Sorry for the thread bump... is this the case?

I don't recall seeing a booth as you exit customs. There are a ton of vendors of different products inside security but that probably won't do you any good as you can't access once you land (assuming international flight). We will be going through in a few days on a domestic flight (connecting via MEX) so I'll let you know if I find anything useful.

I don't know if there's a reseller at the CUN airport (it's been many years since I've been there), but since nobody has responded yet figured it might be helpful to provide a list of Telcel customer service centers in Cancun for your reference. Note that the second one (Cancún II La Isla notes that it is in the hotel zone)

Cancún I Tulum
Av. Tulum S/N esq. Lluvia Manzana 1 Supermanzana 4, Planta Baja Hotel Oasis Cancún, C.P. 77500, Cancún, Q.Roo.
Open:
Monday - Friday 9:00 to 18:00 hrs.
Saturday 9:00 to 17:30 hrs.

Cancún II La Isla
Blvd. Kukulcán Km. 12.5 Local I-7 Centro Comercial La Isla en zona Hotelera, C.P. 77500, Cancún, Q.Roo.
Open:
Monday - Sunday 10:00 a 19:00 hrs.

Cancún III Chichen
Supermanzana 62 Manzana 7 Lote 6-A Av. Chichen Itza, C.P. 77500, Cancún, Q.Roo
Open:
Monday - Friday 9:00 to 18:00 hrs.
Saturday 9:00 to 14:00 hrs.

Cancún IV Gran Plaza
Ave. Nichupte Mza.18 Lte.1-4 Local 28 SM.51 Gran Plaza Cancún, entre Ave. Chilam Balam, calle Tepich y Ave. Tecnológico, C.P. 77533, Cancun, Q. Roo.
Open:
Monday - Friday 10:00 to 20:00 hrs.
Saturday & Sunday 10:00 a 19:00 hrs.

You can find the latest info on the Telcel website here. Follow the link on the bottom right to "Centros de Atención" and then select "Quintana Roo" as the state in the drop down menu in the middle of the page.

There are loads of places in the airport terminal to buy a SIM card. Both Telcel and Movistar have big offices there in T1. The prices and service are pretty similar, though in my experience Movistar runs more aggressive promotions.

SIM card numbers expire after two months of not using it, so if anyone gives you one old one it probably won't work. They're usually 200 pesos and come with some minutes loaded already. Top it off with more and you'll probably get some freebies on top of it. 2-for-1 deals are common.

are you talking about MEX or CUN?

I have been to Mexico this past week, and found a great SIM card on ebay. It costs only 25 cents a minute, and it had my local area code on it.

It doesn't have incoming calls free, but we all know that this is only a gimmick, reaching a Mexico cell phone is very expensive.

Thanks,

Travelpro2008

Here is the link

sim card at ZIH airport
 

anybody knows if I can pick up a prepaid MICRO SIM for iPhone 4 in ZIH,... or should I buy/cut one ? looking for internet usage... no phone calls... thanks

Giving this thread a bump.
We're spending 2 months in Mexico (Isla Mujeres mostly). Can I get a sim card from Telcel to work in my iphone3gs? Or iphone4? (may upgrade my phone before we go)...
Also has anyone used the telcel wifi? (I think it's the amigo?)

TIA

Since this thread is still getting views five years later, I thought I’d add a little information that people may find helpful.

Full disclosure, I’m posting under my real name and am Director of Marketing for Brightroam.com. We’ve just launched a Mexico SIM Card.

A lot has changed since the original question in 2006, and there are many new features. (We’re not the only ones offering them.) You can get free calls to other people using the same SIM, which is great if you’re travelling as a family. Free incoming text is also available.

I think it’s also a good idea to consider data rates. We offer data back to the US and Canada for $3.10 per megabyte. That works out to about 7 cents for an email with no attachments, 60 cents for a webpage and $1 to upload a small photo. So if you really want to upload vacation photos to Facebook in real time – or check the score on ESPN.com – it’s not necessarily going to bust your budget.

Also, all the discussion so far seems to be about prepaid cards. FYI, post paid SIMs are available. Some people like post paid because you only pay for actual usage and your call –or upload – is never interrupted while you “top up.” You can also get a Mexican SIM card delivered to your door before you leave and 24/7 customer support is available in English.

Bzbdewd, you’re probably back from your trip already, but I’ll answer your question anyway. I’m not sure about Telcel but we do offer MicroSIMs for the iPhone4, 4s, iPad and all the other great products Apple may launch if people continue to read this thread for 5 more years. (Obviously, pricing may change some time in the next 5 years too.)

Finally, we are launching our Mexico SIM card for free, until December 31, 2011. (You still need to pay for shipping and usage, but you save the normal $39 fee.) If anyone wants to try our SIM card and share their opinion, I’d love to hear what you think.

Doug - Where can one buy your card if it's too late to have it shipped? We're going to CUN tomorrow....