AT&T USA GSM
If you have AT&T in the USA, there are a few options you may want to check out so that you can seamlessly use your AT&T cell phone in Mexico. First a warning. If you use your AT&T cell phone a lot in Mexico, you can easily get a very large surprise with the next bill. The default roaming rate in Mexico is $0.99 per minute, $0.50 send text message, $0.20 receive text message, and $20.00 per megabyte of data. That data rate can be absolutely devastating.
Voice Options
The Viva Mexico plan can work for people who live on both sides of the border. It allows for no roaming and no long distance charges in either the USA or Mexico. Your monthly minutes work for both land lines and cell phones in the USA but just for land lines in Mexico. Remember that in Mexico the call originator pays for cellular air time - so there will be charges when you call Mexican cell phones. Viva Mexico could be a good choice for the San Carlos snowbird. Beware of some Terms and Conditions that limit the number of minutes of roaming and cross border calling to a fraction. Beware of data charges. They change from the ridiculous $20.00 per megabyte to the super expensive $5.00 per megabyte. There exist additional monthly packages that can bring down the cost of data and others to bring down the cost of text messaging in Mexico.
If your stay in Mexico is shorter than a snowbird and if the $0.99 per minute roaming charge is too high you can buy a monthly Canada and Mexico Travel Minutes monthly package. There are several levels. One example: the $49.99 AT&T Canada and Mexico Travel Minutes package gives you 125 minutes of calling or receiving phone calls while in Mexico (or Canada). If you use it all, that is $0.40 per minute. Larger packages are cheaper per minute while smaller packages are more expensive per minute.
If your stay in Mexico is shorter than a snowbird and if the $0.99 per minute roaming charge is too high you can buy a monthly Canada and Mexico Travel Minutes monthly package. There are several levels. One example: the $49.99 AT&T Canada and Mexico Travel Minutes package gives you 125 minutes of calling or receiving phone calls while in Mexico (or Canada). If you use it all, that is $0.40 per minute. Larger packages are cheaper per minute while smaller packages are more expensive per minute.
Data Options
The default AT&T data tariff in Mexico is outrageous. AT&T has Global Data Add-On Packages which can make using a bit of data while in Mexico affordable. These packages are almost global in scope. And yes, Mexico is one of the 140 countries supported by these packages. You can buy a monthly package of 120 megabytes for $30.00. That is $0.25 per megabyte if you use it all. Larger monthly packages are cheaper per megabyte. For example, an 800 megabyte global data package costs $120 per month. That is $0.15 per megabyte.
The 120 megabyte package, while not a lot of data for a month, can be workable - especially if you search out WiFi for your more data intensive activities.
The 120 megabyte package, while not a lot of data for a month, can be workable - especially if you search out WiFi for your more data intensive activities.
Messaging Options
If you use a lot of text messages, AT&T has Global Messaging packages. You can buy a monthly package of 200 global text messages for $30.00. That is $0.15 per text message if you use them all. One really good aspect of this package is that it does not differentiate between the simple 140 character SMS messages and the much larger MMS messages with larger text, pictures, and/or video. Many services charge much higher rates for MMS messages than the very simple SMS text messages.