Cingular cell phone service - Enabling international calls

Author

Enabling international calls

Robert A. Fink, M. D.

2007-04-06, 3:33 pm

We are going to be spending a week in Cancun, Mexico, in mid-May. My
wife and I both have Cingular phones (RAZR with GSM) which include
"International access" and GPRS/EDGE for my laptop.

What, if anything, do I have to do before we leave in order to be able
to:

1. Place and receive calls on our phones

2. Use my laptop connect card for Internet access.

Any ideas of what kind of speed I can expect from Cancun?

Best,

Bob

Robert A. Fink, M. D., FACS, P. C.
Neurological Surgery
2500 Milvia Street Suite 222
Berkeley, CA 94704-2636 USA
510-849-2555

"Ex Tristitia Virtus"

John Navas

2007-04-06, 3:33 pm

On Fri, 06 Apr 2007 12:04:44 -0700, "Robert A. Fink, M. D."
<lynxer@comcast.net> wrote in
< 516d13d8ur90fa773qpe
j01c614enq5dsv@4ax.com>:

>We are going to be spending a week in Cancun, Mexico, in mid-May. My
>wife and I both have Cingular phones (RAZR with GSM) which include
>"International access" and GPRS/EDGE for my laptop.
>
>What, if anything, do I have to do before we leave in order to be able
>to:
>
>1. Place and receive calls on our phones
>
>2. Use my laptop connect card for Internet access.
>
>Any ideas of what kind of speed I can expect from Cancun?

International roaming rates are pretty stiff -- have you considered
getting your phones unlocked and using local SIM cards?

Roaming info for Mexico is at
<http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/cou_mx.shtml>
Pegaso Comunicaciones y Sistemas, S.A. De C.V (movistar) is shown to
have "high" quality coverage in Cancun. But see
<http://www.cancunsource.com/cell_phones.php>, which claims TelCel is
the best in Cancun. Telcel reportedly has EDGE service.

--
Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/ Cingu...less_FA
Q>

John Navas

2007-04-06, 3:33 pm

On Fri, 06 Apr 2007 19:30:50 GMT, John Navas
< spamfilter0@navasgro
up.com> wrote in
< t47d13520tfh7sspe8a8
5fgdbpq542ce33@4ax.com>:

>On Fri, 06 Apr 2007 12:04:44 -0700, "Robert A. Fink, M. D."
><lynxer@comcast.net> wrote in
>< 516d13d8ur90fa773qpe
j01c614enq5dsv@4ax.com>:
>
>
>International roaming rates are pretty stiff -- have you considered
>getting your phones unlocked and using local SIM cards?
>
>Roaming info for Mexico is at
><http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/cou_mx.shtml>
>Pegaso Comunicaciones y Sistemas, S.A. De C.V (movistar) is shown to
>have "high" quality coverage in Cancun. But see
><http://www.cancunsource.com/cell_phones.php>, which claims TelCel is
>the best in Cancun. Telcel reportedly has EDGE service.

If you do decide to roam:

(a) Have AT&T/Cingular enable International Roaming on your account

(b) Ask AT&T/Cingular about GPRS/EGPRS(EDGE) data service when roaming,
including the cost (which probably won't be cheap).

--
Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/ Cingu...less_FA
Q>

Dennis Ferguson

2007-04-06, 3:33 pm

On 2007-04-06, John Navas < spamfilter0@navasgro
up.com> wrote:
> On Fri, 06 Apr 2007 19:30:50 GMT, John Navas
>< spamfilter0@navasgro
up.com> wrote in
>< t47d13520tfh7sspe8a8
5fgdbpq542ce33@4ax.com>:
>

I have a negative opinion about local SIMs in Mexico. Last I checked,
Telcel was charging about 3 pesos/minute for domestic calls, and
10 pesos/minute for calls to the US. Also, while incoming calls are free
on Mexican cell phones now, they usually cost a US caller 25 or
30 cents/minute. At these prices, if most of your calls are to or from
the US, if you can get the 59 cent/minute roaming rate from Cingular you
may end up better off overall just using the Cingular phone and saving the
cost and hassle of getting the local SIM.

Of course, to pay 59 cents/minute, you need Cingular World Traveler
or Cingular Mexico added to your account, at $6 and $5 monthly,
respectively. If you can just add one of these plans for the
month and then cancel it, the price will be paid for with less
than 15 minutes of use.

The data access may change the cost evaluation, however. I think
Cingular charges almost 2 cents/kB in Mexico, which is quite outrageous.
I don't know what you pay with a prepaid Mexican SIM.
[color=darkred]
> If you do decide to roam:
>
> (a) Have AT&T/Cingular enable International Roaming on your account
>
> (b) Ask AT&T/Cingular about GPRS/EGPRS(EDGE) data service when roaming,
> including the cost (which probably won't be cheap).

(c) See if you can add Cingular Mexico to your account, and cancel
it when you get back.

Dennis Ferguson

John Navas

2007-04-06, 10:33 pm

On Fri, 06 Apr 2007 15:30:40 -0500, Dennis Ferguson
<dcferguson@pacbell.net> wrote in
<slrnf1dbff.82.dcferguson@akit-ferguson.com>:

>On 2007-04-06, John Navas < spamfilter0@navasgro
up.com> wrote:

>
>I have a negative opinion about local SIMs in Mexico. Last I checked,
>Telcel was charging about 3 pesos/minute for domestic calls, and
>10 pesos/minute for calls to the US. Also, while incoming calls are free
>on Mexican cell phones now, they usually cost a US caller 25 or
>30 cents/minute. At these prices, if most of your calls are to or from
>the US, if you can get the 59 cent/minute roaming rate from Cingular you
>may end up better off overall just using the Cingular phone and saving the
>cost and hassle of getting the local SIM.
>
>Of course, to pay 59 cents/minute, you need Cingular World Traveler
>or Cingular Mexico added to your account, at $6 and $5 monthly,
>respectively. If you can just add one of these plans for the
>month and then cancel it, the price will be paid for with less
>than 15 minutes of use.

TelCel calls within Mexico are much cheaper than AT&T/Cingular roaming,
about 32 cents/minute, and it's sometimes possible to find discounted
SIMs that reduce the cost even more.

Usually the cheapest option for calling to the USA is an international
callback service -- see links in the Cingular FAQ below.

Reseller of TelCel SIMs on eBay:
<http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...em=280101310146>

>The data access may change the cost evaluation, however. I think
>Cingular charges almost 2 cents/kB in Mexico, which is quite outrageous.
>I don't know what you pay with a prepaid Mexican SIM.

According to Telestial, GPRS is currently not available with the Telcel
SIM card. Thus AT&T/Cingular may be the only practical option if you
need data.

--
Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/ Cingu...less_FA
Q>

Dennis Ferguson

2007-04-06, 10:33 pm

On 2007-04-06, John Navas < spamfilter0@navasgro
up.com> wrote:
> On Fri, 06 Apr 2007 15:30:40 -0500, Dennis Ferguson
><dcferguson@pacbell.net> wrote in
><slrnf1dbff.82.dcferguson@akit-ferguson.com>:
>
>
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^[color=
darkred]
>
> TelCel calls within Mexico are much cheaper than AT&T/Cingular roaming,
> about 32 cents/minute, and it's sometimes possible to find discounted
> SIMs that reduce the cost even more.

I think you are just repeating what I said above. If you want to phone
Mexicans, or have them phone you, the local SIM is fine, but most people
who spend a week away are generally more interested in phoning home. I've
not heard of a discounted SIM that charges less than that per minute
price, or I'd buy one. I bought the same service that most of the Mexicans
I know use, so if there is something cheaper it isn't widely known.

In fact, most of what I use the Mexican SIM for is so Mexicans can
send me text messages telling me to call them back on my Verizon
phone. The very best phone deal for frequent travel to Mexico isn't
a Mexican cell phone, through for a week this makes no sense either.
I admit it is a close call, but for a week you've got to put on
a fair bit of use to save money overall (including the acquisition
price of the local SIM) over 59 cents/minute.

If you are going to China, buy a local SIM. If you are going to
Mexico, maybe not.

Dennis Ferguson

John Navas

2007-04-06, 10:33 pm

On Fri, 06 Apr 2007 17:15:13 -0500, Dennis Ferguson
<dcferguson@pacbell.net> wrote in
<slrnf1dhjh.80.dcferguson@akit-ferguson.com>:

>On 2007-04-06, John Navas < spamfilter0@navasgro
up.com> wrote:
[color=darkred]
>
>I think you are just repeating what I said above. If you want to phone
>Mexicans, or have them phone you, the local SIM is fine, but most people
>who spend a week away are generally more interested in phoning home.

The big advantage of a local prepaid SIM for phoning home is free
incoming calls when used with an international callback service.

>I've
>not heard of a discounted SIM that charges less than that per minute
>price, or I'd buy one. I bought the same service that most of the Mexicans
>I know use, so if there is something cheaper it isn't widely known.

I've bought partially used SIMs at large discounts from returning
tourists.

--
Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/ Cingu...less_FA
Q>

Dennis Ferguson

2007-04-06, 10:33 pm

On 2007-04-06, John Navas < spamfilter0@navasgro
up.com> wrote:
>
> The big advantage of a local prepaid SIM for phoning home is free
> incoming calls when used with an international callback service.

?? They aren't free, you pay the callback service. You should look
at the price of calling a Mexican mobile phone these days; it's
really, really not cheap. And when it was cheap to phone a Mexican
mobile (before last November) they'd stiff you with incoming call
charges plus a premium for internationally-originated calls. The
Mexican phone companies suck.

>
> I've bought partially used SIMs at large discounts from returning
> tourists.

Ah, a discount on the SIM rather than the per-minute charges. That
is useful, though I don't think the SIMs themselves cost much anyway
if you buy them in Mexico (though I don't remember exactly what I
paid, to tell the truth).

Dennis Ferguson

Todd Allcock

2007-04-07, 4:33 am

At 06 Apr 2007 12:04:44 -0700 Robert A. Fink, M. D. wrote:
> We are going to be spending a week in Cancun, Mexico, in mid-May. My
> wife and I both have Cingular phones (RAZR with GSM) which include
> "International access" and GPRS/EDGE for my laptop.

What is "international access?" Is that a plan, or does that just mean
int'l roaming has been enabled on your account?

Cingular has a "Cingular Mexico" voice-plan add-on for $5/month that
drops the roaming rate from $0.99/min to $0.59. Data is a killer,
however- it's $20/MB. Cingular does offer a "DataConnect North American"
data plan for $109/month that's unlimited in the US and gives you
100MB/month in Canada and Mexico, but it requires a year committment
according to the website.

I visited Cancun in January. I'm with T-Mobile, who charges $1.49/voice
minute and $15/MB of data. I put a T-Mo prepaid SIM in my phone (unlike
most prepaids T-Mo's can roam internationally) since I had a leftover
prepaid my wife used to use before we went to a family plan, so I figured
I'd burn up the leftover prepaid balance rather than add new charges to
my account at $1.49/minute. It also helped to avoid the "forward
effect" (once your phone registers on a foreign carrier, you get charged
a minute for all incoming calls you don't answer or that go to voice
mail, even if your phone is turned off since your carrier forwards the
call to the operator you were last registered on.)

It was kind of nice not to carry the phone around for a week- I used a
minute or two every other day to check messages on my "real" line.

> What, if anything, do I have to do before we leave in order to be able
> to:
>
> 1. Place and receive calls on our phones

Just tell Cingular to activate int'l roaming (it sounds like you already
have.)

> 2. Use my laptop connect card for Internet access.

Same- just tell Cingular to activate data roaming on that account, and
repeat "$20 a megabyte" to yourself while you use it. I left the laptop
at home and used my hotel's generous $7 for 15 minutes, $11 for 30
broadband on my wi-fi-enabled PDA phone for checking e-mail and light
browsing. (The time lasted for a 24-hour period, so I'd log on and buy
15 or 30 minutes time at 8 or 9pm, download my e-mail, log off, compose
replies off-line, log on and send, log off, and do the same the next
night an hour earlier (23 hours ito my 24-hour day) to get two-day's e-
mail for my 7 bucks.

> Any ideas of what kind of speed I can expect from Cancun?

Telcel has EDGE, so 150-200k probably. IIRC, Movistar, the carrier T-Mo
prepaid roams on in Cancun only had GPRS- I don't ever remember the EDGE
indicator ever lighting up on my phone- just the "G" for GPRS.

Todd Allcock

2007-04-07, 4:33 am

At 06 Apr 2007 15:30:40 -0500 Dennis Ferguson wrote:

> I have a negative opinion about local SIMs in Mexico. Last I checked,
> Telcel was charging about 3 pesos/minute for domestic calls, and
> 10 pesos/minute for calls to the US. Also, while incoming calls are
free
> on Mexican cell phones now, they usually cost a US caller 25 or
> 30 cents/minute. At these prices, if most of your calls are to or from
> the US, if you can get the 59 cent/minute roaming rate from Cingular you
> may end up better off overall just using the Cingular phone and saving
the
> cost and hassle of getting the local SIM.

Agreed. However, to call back to the states, Movistar has a special
prepaid plan that allows calls up to 30 minutes to the US for 11 pesos
(about a $1.) You have to ask for that plan (called "por llamada") when
you activate else you pay the regular per minute rate for calls to the US
(9 pesos/min, IIRC.) I was ready to buy a Movistar prepaid phone (about
$40US with $30US airtime included) just for calls back to the states, but
good sense prevailed- I remembered I was on vacation and decided phone
calls were part of what I was vacationing from! ;-)

> Of course, to pay 59 cents/minute, you need Cingular World Traveler
> or Cingular Mexico added to your account, at $6 and $5 monthly,
> respectively. If you can just add one of these plans for the
> month and then cancel it, the price will be paid for with less
> than 15 minutes of use.
>
> The data access may change the cost evaluation, however. I think
> Cingular charges almost 2 cents/kB in Mexico, which is quite outrageous.
> I don't know what you pay with a prepaid Mexican SIM.

I tried figuring that out from the Movistar website, but my Spanish is
too weak. If my bad memory (and worse Spanish) recalls, they have a WAP
"walled garden" on prepaid (simlar to T-Mo prepaid in the US) preventing
you from accessing websites outside their WAP deck, so I doubt that would
be much of an option for the OP.

Mike S.

2007-04-07, 7:33 am

In article <ev78l4$998$1@aioe.org>,
Todd Allcock < elecconnec@AmericaOn
Line.com> wrote:
>At 06 Apr 2007 12:04:44 -0700 Robert A. Fink, M. D. wrote:
>
>
>What is "international access?" Is that a plan, or does that just mean
>int'l roaming has been enabled on your account?

AFAIK this means two things, both of which must be in place.

You must have international ROAMING which means you can use the phone
abroad.

You must also have international DIALING which means you can dial calls
to foreign destinations.

3Gfreak

2007-04-07, 3:33 pm

On Apr 7, 6:58 am, retsu...@xinap.moc (Mike S.) wrote:
> In article <ev78l4$99...@aioe.org>,
> Todd Allcock <eleccon...@AmericaOnLine.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> AFAIK this means two things, both of which must be in place.
>
> You must have international ROAMING which means you can use the phone
> abroad.
>
> You must also have international DIALING which means you can dial calls
> to foreign destinations.

Don't forget, depending on how far you actually go into Mexico you may
not even need it - as there is a buffer zone!

Hope this help!
3GFreak
www.mobilevertigo.com
Free Movies for your Cell Phone.

John Navas

2007-04-07, 3:33 pm

On Fri, 06 Apr 2007 20:11:57 -0500, Dennis Ferguson
<dcferguson@pacbell.net> wrote in
<slrnf1drut.80.dcferguson@akit-ferguson.com>:

>On 2007-04-06, John Navas < spamfilter0@navasgro
up.com> wrote:
>
>?? They aren't free, you pay the callback service.

The _wireless_ is free, and the callback service is much cheaper than
international roaming.

>You should look
>at the price of calling a Mexican mobile phone these days; it's
>really, really not cheap. ...

SkypeOut to Mexico mobile is $0.336/minute. True, that's several times
more than the landline cost, but is still much cheaper than
international roaming.

>And when it was cheap to phone a Mexican
>mobile (before last November) they'd stiff you with incoming call
>charges plus a premium for internationally-originated calls. The
>Mexican phone companies suck.

True.

--
Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/ Cingu...less_FA
Q>

John Navas

2007-04-07, 3:33 pm

On Fri, 06 Apr 2007 20:58:59 -0600, Todd Allcock
< elecconnec@AmericaOn
Line.com> wrote in <ev78l5$998$2@aioe.org>:

>At 06 Apr 2007 15:30:40 -0500 Dennis Ferguson wrote:
>
>
>Agreed. However, to call back to the states, Movistar has a special
>prepaid plan that allows calls up to 30 minutes to the US for 11 pesos
>(about a $1.) You have to ask for that plan (called "por llamada") when
>you activate else you pay the regular per minute rate for calls to the US
>(9 pesos/min, IIRC.) ...

Good info! However, I've heard that TelCel service is much better than
Movistar service in Cancun (where the OP is going) -- no?

--
Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/ Cingu...less_FA
Q>

John Navas

2007-04-07, 3:33 pm

On 7 Apr 2007 10:44:52 -0700, "3Gfreak" <tastybreeze@gmail.com> wrote in
<1175967892.436792.205230@d57g2000hsg.googlegroups.com>:

>On Apr 7, 6:58 am, retsu...@xinap.moc (Mike S.) wrote:
>
>Don't forget, depending on how far you actually go into Mexico you may
>not even need it - as there is a buffer zone!

Not in Cancun. Did you not bother to read the rest of the thread?

--
Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/ Cingu...less_FA
Q>

Todd Allcock

2007-04-07, 3:33 pm

At 07 Apr 2007 10:44:52 -0700 3Gfreak wrote:

> Don't forget, depending on how far you actually go into Mexico you may
> not even need it - as there is a buffer zone!

Since the OP wrote "We are going to be spending a week in Cancun, Mexico,
in mid-May" that'd have to be one hell of a "buffer zone!"

Cancun has GSM coverage by Telcel and Movistar only. No American GSM
service finds it's way that far south of the border...

Robert A. Fink, M. D.

2007-04-07, 3:33 pm

On Fri, 06 Apr 2007 19:32:50 GMT, John Navas
< spamfilter0@navasgro
up.com> wrote:

>(a) Have AT&T/Cingular enable International Roaming on your account

According to my bill, it is already enabled.

>
>(b) Ask AT&T/Cingular about GPRS/EGPRS(EDGE) data service when roaming,
>including the cost (which probably won't be cheap).

Is this a different feature than the GPRS/EDGE service that I am
already paying for (I have a separate number with unlimited data
transfer for $60 per month)? I have used it all over the USA. Does
international coverage cost extra?

Best,

Bob

Robert A. Fink, M. D., FACS, P. C.
Neurological Surgery
2500 Milvia Street Suite 222
Berkeley, CA 94704-2636 USA
510-849-2555

"Ex Tristitia Virtus"

John Navas

2007-04-07, 10:33 pm

On Sat, 07 Apr 2007 13:04:06 -0700, "Robert A. Fink, M. D."
<lynxer@comcast.net> wrote in
< matf13dfh1tp12smr6ab
dg50767dt9r28d@4ax.com>:

>
>Is this a different feature than the GPRS/EDGE service that I am
>already paying for (I have a separate number with unlimited data
>transfer for $60 per month)? I have used it all over the USA. Does
>international coverage cost extra?

I'm pretty sure that it's not part of the service you're already paying
for, that it does indeed cost (a lot) extra.

--
Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/ Cingu...less_FA
Q>

Todd Allcock

2007-04-07, 10:33 pm

At 07 Apr 2007 18:02:47 +0000 John Navas wrote:

> Good info! However, I've heard that TelCel service is much better than
> Movistar service in Cancun (where the OP is going) -- no?

For the ability to place a 30 minute call to the States for a buck
I'd put up with lesser service. After all, I'm a T-Mo customer here!
;-)

Seriously, in my week in Cancun, my T-Mo phone had a signal everywhere I
went, roaming only on Movistar. (While T-Mo allows roaming on both, T-Mo
prepaid only roams on Movistar. As I stated earlier, I used a leftover
prepaid SIM in Cancun to burn off it's balance rather than incur new
charges on my contract account.)

However, I never left Cancun proper. According to Telcel and Movistar
coverage maps, Telcel has far better coverage outside Cancun, (like if
you intended to visit the ruins in Tulum, etc.) For use in and around
the resorts and the shopping areas downtown, Movistar was be fine.

Telcel and Movistar sort of parallel Cingular and T-Mo stateside- the
former having the more ubiquitous coverage, the latter being cheaper and
covering the metro areas adequately.

Todd Allcock

2007-04-07, 10:33 pm

At 07 Apr 2007 13:04:06 -0700 Robert A. Fink, M. D. wrote:

> Is this a different feature than the GPRS/EDGE service that I am
> already paying for (I have a separate number with unlimited data
> transfer for $60 per month)? I have used it all over the USA. Does
> international coverage cost extra?

Yes. As I posted earlier in this thread, it's $20/MB, unless you have
the $109/month "DataConnect North America" plan, which allows unlimited
data in the US, and 100MB/month in Canada and/or Mexico (then $5/MB for
overages.)

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