On 2007-04-06, John Navas <spamfilter0@navasgroup.com> wrote:
> On Fri, 06 Apr 2007 19:30:50 GMT, John Navas
><spamfilter0@navasgroup.com> wrote in
><t47d13520tfh7sspe8a85fgdbpq542ce33@4ax.com>:
>
>>On Fri, 06 Apr 2007 12:04:44 -0700, "Robert A. Fink, M. D."
>><lynxer@comcast.net> wrote in
>><516d13d8ur90fa773qpej01c614enq5dsv@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?

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.

> 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