What About Cell Phones at Lake Chapala Ajijic ?

I recieved a question from Deanne today asking if there’s a fee to call a cell phone from a land line in the Lake Chapala Ajijic area when using the “045″ access code.

 Cell phones / land lines and telephones in general in Mexcio can be a maze of confussion.

So, let me share my limited knowledge on the subject hoping to draw others into the discussion. 

 You can buy a cell phone here like in the USA for around $40 USD and then just buy telephone cards.

 The cards have an area that you scratch off to reveal a code. You enter the code into the telephone or let the clerk do it for you.

  
 
The telephone is now loaded with so many minutes depending upon the value of the card you purchased. The cards are usually sold in 100 Pesos increments.

 These phones can only be used with time purchased on the cards. You can’t use these cell phones if you decide to convert to a monthky paln of some type. You must use a different phone.

 Other cell phone options are like in the USA. You choose a plan and pay a monthly fee. The plans are numerous and often include so called free time in evening hours, weekends, etc. like in the USA.

 Some USA cell phones work or can be made to work here in Mexico. Some have a card or chip that can be removed and a card… chip inserted to allow it to work here in Mexico.

 Tel Cel is the largest cell firm in Mexico and is also has the highest cost on average per mintute from what I‘ve been able to learn.

 They have about 80% of the cell phone business in Mexico and I hear they are owned about 80% by Tel Mex (the near monopoly now mostly owned by Carlos Slim).

 Let’s see hummm “What’s wrong with this picture?” “Are you telling me that the largest cell phone firm in Mexico has the highest fees?”

 Yes, it just shows you the power of constant advertising.

 I use Movie Star for my cell firm which gives me excellent service at a fair price with rates lower than Tel Cel. I use it all the time, Day, Evening, Night and my bill runs between $23 to $50 USD per month.

 A really neat feature I like is that Movie Star doesn’t charge extra for long distance anywhere in Mexico.

 Note: All the cell phones in the Lake Chapala - Ajijic area use Guadalajara numbers.

 This means that if you use Tel Cel when you are in the Lake Chapala Ajijic area and want to call a local hard line phone it will be a long distance call. (The phone thinks it’s in Guadalajara so to speak).

 Since I use Movie Star (owned by a large firm in Spain) and since I get free long distance calls when I make a call to a local hard line phone in Chapala or Ajijic it is a long distance call but I’m not charged long distance, so for me it’s the same as a local call.

 I just pay for the calls I need to make when ever I need to make them. I don’t worry about plans.

Sorry, I don’t reallly know just what I pay per minute. It really doesn’t matter since I feel like I’m using the oowest cost firm for my situation.

I must use a cell phone for work and I often need to make local calls when away from home and I have family living in Guadalajara and other places in Mexico.

 Oh, my Movie Star phone works just fine all the way to Dallas and all the way to Argentina and Chili in South America.

I saw a lot of big Movie Star signs while in South America so got the idea they may have a lot of market share there.

In Dallas my phone screen reads T - Mobil. No doubt the cost per minute may be high using it out of Mexico, but when you need it, you need it right ?  

Now to call a cell phone from a land line in the Lake Chapala Ajijic area or anyplace else in the Mexican State of Jalisco you dial an access code “045″ and there’s a fee attached, Sorry, I’m not sure what the fee is. 

Previously when using a land line (hard wired telephone line) from the Lake Chapala Ajijic area you were charged a long distance fee to call Guadalajara cell phones as they have Guadalajara numbers.

I think the fee with the new system of using “045″ is less than the previous long distance fee associated with calling a cell phone from our area.

Now this is “how I understand it”.

I invite comments from folks who have a better grasp of the local cell providers and making calls between cell phones and land based hard lines.