Cell Phone Use In Baja

It can be useful to carry a cell phone with you when you travel in Mexico. Whether you want to call ahead to book a room for the night, find yourself running late to meet friends, or lose your way while exploring a new city – it is convenient and reassuring to have easy access to information without having to search for a local payphone. That said, even seasoned adventurers in Baja California may have a few questions about which US carriers and networks are the best to use while in Mexico, how to roam efficiently, and how to dial back to the United States.

If you’re using your cell phone in Baja, chances are that you have one of the four main US wireless services: T-Mobile, AT&T (Cingular), Sprint or Verizon. You may have an easier time calling throughout Mexico with T-Mobile or AT&T, since they cover a lot more territory.

All of the major wireless networks will charge you extra to roam internationally, from as little as $0.59 to $1.49 per minute plus a monthly flat fee. More importantly, most plans require you to activate the international roaming service before you even leave the United States. To be safe, it is a good idea to check with your own wireless carrier before you leave for Baja to make sure that your phone has been activated for international roaming.

Once you are in Mexico with a successfully activated phone, you should have no trouble calling either locally or home to the United States.

Company	T-Mobile World Class Service	AT&T World Connect Mexico (Cingular)	Verizon	Sprint PCS International Roaming	Sprint PCS International Phone or GSM Phone
Requires Activation?	Yes. Activate before you go, which you can do online if you like. You can activate it by calling 611 on your phone, or 1-800-937-8997 from any other phone	Yes. If you have trouble roaming while in Mexico, call + 1-916-843-4785	Yes. Before you leave the USA, verify that you have the Int’l dialing feature added to your calling plan by dialing *611.	Yes	Yes
Dialing to Mexico from USA	Dial “+” plus (52)(1) (10 digit local number)	Dial “+” or (011)(52)(1) (local number)	011 52 1 (10 digit local number)
Dialing Locally in Mexico	Dial “+” plus country code plus 10 digit local number.	Land Line: Dial 011 52 (local number) Mobile: 011 52 1 (local number)	7 or 8 digit number	011 52 1 (10 digit local number)
Dialing Long-Distance within Mexico	Dial “+” plus country code plus 10 digit local number.	Dial 011 52 (local number) If it is a land line. Mobile 011 52 1 (local number)	01 + city code + 7 digit number	Dial as if calling from a land line in Mexico	Dial as if calling from a land line in Mexico. For Sprint-provided Nokia GSM phones, press the “+”key twice until a “+”appears on your phone’s screen.
Dialing to USA from Mexico	Dial “+” plus country code plus 10 digit local number	“+” plus country code… or 001 plus 10 digit local number	Dial 001 + area code + 7 digit number	00 1 (area code) (10 digit local number)	Dial “+” key (this automatically dials Mexico’s access code) plus 1 (US country code) plus 10 digit phone number.
Dialing Internationally from Mexico	Dial “+” plus country code plus 10 digit local number.	Dial “+” (country code)( ten digit local number)	Access Code plus Country Code plus 10 digit number	Access Code plus Country Code plus 10 digit number	Dial “+”key (this automatically dials Mexico’s access code) plus country code plus telephone number

Notes on carriers:

• With most T-Mobile and AT&T phones, the “+”key will appear on screen if you press and hold down the “0”key.
• Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey phone numbers consist of a 2 digit area code plus an 8 digit local number
• If you don’t want to get an international data plan, or pay large roaming data fees, suspend your data while away or remove your SIM card from your cell phone. Call your service provider to find out the best way to avoid astronomical data charges.

Verizon Wireless customers calling local wireless subscriber in Mexico:
044 + city code + 7 digit number

AT&T (Cingular) customers:
To check voicemail while roaming internationally:

1. Press and hold voicemail retrieval key on your device (typically the “1” key)
2. Interrupt your personal greeting by pressing “*”
3. If requested, enter your voicemail password
4. In some cases you may reach the main voicemail greeting. Just enter your 10 digit wireless number and then follow steps 2 and 3. International roaming charges apply.

T-Mobile customers:
To check voicemail while roaming internationally:

1. You can access voicemail anywhere in the world by dialing plus sign (“+”) followed by 1-805-MESSAGE.
2. Interrupt the message by pressing the * (star) key
3. If the star key does not work, hang up, redial and press # key
4. Enter your four digit password

Unless you switch your device off or activate Unconditional Call Forwarding on your device, you will be billed for all calls delivered to your voice mail box while roaming internationally.
To reach T-Mobile customer care while roaming internationally:
Dial plus sign (“+”) followed by 1-505-998-3793. T-Mobile will not charge you for this call.
Mobile to Mobile minutes are only available through your T-Mobile USA network, not when roaming internationally.