Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Cricket Offers Cheap Mexico Roaming!

We're excited to see Cricket Wireless now offering Roaming in Mexico! Service is limited to voice calls but the rate is only .25/minute. This puts Cricket into the position of one of our most Preferred Mexico Roaming Options. Cricket uses the smaller CDMA network in Mexico which happens to be the same network used by roamers on Verizon Wireless and Sprint. The AT&T GoPhone is also .25/minute but also has Text Messaging available. Also, GoPhone uses the GSM network in Mexico which is larger than the CDMA network, which is especially noticeable in areas closer to the US border.

The Mexico cellular industry is going through some changes. TelCel got hit with a billion dollar penalty for limiting access to the Mexico wired network for other wireless operators. Also, 50% of the Iusacel CDMA network was recently purchased by Televesia, a Latin American company with ties to Mexico cable systems. This pulled Iusacel out of bankruptcy and increases the likelihood of the CDMA network surviving.

We thought some of these changes might negatively affect US wireless roamers, but this new deal with Cricket Wireless leads us to believe the Mexican CDMA network will be operating for some time to come, maybe even expanded. Cricket also Unlimited calling TO Mexico so it's great to see wireless competition extending beyond our borders.

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