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 Business News | November 2006 
Cell Phone Firms Happy with Incoming Call Changes
 Samuel Kovac - PVNN
| | Families with relatives working in the United States will now be able to receive calls on cell phones for free, which will save them a considerable amount of money. |
Having a cellphone has never been cheap in Mexico. Users have had to pay not only for the calls they make, but also for incoming ones. Things improved a little in 1999, when new legislation mandated that local incoming calls should be free, meaning both caller and person receiving call had to be in the same local area.
But that was just a fraction of all cellular calls, because Mexico is divided in many “local areas.”People on the move usually pay national roaming charges. Also, receiving a call from a different city in Mexico or from abroad can cost three to five pesos per minute.
The new rules introduced on November 4th, making the majority of incoming calls on cellular phones free, is a logical way to promote greater cell phone usage. Cell phones will become like land lines, in that users won’t have to worry about receiving calls, because all costs are absorbed by the person making the call.
This is expected to benefit mainly poor people and those living in remote areas, sometimes without fixed line coverage. Families with relatives working in the United States will now be able to receive calls on cell phones for free, which will save them a considerable amount of money.
Obviously, the cell phone companies are very happy, just like in 1999 when the start of “El que llama paga local” (Calling party pays local) caused cell phone sales to increase by more than 100 percent in the following 12 months.
The pricing modification has been criticized by some of the fixed line operators, because more money will flow into the hands of cell phone operators. However, this pricing policy is standard in Europe, where users don’t pay for any incoming calls. Here in Mexico, users will still pay for calls they receive while traveling outside their local area.
This change also means that the dialing rules will be different. Until now, calls to cell phone numbers in other cities have begun with 01 followed by the area code and number, just like calling a fixed line.
Under the new procedure, users will dial 045 followed by the area code and cell phone number. Calling local cellular phones does not change – numbers will still begin with 044. Note that the new rules will be implemented gradually and both the new and old options are expected to be available for some time.
Dialing from abroad will change as well. The number 1 should be added after the international code for Mexico (52) and before the actual cell phone number.
There are no local cellular phone numbers for the Lake Chapala area; they all start with 33, which is the code for Guadalajara. However, it is expected that the two biggest cellular companies – Telcel and Movistar – will consider Chapala part of the greater Guadalajara area and not charge users for incoming calls at all.
There is one piece of bad news for people calling cellphones in other cities. Before November 4th, they paid $1.70 pesos a minute, which is a standard Telmex long-distance rate using the prefix 01. After the change, the price to call cell phones in other cities using 045 will be $3.48 pesos a minute. (All these prices include sales tax – IVA.)
Samuel Kovac is a former employee of the Mexican cell phone company, Pegaso. |
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