What is the cheapest way to communicate by phone from USA and Matamoros Mexico?

Question

My son will be in Matamoros Mexico for 9 months as a missionary. We have Cingular but their international rates are very high. Want to stay connected but can't afford the high rates...any suggestions.

Answer 1

yes tell son to go buy calling card  in nmexican store 50 pesos will give you 30 min talk time or so

Answer 2

I know exactly what you mean by the high telephone charges by the phone companies there in the US. I am an American from California living in Buenos Aires, Argentina and my son in Oregon calls me here almost every day. Go to the internet and look for the companies selling calling cards. There are a number and depending on the one you select, you will get rates ranging from .04 cents per minute to $.10 per minute. Lots of luck and enjoy the cheap calls.

Answer 3

i don't understand why cingular doesn't have the 7 cent a minute deal like virtually every other phone company on the planet.  i have a feature on my tmobile phone, and also on my AT&T home phone, so that i can call my boyfriend for 7 cents a minute (to his home phone, not his cell phone, that's 27 cents)

also, if your son has a cell phone, the call to him will cost him nothing.  it's the caller who pays.  

you could also use a webcam and talk via AIM or MSN Messenger.  Skype does work, but it's really only cheap if you live in a big city...and Matamoros is not a city that offers the cheap rates.

Answer 4

Do you have a microphone and speakers on your computer?  If so, consider downloading "Skype".  Then you can purchase credit online and call your son to a phone in Matamoros or to his computer (if he has Skype too).  If you call to a phone it will only cost a couple cents a minute and it's free if you call between computers.

I'm in Europe and I've been using Skype to call my family back in the US for a few years now.

It runs best if you have a DSL or cable connection to the internet.

Answer 5

Be careful with Vonage.  I've read it doesn't work in Mexico if the DSL service down there is through Telmex.  The ports used by VOIP are blocked.  I use Sprint which is like 7 cents a minute  and we email a lot.  Prepaid calling cards are a great deal.  It is usually cheaper to call US to Mexico than the other way around.  There is a cellular company called TRACFONE which will let you program your US based cell phone with a Mexico number so when they call you from there it is a local call to them and it doesn't even cost you extra.  It is like receiving any other local call to you.  I don't know if they have Matamoros numbers, though.

Answer 6

If he'll have high speed internet, he should buy some sort of Voip in the U.S., and take it to Mexico. He could get a number with your area code, that way, calling each other would be the same as making local phone calls. I'd suggest Lingo or Vonage.

If high speed internet isn't available, he can now get a Telcel cell phone, and if they activate the Sim card with certain features, it'll cost him about 1 doll for 20 mins to call you, or anyone in the U.S. or Canada. However, if the call only lasts him 1 minute, it'll still cost him the 10 pesos. Pretty reasonable. We've come a long way. Just a couple of years ago it cost us almost a dollar a minute to call the U.S.