Of course, you can always do it the old-fashioned way: pre-pay a travel pack from your own service provider (either before or after leaving home), pay a little bit more, but have your smartphone working the whole time without having to give out a new number, be able to get right down to enjoying Wikimania without trying to find the shops and investing precious time on a transaction, worrying about whether you'll have problems, etc.

I'm a simple person. My plan is already on my phone. 

Risker/Anne


On 14 July 2015 at 20:27, Katie Chan <ktc@ktchan.info> wrote:
Or walk around hoping for and failing to find a shop with someone who speak English, and regretting not knowing Spanish.

I ended up managing to buy a sim a bit further down the road in the same direction for $130 which comes with a bit of credit.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.


-------- Original message --------
From: Stuart Prior <stuart.prior@wikimedia.org.uk>
Date:14/07/2015 12:09 (GMT-06:00)
To: "Wikimania general list (open subscription)" <wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org>
Cc:
Subject: Re: [Wikimania-l] How to get a pre-paid SIM card for Wikimania in 15 easy steps

+1

Alternatively:

Go to an internet cafe in Insurgentes.
Buy simcard there.
Have to go to another place to get it cut down to nano size for 25 pesos.
Momentarily lose your original simcard.
Give up on the actual credit thing and spend a load on roaming with your domestic plan.
Go to another place a couple of days later but then realise you don't actually have your new Mexican number so you can't get a data plan.
Go through a complicated transaction to find out and be immensely grateful for your Hispanophone friend.
Eventually get it all sorted out.

Or you can try Siebrand's way.

S

On 14 July 2015 at 17:00, Siebrand Mazeland <siebrand@kitano.nl> wrote:
  1. Bring ID, and 210 peso cash or a credit card
  2. Go to Telcel store "Centro de Atencion a clientes Telcel" on Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas. From the Hilton Reforma, right across the busy street, just before the "Empire State building".
  3. At reception, say that you want to buy a chip Telcel Amigo
  4. You will get a ticket with a desk number to report to. Probably upstairs.
  5. Go to that counter
  6. Ask for Telcel Amigo 7 dias 200 mega
  7. Costs 150 for sim, 59 for the data
  8. Computer stuff is done, forms are filled out
  9. You are taken to the payment area. Pay there. 150 for the sim
  10. Back to the clerk's desk
  11. You'll get the SIM card
  12. Put it in the phone and wait until the network is discovered. Telcel 3G for me
  13. Hand the phone to the clerk
  14. They will call a number. Presumable to activate
  15. The you have to pay a second sum for the data. 59 pesos. You'll get an activation code. The clerk entered it for me and showed me the text message that confirmed the 200MB of data.
  16. All done. Phew. Enjoy your data.
This took me about 45 minutes, including the walk to and from the Hilton. Feel free to publish this somewhere on Wikimania wiki, or tell your friends...

Cheers!

--
Siebrand Mazeland
Kitano ICT

M: +31 6 50 69 1239
Skype: siebrand

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--
Stuart Prior
Project Coordinator
Wikimedia UK
+44 20 7065 0990

Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).

Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.


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