Will a Canadian cell phone work locally?

[Brisa Del Mar]

We have Rogers pay as you go on our cell but we can't seem to make a local call or any other call for that matter. We really only want to use the phone for emergencies because it costs so much but we do want it to work in an emergency. We can access our voice mail - that call goes through but nothing else. Does anyone know what combination of numbers are required to make the call or are we just out of luck? Thanks in advance.

[RVGRINGO]

I suspect that you will have to dial as though you were in Canada dialing for a Mexican number; ie: 011-52 etc.

[FESchultz]

According to the Rogers website, you can:

"Can I use my Pay As You Go phone outside of Canada?

Yes, you can use your Pay As You Go phone while you travel. Roaming service rates will apply for using your phone outside of Canada."

Don't know the dialing protocol, though. Try doing what RVGRINGO said. If that doesn't work, try dialing just the Mexican area code and number (as if you were using a Mexican cell phone). [The latter is the way my US AT&T cell phone worked while roaming in Mexico. For making calls in Mexico, it acted like it was a Mexican cell phone. However, to receive a call, the caller in Mexico had to dial my U.S. number (001 for an international call from Mexico, plus the U.S. area code and number).]

[Irish Gal]

Why not purchase a Mexican SIM card for your Canadian cell phone for use when in Mexico? I believe the cost is about $150 pesos. Then you can buy $100 pesos air time which is good for 60 days. This would be much cheaper than paying roaming charges to Rogers.

I have both a Mexican SIM and a Canadian SIM (also use Rogers Pay As You Go plan when in Canada) so you can use your phone in both countries. Works great.

[El Saltos]

Cell phones know where they are so you always use the local dialing protocol. Are you dialing all 10 digits of the phone number?

[mudgirl]

I don't believe a Mexican SIM card will work in a NOB phone unless the phone is unlocked. My friend bought a phone up north that he was told was unlocked, it turned out not to be and the Mex. SIM card won't function in it.

If you want to simplify the whole thing, go to OXXO, but a cheapo 299 peso Mex. phone complete with SIM card and put 50 or a 100 pesos on it. Then you will have something reliable for emergency calls.