The smallest amount available is 30 pesos, and a local phone call is just a couple pesos, depending on the time of the call. Pick up the handset, insert the card chip-side up, and dial your call. The phone has an LED display telling you how much value remains on your card. If the phone 'beeps' at you after you've hung up, it means you've left your card inserted into the phone!

Dialing a local number is 7 digits.

Dialing a long-distance (within Mexico) number requires 12 digits (“01” plus 3-digit area-code, plus the 7-digit phone number).

Simple enough, right? Well, here’s where it gets tricky:

If the number you are calling is a local CELL phone (and there are a LOT of cell phones here…if you get somebody’s phone number, be sure to ask them if it is a cell number), you must dial 13 digits: ‘044’ (this is the cell-phone ‘code’) + the area code (here in Mazatlan it is likely ‘669’), plus the 7-digit phone number.

IMPORTANT: Long distance telephone calls, and especially international calls, have been grossy expensive from Mazatlan (and all of Mexico) UNTIL NOW. Telmex, the national phone company, has begun to bow to competitive pressures. Calls to the USA and Canada are only 5 pesos per minute using the card-phones. While that may sound expensive compared to back home, phones advertising foreign calls using your credit card will charge OUTRAGEOUS sums (example: ten U.S. Dollars connection fee and five dollars per minute)...AVOID THESE PHONES unless your life depends on it or you have more money than you know how to spend. Your hotel will likely stiff you for ridiculous rates as well, so stick to the card-phones. To call the USA or Canada, dial 001, followed by the area code and phone number. Don’t worry if the number you are calling is a cell phone or not, it all gets dialed the same.

If you are going to be living here a while, you might want a phone line, or you might do as many locals in Mazatlan do and just use a cell phone. (See CELL PHONES for more info.) If you’ve got a computer and want to connect to the internet, you’ll either need a phone line or internet connection from the Cable TV company. Telmex, the Mexican phone company, offers high-speed DSL connections (called ‘Infinitum’) that allow you to use one line for both phone and internet simultaneously. It’s very reliable, and as a plus, it’s a priority for Telmex, so if you order this you’ll likely get installed within a week, whereas a normal phone line may have you waiting 2, 3, or more weeks for installation.

To get phone service, go to the Telmex office, and bring your passport and proof of residency (a power bill, lease agreement, deed or title, etc.). Take a number, wait in line forever (bring a book, and better yet, arrive EARLY before the doors open), and chat with a friendly Telmex representative who will usually speak English as well as my cat. (Well, you're in MEXICO, if you're gonna live here, you better start learning some Español.)

Not to worry, they know why you’re there, through scribbles and hand gestures they’ll get you set up.

Here’s a great phrase to get you started: “Necesito un linea telephono en mi casa, por favor” means “I need a telephone line in my house, please”. Of course if you say it too well, they’ll assume you are fluent in Spanish, which will lead to even more confusion. Take it for what it’s worth.

Telmex offers several long-distance calling plans if you talk a lot with the folks back up-north…some of these plans bring the cost of a call to ‘the States’ or Canada down as low as a respectable 1-peso per minute.

Phone bills arrive monthly, if they arrive. It’s your responsibility to know when your bill is due and to pay it before the date…if you are late, you’ll get cut off within a day or two. This will only prevent you from making calls, not receiving them, but still it’s a hassle. The phone company computer will typically call you a few days before the due date with a recorded phone message that says, (very) roughly, “Esteemed Telmex client, please prepare your phone bill payment because we’ll cut your phone lines faster than you can say ‘Speedy Gonzalez’ if you’re late”. Or something like that, but it’s nice of them to remind you.