Mexican Cell Phone Carriers: Which Networks Travelers Can Use

Your phone can reach those networks three ways: your US plan's roaming, a travel eSIM or a Mexican SIM. A HelloRoam prepaid Mexico eSIM is the travel eSIM route, and it gets your maps and ride apps online from the moment you land.

We read every carrier figure and rule below on November 10, 2026, on the carriers' own pages, the CRT's notices and Mexico's official gazette, the Diario Oficial de la Federación (DOF). Prices and rules change, so check the official page before you count on one.

Telcel, AT&T, Movistar and Bait lead Mexico's cell phone market

The CRT counted 144,585,131 active mobile lines in Mexico in the third quarter of 2025, in the newest market report it had published when we checked. A line counts as active when it carried voice traffic that quarter. Behind the big four, 23 smaller companies shared 6,644,769 lines.

Get your Mexico eSIM before you flyInstall it at home, then turn on data roaming for it when you land. From $3.37.See Mexico plans

Here's who runs what, and what each carrier means for a visitor.

So the four biggest carriers run on three networks: Telcel's, AT&T's and Altán's. Movistar signed a wholesale deal with AT&T in 2019, and its customers have connected through AT&T's network since the traffic move began in 2020. The deal now runs to 2030 and covers 3G, 4G and 5G, according to Telefónica's 2024 annual report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Bait is a virtual operator. Altán Redes is a wholesale-only network that sells its service only through virtual operators, and it lists Bait among them. Altán says its 4.5G LTE network reaches more than 94% of Mexico's population.

Two of these carriers are changing owners. AT&T agreed on October 13, 2026, to sell AT&T Mexico, which it calls Mexico's second scaled wireless network, and expects the sale to close in the first quarter of 2027. Telefónica agreed on April 7, 2026, to sell Telefónica México, the company behind Movistar, to Melisa Acquisition LLC, subject to regulatory approvals.

Mexico's cell coverage depends on the carrier, so check the CRT map

Telcel calls its network the one with the widest coverage and the fastest speed. That's Telcel's own claim. For an independent view, open the CRT's Mapa de Conectividad en México. It maps 3G, 4G and 5G coverage by operator across the country, along with mobile service quality and the national road network.

The CRT updates the map every quarter, and the version we checked was dated July 16, 2026. Look up your route before a road trip or a stay outside the big cities, and compare the operators there. If you'll roam on a US plan or use a travel eSIM, check the networks that plan uses in Mexico, then look at those on the map.

Your US cell phone plan may already work in Mexico

Before you buy a Mexican line, check what your plan already includes. Each of these US carriers publishes its own roaming rules:

• AT&T: every AT&T Unlimited plan includes unlimited talk, text and data in and between Mexico and Canada. AT&T's Canada and Mexico page says the benefit comes with select plans, though, so check how older AT&T plans handle Mexico.
• T-Mobile: plans such as Experience More, Go5G and Magenta come with Canada & Mexico included, which gives you unlimited talk, text and data, with each plan's own high-speed data cap.
• Verizon: all its Unlimited plans include talk, text and data while you travel in Mexico or Canada. After 2 GB a day, Verizon slows data in Mexico to 3G.
• Mint Mobile: roaming isn't free, so you buy a Minternational Pass to call, text and use data abroad. Calls and texts to US numbers over Wi-Fi Calling are free, and our guide shows what each Mint pass costs.

AT&T says its sale of AT&T Mexico has no impact on its service, including for customers traveling to Mexico from the US. For the fees outside those included countries, see what US carriers charge for roaming.

A Mexican SIM or eSIM must be registered with your passport

Since January 9, 2026, every mobile line in Mexico has to be linked to a named person. The rule covers SIM and eSIM lines from any phone company that operates in Mexico, Telcel's Tourist eSIM included. Registration is free, and you can do it in a carrier's store or online.

Visitors register with a valid passport, the ID that AT&T México, Movistar and Telcel all name for foreigners. The rules also accept a CURP for foreigners. Since June 30, 2026, a visitor or resident card from Mexico's immigration institute (INM) that shows a CURP works too. Under the CRT's registration rules, the phone company keeps only your name, country, passport or CURP number, the phone number and the result of the ID check.

• Until it's registered, a new line can only reach emergency and government help numbers and the phone company's own support.
• AT&T México and Movistar give you 30 days from your first top-up to register a new prepaid line, and your balance's validity only starts once you register. If you miss that window, AT&T México removes your top-up benefits and doesn't refund them.
• One person can register up to 10 lines, and AT&T México reminds buyers that whoever registers a line is responsible for its use.
• You can remove your name from a line later. AT&T México allows it, and Telcel's Tourist eSIM page explains how.

Kept a Mexican SIM from an earlier trip? Lines opened before January 9, 2026, got a deadline set by the number's last digit, from August 15, 2026, for numbers ending in 0 to December 31, 2026, for numbers ending in 9. A line still unregistered after its deadline is suspended within 72 hours. It can still call 911 and the phone company, and the CRT says a suspended line keeps its number and gets service back as soon as you register. The CRT also expects to clear out millions of unused lines, single-use chips bought by short-term visitors among them, so an old travel SIM may not come back.

Your US number is a different case. Mexico's rules say the CRT will set how lines roaming from abroad get registered once the 2026 World Cup is over. We found no such mechanism in the CRT's notices through November 10, 2026, so registration isn't required for roaming lines yet. Check the CRT's press notices before you go, since that's where it announces changes.

Some popular guides predate the rule. Lonely Planet's January 2025 guide to getting connected in Mexico says you don't need a passport or ID for a SIM card. That was true before 2026: the CRT said the new rule ends Mexico's place among the few countries that let people buy a chip without ID.

Telcel's Tourist eSIM is the biggest carrier's own plan for visitors

Telcel sells a Tourist eSIM online, a prepaid line with data plans for Mexico and beyond. Prices are in Mexican pesos with 16% tax included. These were the plans on Telcel's page on November 10, 2026:

The plan cards list Mexico and the US for the first two plans, while Telcel's terms add Canada, so ask Telcel before you count on it there. Telcel quotes a reference rate of about 17.50 pesos to the dollar, but your card issuer or bank sets the final charge.

• Your phone must be unlocked and able to use an eSIM. Check that your phone supports eSIM before you buy.
• Telcel recommends installing the eSIM when you arrive, over Wi-Fi. The plan's days start the moment you install it.
• Then you register the line in your name. Telcel's process photographs your passport and runs a liveness check with your camera, and you get up to three tries.
• The line stays valid for 90 days from installation, and you can add more plans to it in that time.

Pick the network route that fits your Mexico trip

Each route puts your phone on Mexican networks in a different way. Here's how they compare:

As of November 10, 2026, our plan catalog lists Telcel and AT&T Mexico for every HelloRoam Mexico plan, and the plans carry data only. Networks can change, so the plan page shows the current ones. Your plan's days start when the eSIM first connects in Mexico, so you can install it at home. Driving on to the US or Canada? A North America data plan covers all three countries.

Mexico's regulator makes a fair point here. The CRT says many data eSIMs can't receive the calls or SMS codes some banks use, and that wholesale roaming deals bar permanent roaming. So keep your US line on if you need those codes, but check what your plan charges in Mexico first, since Apple notes your home line can still run up roaming fees. If you're moving to Mexico for months, the CRT's view is that a travel eSIM isn't a permanent stand-in for a Mexican line, and a registered local line is the better fit. Our guide to eSIM vs international roaming lays out the trade-offs.

We sell travel eSIMs, so we have a stake in this choice. Our editorial policy explains how we handle that conflict.