The telephone system is usually efficient in Mexico, although sometimes it has problems that put it in a disadvantageous position when compared with the communication services provided by other countries.

There are numerous public phone booths in the main cities of the country, which work with cards or coins, and one can make national and international phone calls from them; on the other hand, public offices housing a number of phone booths are very common in small towns and rural areas.

Local calls are relatively cheap unlike international connections, which are expensive when compared with the rates in effect in other countries in the world. On the other hand, bear in mind that you need a LADATEL prepaid phone card, which can be acquired at shops and gas stations, in order to make international calls from a public booth.

It is recommendable to make collect calls when calling abroad, but if you are looking for privacy call from your hotel (most lodging facilities in Mexico have telephones in the rooms). In such cases the service has an additional cost.

Regarding mobile phones, their use is well spread in Mexico and the covering area is fairly ample, and moreover, there are companies dedicated to renting these equipments.

Information for successively completing phone calls

In order to call Mexico City you need to dial: 011 (international access code) + 52 (country code) + 55 (long distance code) + the digits of the number you wish to talk to.

The long distance codes for Mexico's main cities are as follow:

-Acapulco, State of Guerrero: 744
-Cabo San Lucas, State of Baja California Sur: 624
-Cancun, State of Quintana Roo: 998
-Cuernavaca, State of Morelos: 777
-Chihuahua, State of Chihuahua: 614
-Durango, State of Durango: 618
-Guadalajara, State of Jalisco: 33
-Guanajuato, State of Guanajuato: 473
-La Paz, State of Baja California Sur: 612 -Manzanillo, State of Colima: 314
-Mérida, State of Yucatan: 999
-Mexicali, State of Baja California Norte: 686
-Mexico DF: 55
-Monterrey, State of Nuevo Leon: 81
-Morelia, State of Michoacán: 443
-Nuevo Vallarta, State of Nayarit: 322
-Oaxaca, State of Oaxaca: 951
-Pachuca, State of Hidalgo: 771
-Puebla, State of Puebla: 222
-Querétaro, State of Querétaro: 658
-Tijuana, State of Baja California Norte: 664
-Tuxtla Gutierrez, State of Chiapas: 961
-Veracruz, State of Veracruz: 229
-Villahermosa, State of Tabasco: 993
-Zacatecas, State of Zacatecas: 492

These regional prefixes may change. Dial 040 to be informed about possible changes.