Using a Blackberry Internationally
I’ve been using my Blackberry in Mexico for a few months now and I’ve learned a few things about getting mobile email outside the United States. I wanted to write a bit about things I’ve learned in hopes that others will find it useful.
If you are looking at an international email plan, you will probably want to go with a Blackberry instead of some of the other types of smartphones. Other smartphones will allow you to work internationally, but I haven’t seen a plan that gives you unlimited usage. Instead they charge you by the KB which works out to about $15 to $20 per MB downloaded. If you are busy with email, it doesn’t take long to get 20 or even 50 MB of data transfered. At $20 per MB you’ll pay over $1000 for 50 MB. That is a pretty steep charge for a month of usage.
Voice over IP in Mexico
I am writing this article from the center of Mexico. As I write, my wife is talking on the phone with a friend in Nebraska. This week, I’ve received several calls reminding me to vote and the Kansas State Unemployment office called me to tell me that one of my businesses was overpaying on unemployment tax.
All of this wouldn’t be possible without the internet. Where I’m at in Durango Mexico I was able to get a low speed cable modem connection for about $31USD per month. The connection is only 512k, but it works great for all of our communication. We use Vonage for our phone. They provided us with a small device that plugs into our router and our standard cordless phone plugs into the phone jack on it. Our number is the same as what we had in the US, so many people who call us don’t even know we are in Mexico.
