Before you start

An unlocked, band-compatible handset
Passport, or resident card once issued
A CURP — definitive for residents, temporary from RENAPO otherwise
A Mexican bank card or account for postpaid plans

Step-by-step

1
Buy prepaid at any OXXO on arrival
Telcel Amigo has by far the broadest coverage on the peninsula, which matters the moment you drive to a cenote village or the Puuc route. Bait on the Altan network and weex are cheaper and noticeably thinner outside the city.
In personWho: YouUnder 30 minutesMXN 50–150 for the SIM
2
Register the line to your CURP and ID
Link the number through the carrier's portal or app with your CURP and a passport, INE or resident card. Free, minutes, and now the difference between a working line and a suspended one. Up to ten lines can sit under one individual's CURP. Postpaid contracts were registered when you signed them; it is prepaid that needs doing.
OnlineWho: Every prepaid line holderSame dayFree
3
Keep the prepaid number alive
Packages expire, typically after 30 days, and dormant numbers can be recycled. Dial *133# on Telcel to check balance, data and expiry without using data. A number that receives your bank's codes is not something to let lapse.
Mobile appWho: YouAround MXN 200 for a 30-day bundle
4
Move to postpaid when you have local banking
Postpaid is cheaper per gigabyte but requires a credit check, a Mexican address and a local payment method. Portability keeps your number; never cancel the old plan before the transfer completes.
OnlineWho: You≈MXN 200–600 a month
5
Order fibre and plan for thick walls
Telmex, Totalplay and Izzi all serve Mérida with cheap symmetric fibre. In a northern development it is trivial. In a Centro casona with metre-thick limestone walls, internal patios and a bóveda ceiling, the signal will not cross the house — plan on mesh nodes or wired access points and ask where the fibre can enter before you sign a lease.
OnlineWho: YouOne to three weeks including installation
6
Build a storm-season fallback
Between June and November, tropical storms and hurricanes take out power for hours or days. The fibre usually survives; your router does not, because it has no electricity. A UPS on the modem and router, a phone plan with real hotspot data and a charged power bank turn an outage from a lost week into an inconvenience.
Mobile appWho: Remote workersSet up before June

Documents you’ll need

Passport or resident card
CURP, definitive or temporary
Mexican bank card or account for postpaid billing
Proof of address for fixed-line installation

Things most newcomers don’t know

The 2026 registry is CURP-based rather than biometric, and it does cut lines.

The Supreme Court struck down PANAUT, which would have collected fingerprints and iris scans, and many arrivals still believe Mexican prepaid is anonymous. Linking a line to a CURP became compulsory on 9 January 2026, and suspension of unregistered prepaid numbers runs from 15 August to 31 December 2026 on a calendar keyed to the last digit of the number. No biometrics are taken, but a suspended SIM stops receiving banking codes.

Source: CRT — registro de líneas móviles

Coverage differences that are invisible in Mérida become obvious ten minutes outside it.

Inside the city every carrier works. Drive towards Homún, the Puuc route or the eastern villages and the picture changes sharply — Telcel's network reaches places the wholesale-network MVNOs do not. Given that the reason many people move to Mérida is access to the rest of the peninsula, the cheapest plan is often the wrong one, and the difference is a couple of hundred pesos a month.

Source: IFT/CRT cobertura data

A colonial house will defeat a single router, and installers will not tell you.

Centro casonas have limestone walls up to a metre thick, high bóveda ceilings and rooms arranged around an open patio. Fibre reaches the street throughout the historic centre, but the signal does not cross the house, and technicians will happily leave one router in the front room. Ask where the ONT can be sited and budget for mesh nodes or wired access points if you work from home.

Source: community-reported

Hurricane season takes out power, not the network — so plan for electricity.

Between June and November, storms cut power across parts of Mérida for hours and sometimes days, while the fibre itself usually survives intact. Everyone reaches for a mobile hotspot and discovers the phone is at 20%. A small UPS on the modem and router, a genuine hotspot allowance and a charged power bank is a few hundred pesos of preparation that decides whether a storm costs you an afternoon or a week's income.

Source: community-reported

Common mistakes to avoid

Never registering the line to a CURP and losing the number and your two-factor codes.
Choosing the cheapest MVNO and then having no signal on the road to the cenotes.
Renting a beautiful Centro house without checking what internet reaches the room you will work in.
Having no UPS or hotspot plan when the first storm of the season arrives.
Letting prepaid credit lapse until the number is recycled.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.