AT&T offers free roaming while in Mexico, will give subs 1 GB of data when south of the border

AT&T Mobility (NYSE: T) is letting its Mobile Share Value customers roam freely when in Mexico and is also giving those subscribers extra data to use when south of the border. The offering is the latest salvo between the U.S. carriers as they try to offer better international roaming and data usage plans, especially for customers traveling to Mexico and Canada.

Starting today, AT&T said that with its new "AT&T Mexico Roaming Bonus" offering, Mobile Share Value consumer and business customers can add the feature for free. Customers who do so will receive unlimited texting to anywhere in the world and unlimited voice calling within Mexico and from Mexico to the United States. Additionally, customers will get 1 GB of data to use while in Mexico for free (with overage charges of $20 per GB).

AT&T is trying to make its networks as seamless as possible between Mexico and the United States. After spending $4.4 billion to purchase Mexican wireless operators Iusacell and Nextel Mexico earlier this year, AT&T this summer promised to spend $3 billion to cover 100 million people in Mexico with LTE by the end of 2018. AT&T has said it is creating the "first-ever North American Mobile Service Area covering 400 million people and businesses in Mexico and the U.S."

However, other carriers are looking to undercut that proposition. In July T-Mobile US (NYSE:TMUS) said that its Simple Choice customers can use their plans in Canada and Mexico just as they do in the United States. T-Mobile's MetroPCS prepaid brand offers that option for Mexico.

Sprint (NYSE: S) in August unveiled its new "Open World" international roaming service that makes unlimited calling and texting to Canada, Mexico and other Latin American countries free for its U.S.-based customers. The offering also gives Sprint customers free calls and texts and 1 GB of high-speed data when they are traveling in those countries. Countries included in the offering are Mexico, Canada, Dominican Republic, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and Paraguay.

Then late last month AT&T said its Cricket Wireless prepaid brand started letting customers on its $50 and $60 per month plans use their plans' data buckets in Mexico and Canada free of charge as if they were in the United States. The new offering added data to Cricket's current offer of unlimited calling, texting and messaging in between Mexico, Canada and the U.S. 

Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) is also finally getting in on the game, and yesterday said its customers can now use their existing voice, messaging and data plans for $2 per day per line in Canada and Mexico, and $10 per day per line in more than 65 other countries around the world. 

For more:
- see this release
- see this PhoneScoop article

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Confirmed: Sprint's new 'Open World' international roaming service challenges T-Mobile's 'Mobile without Borders'
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