In a move that on the surface seems to good to be true, Telefonos de Mexico (Telmex) will offer all its clients, both residential and business, 100 free minutes each month for landline calls to cell phones – 044 numbers only.
Telmex announced the new promotion on its blog (http://blog.telmex.com) and subsequently tweeted the information on August 22: “Hablas mucho a celular? Ahora todos nuestros paquetes incluyen 100 minutos a teléfono celular ¡Aprovecha!” Although the blog text no longer appears on the web page, news agencies in Mexico have widely reported the new deal.
The Telmex blog states that the free minutes will kick in from September 1 and are applicable for calls to any cell phone network, not just the company’s Telcel affiliate.Communications industry analysts see the move as an answer to rapidly changing calling habits.
The worldwide trend seems to suggest that more and more people are ditching landlines and going totally cellular for voice calling. And although Telmex’s phone lines carry many broadband connections, popular services such as Skype can be used through a cable internet provider.
Many Mexican householders put “locks” on their landlines to prevent calls being made to cell phones. But to take advantage of the free minutes, they will now have to unlock this Telmex service.
According to the Notimex news agency, Telmex operates 14 million of the nation’s 19 million landlines but lost 19,000 clients in the first semester of 2012.