Easily activate your Telcel Service [Step-by-Step guide for 2020]

Telcel’s mobile phone network is one of the most important networks in Latin America, and it even has presence in Europe. You may be interested in being part of this company’s network and enjoy its benefits.

That’s why we will indicate you right now how to activate your Telcel sim card in Mexico, which is one of the first things that you’ll need to do to begin to enjoy this carrier’s services.

How to activate your Telcel Service in Mexico

Telcel’s total number of users is over 363 million, which are spread throughout 25 countries in America and Europe. To be specific, in the latter continent, it has users in Spain. This is the phone company with the biggest community in Latin America, and the fourth biggest one worldwide. This makes it into a of cellphone communication powerhouse.

Just in Mexico, over 70 million people use Telcel. In other words, 7 out of 10 mobile phone users in this country have chosen Telcel, thanks to its widespread coverage and its extraordinary technological platform. It shouldn’t be surprising that more and more people want to be part of Telcel’s network in Mexico.

If you haven’t joined them yet, we invite you right now to become part of this mobile phone powerhouse.

Obtain your line, and we will indicate you how to safely and quickly activate your Telcel chip.

This company offers you many ways to activate your line:

• Via a cell phone call.
• By using Telcel’s official website.
• By using text messages or SMS (I personally recommend you this last one.)

Steps to activate Telcel’s SIM card

First and foremost, you will need to have your phone with you and the SIM card that you obtained in a Telcel store or an authorized distributor.

Remember to bring your ID with you. Also, bring your mobile device when buying a SIM card to make sure to buy the correct one that fits your phone’s model.

Don’t forget that the chip comes in different sizes. The size of the SIM card that you’ll need will depend on your device’s model. The chip’s models come in micro, mini, and nano sizes.

Even though Telcel’s chip is compatible with T-Mobile devices, that also work perfectly in any other phone.

What’s important is that the cell phone needs to be unlocked. Once you check that all the previous steps are complete, and with the Telcel chip ready to be activated on your cell phone, you will need to proceed with the following steps.

Insert the SIM CARS

To begin with, we’ll need to insert the SIM card in our device. First, you need to turn off your phone and remove the back cover. After doing that, locate the corresponding slot, and proceed to insert your new Telcel sim card in there.

You need to keep in mind that the new SIM card will come inserted inside a much bigger card. This one contains an activation code, which is comprised of 15 or 18 digits. It also has other codes, called PIN and PUK.

The PIN code (which stands for Personal Identification Number) is comprised of four digits, which serves to protect your chip from being used in an unauthorized way. The PUK code, which contains 8 digits, is used for unlocking your SIM card in a possible case that it gets blocked from dialing the incorrect PIN. Therefore, we recommend you to store this card in case that you’ll need those serial numbers in the future.

After inserting the Telcel SIM CARD, you can start activating the line on your own.

To do that, you can choose one out of two possible ways. You can choose the one that better suits your needs, the easiest one for you, or the most convenient one for you. What’s important is that you’ll be able to achieve you goal with any one of them: activating your Telcel service.

Access to Telcel’s website and register to create your own personal account

The first method that we will show you as a way of activating your Telcel chip is by using the web, that is, via Telcel’s official website. You will have to, once again, turn on your phone, connect it to an internet network and, by using your favorite web browser, go to www.us.telcel.com . There, look for the button ACTIVATE.

You could also go directly to the URL bar and type https://us.telcel.com/secure/Activate . Once you enter the website, you will be able to create your Telcel personal account.

To do this, you will be asked to provide your email and a password. You will also need to add your personal information, including your ID number, date of birth, first name and last name.

Fill in a form

Once you have had access to the Activation section, you will find the form.

You need to fill it out in its entirety with your personal data in order to activate your new Telcel SIM. Some of the checkboxes that you’ll need to fill in will be the following:

• Serial or SIM card number: In this checkbox, you will need to type the 15 or 18 digits of the number that comes with the activation card of your new Telcel chip.
• Postal code: you will have to type the postal code number from the region where you will be using your new Telcel chip.
• Service packs: in this section, you’ll be able to choose one of the different plans or content packs that Telcel offers you. Here, you’ll see all the different options available, and you’ll be able to choose the one that better fits your needs. You can also choose your payment method in this section.

Once you’ve finished all the previous steps, the activation of your Telcel service will be completed. You’ll only need to wait for its verification, which is a process that normally takes less than an hour. In case that it takes more than expected, you have the option of using the SIM card activation via a phone call.

How to activate your Telcel SIM in Mexico using a phone call

To complete the activation of your chip via a phone call, you need to keep in mind that you’ll have to have completed the previous steps. You’ll need to have inserted the chip on your phone beforehand, and you’ll also need to have visited Telcel’s official website to create your account and activate your SIM card via web in Mexico. This way, your chip will appear as registered.

Once you have completed the previous steps, making the activation via a phone call is a procedure that is quite easy and simple. Although it may seem obvious, we remind you to keep another phone with you, be it a mobile phone or a landline, to make the call. Don’t forget to also have your chip’s serial number, your postal code, and all of your personal information with you.

Make the phone call to activate your Telcel chip

The next step is to dial the number 1-800-220-9518, and your carrier will be with you and give you instructions that you’ll need to follow carefully.

After following the indications that the customer support representative from Telcel indicates you, your chip’s activation will be completed successfully.
If you are the kind of people that prefer to have an advisor, and receive help from someone on the phone line, this is the recommended option for you.

You could also call Telcel’s Phone Customer Support and dial *264 from a PREPAID line. Or dial *111 from a PAID line and follow the carrier’s instructions.

Afterwards, the carrier will confirm your personal information and whether your SIM card or chip has been inserted on the system. Then, they will make a test call to verify that the line is finally working. Done! Now, you can start enjoying your new Telcel line and all of its excellent benefits, such as their accessible subscriptions and its extraordinary coverage.

Activate your Telcel chip via a text message (SMS)

Depending on whether or not you have balance on your chip, use one method or the other. The first one that we will tell you requires you to have balance loaded into your phone.

Reloading your SIM with cash

If you don’t have any balance left, go to an OXXO, 7 Eleven, or any other place that loads cash to phones, and put at least 50 pesos to your phone’s balance.

There are people who say that with 20 pesos is enough, while others say that 30 pesos is enough. But there are cases that that I haven’t been able to activate the chip with those amounts. With $50 MX, you will surely be able to activate it.

Afterwards, you’ll need to send a regular text message, that is, a SMS (messages from WhatsApp and Messenger won’t work) to 4848 with the message “ALTA” in all caps.

You could receive a message telling you that the service is not available or something like that. Don’t worry. Keep trying since it will work at the second or third attempt.

You will receive a message with the following text:

“Welcome to Telcel. Please, answer this message with you first and Last name. For instance: Juan Jose Perez Gomez.”

Follow the instructions, paying extra attention to type each word using upper case for the first letter, avoiding using accents, and separating each word with a space.

They will answer you with the following message:

“Thank you. Your name has been registered. To finish the registration process, send us your email account (if you don’t have one, answer ‘NA.’)”

Answer NA (does not apply) in upper case, and you will be done. If you give them your email, they will send you ads, among other things.

Finally, you will receive a final message:

“Thank you for registering your account. In a few moments, this recording will be eliminated, and you’ll be able to enjoy using our service. Welcome to Telcel.”

In summary:

• Load $50 MX of cash to your chip or its equivalent in USD.
• Send a SMS to 4848 with the word “ALTA” in upper case.
• Answer the message with you first and last name. The first letters should be in upper case. For instance: “Diego Luna.”
• Answer with the word “NA” in upper case.

If you don’t have $50 MX to load in cash, you could try this other method:

Sending a normal text message or SMS to the number 2877. In the message’s body, you’ll need to include the two following texts:

• ALTA (in upper case,) a period, and the 18 digits of the CURP without any space nor other characters. For instance: “ALTA.123456789012345678”.
• ALTA (in upper case,) a period followed by your name, another period followed by your last name, another period followed by your second last name, and, finally, another period followed by your date of birth with the format DDMMYYYY. Everything must be in upper case and without any accents. For instance: “ALTA.JIMENA.TORO.GALDOS.01011995”.

(* Seen here: https://www.telcel.com/mundo_telcel/sala-prensa/noticias/2010/4/04/telcel-informa-sobre-registro-de-usuarios-moviles .)

What other methods do I have to activate my Telcel service?

We have presented you many methods to activate your Telcel chip in Mexico, but if you desire so, you could also go to the different Telcel Customer Support Centers or the authorized providers located in a lot of cities in Mexico, where highly trained and kind personnel will help you activate your new Telcel chip.

Methods to activate your Telcel SIM

Summarizing everything that we have said so far throughout this post, these are the methods to activate your Telcel chip.

• By calling from your Telcel number to a Phone Customer Support Center, *264 for prepaid phones, and *111 for paid phones (with contract.)
• Via an SMS to the number 4848 with the word “ALTA” if you already have cash loaded into your phone, or to 2877 with the message ALTA.CURP (ALTA.123456789012345678.)
• Via the internet by visiting Telcel’s official website.
• By going into a Customer Support Center or a Telcel authorized provider and requesting the activation in person.

Verify the activation of your Telcel SIM

To verify that your SIM card has been successfully activated on your phone, try making a call or ask someone to call your number. If you can make or receive calls, then the process was a success.

If, however, your number doesn’t appear as active whenever you try to make or receive any calls, there may have been an error during the activation. In this case, the most convenient solution would be to call Telcel’s Customer Service in Mexico. Another solution would be to go to a Telcel Customer Service office or an authorized provider. We guarantee you that they will make everything possible to successfully activate your chip.

Begin using your Telcel line in Mexico

If you completed each one of the steps that we previously told you, then your Telcel line should be activated, and you’ll be able to start enjoying its excellent services and subscriptions. The registration will be completed successfully, and you’ll be able to use your line and its services immediately. Among the services included are browsing the web, downloading apps and, of course, chatting with your friends, as well as messaging and calling your relatives.

We hope that these simple explanations are quite useful to you and that you’re able to activate your Telcel chip. This way, you’ll be able to be a part of Telcel Mexico’s big family.