Mobile phone in Central America
 

I'm taking a 6 month trip through north and Central America with my family.
Can anyone recommend how best to get good mobile coverage in Mexico, Gautemala, Belize, Nicaragua, CR, and Panama?

Is there a common carrier (just buy one phone & SIM)?
Is there mobile Internet with the carriers?

I'll have my Irish multiband GSM phone with me but the roaming charges on that may "hurt" a bit.

Thanks

Ian

Telefonica / Tigo
 

you can just buy a sim card (prepaid one) if your phone is opened to all bands, in Central America Telefonica or Tigo would work for you. Not sure about Mexico

Try some research on world travel sim cards. I used to have a "Sim 4 Travel" card with a UK phone number, where I could receive calls for free in countries such as Turkey and Australia. But I'm not sure how Sim 4 Travel's rates are for SOuth/Central America.
Just google "world travel sim" and compare their call rates for receiving/outgoing calls.

Travel Simms/plans are a waste of money generally. You can buy a simm card for about the equivalent of $5 in any country in central or south America, then buy some prepaid credit for it for another $5 to get you going. You pay the local rate for calls rather than the expensive rates for a second-party reseller. There are a lot of different cell companies in each country, some better than others. In each country, I would just stop a kid on the street with a cell phone and ask which company was the best before buying a simm. They all know!