Oaxaca eSIM

In Oaxaca you connect to Telcel or AT&T, whichever is performing better where you are standing. The typical speed across the country is 44 Mbps. Your data starts working the moment you land, before you reach the immigration hall.

Networks: Telcel and AT&T
Typical speed in Mexico: 44 Mbps typical, 10 Mbps at busy times
5G: yes, non standalone
Throttle: None on metered plans
Tethering: Allowed on every plan

Plans that cover Oaxaca

Data plans for Mexico
Data	Validity	Price per GB	Price
1 GB	Never expires	$8.89	$8.89
3 GB	Never expires	$5.63	$16.89
5 GBMost travellers	Never expires	$4.98	$24.89
10 GB	Never expires	$3.99	$39.89
20 GB	Never expires	$3.34	$66.89

A single carrier provider cannot make this move.

All Mexico plans North America regional plan Mexico coverage No service after landing

How Mexico compares across North America

Regional typical speed: 33 Mbps
Upstream networks: 2, Telcel, AT&T
5G: Yes, non standalone
Next fastest nearby: Canada, 58 Mbps
Next slowest nearby: Panama, 36 Mbps
Cities with their own page: 4: Mexico City, Cancun, Tulum, Oaxaca

Landing at Xoxocotlan International Airport (OAX)

Airport: OAX / MMOX
Distance: 7 km from the centre of Oaxaca

Getting into Oaxaca

Autopista 150D/131D from Mexico City to Oaxaca
Airport taxi service from the desk in the public hall at Oaxaca airport (OAX)

Worth knowing about Oaxaca

Oaxaca has no passenger rail service; arrivals come by air to OAX, about 7 km south of downtown, or by highway from Mexico City.
Most international flights to Oaxaca connect through Mexico City, with only a handful of direct US routes.
Oaxaca City sits at 1,555 m altitude, which keeps it markedly cooler than the Mexican coast at the same latitude.
Since 9 January 2026 every mobile line in Mexico must be linked to a named person. The rule comes from guidelines approved on 8 December 2025 by the Comision Reguladora de Telecomunicaciones.
Article 20 of the guidelines lets a foreign person identify with a passport, or with a temporary CURP for foreigners. A passport alone is enough, so a visitor does not need a Mexican CURP.
For a foreign customer the operator must record name, country of origin, passport number or temporary CURP, the telephone number and the result of the identity validation.
Prepaid lines still not linked get a deadline set by the last digit of the number, falling between August and December 2026. Missing it brings a 72 hour suspension leaving only emergency calls.
A Constancia Temporal de CURP for foreigners lasts 180 or 365 days but is only issued to people who have begun a residence or refugee procedure with INM or COMAR, so tourists rely on a passport.
An earlier register, the Padron Nacional de Usuarios de Telefonia Movil, was struck down in full by Mexico's Supreme Court in Accion de Inconstitucionalidad 82/2021 for demanding biometric data.
The state government put a free internet network in the Oaxaca city Zocalo and later activated it at Paseo Juarez El Llano. Users connect by scanning a QR code with a phone, tablet or laptop.
Mexico's federal free wifi in public spaces is branded CFE Internet and is run by CFE Telecomunicaciones e Internet para Todos over 4.5G broadband.
City buses run as BinniBus across 35 routes. The cash fare is 10 pesos and the general prepaid card fare is 8 pesos, and cash payment remains available, so a card is not essential for a visitor.
BinniBus is the new name for the former CityBus service, rebranded as part of a restructuring of the city bus network.
The Barranca Larga Ventanilla motorway opened on 4 February 2024. It runs 104.3 km with 10 bridges, 3 viaducts and 3 tunnels, cutting the state capital to coast drive to about 2.5 hours.
That motorway was toll free until the end of September 2024. After that, tolls apply to visitors from other states and to freight, while Oaxacans continue to travel free.
Oaxaca sits in the Zona Centro, referred to the meridian 90 degrees west of Greenwich. Mexico abolished summer time in October 2022 except in northern border municipalities, so clocks here do not change.
The airport operator ASUR lists only two ground transport services at Oaxaca airport, a taxi company with its desk in the public hall and a car rental firm, so there is no airport bus or shuttle on its list.

Sources for this page

Other cities in Mexico we cover

Mexico City: 366 km from Oaxaca, nearest airport MEX
Tulum: 1037 km from Oaxaca, nearest airport TQO
Cancun: 1134 km from Oaxaca, nearest airport CUN