Inexpensive prepaid?

Any recommendations for prepaid service?

I almost signed up for Cingular's today - until I read the fine print. Even
the $100 cards expire in 180 days.

Virgin Mobile looks nice, but it's CDMA.

Here's what I want in a plan (in priority order):

- >$10/month if I don't use the phone
- GSM
- Decent Nokia equipment (pop-port)

Any suggestions (to newsgroup)?

Jim Burks

---

› See More: Inexpensive prepaid?

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> "Jim Burks" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > Here's what I want in a plan (in priority order):
> >
> > - >$10/month if I don't use the phone
> > - GSM
> > - Decent Nokia equipment (pop-port)
>
> T-Mobile?
>
> Coverage is an issue, though.
>
> I'm looking at the same issue. It comes down to T-Mobile vs. Cingular,
> which means it comes down to price vs. coverage.
>

got to watch out cause cingular has the 1$ a day thing plus the minutes if
you use your phone.

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> Joseph <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > T-Mobile. Buy a $100 refill. This will last you all year. At the
> > $100 level you are eligible for "gold" rewards. Cheaper per minute
> > rates and any amount added to your account expires a year from when
> > you add it to your account.
>
> In reading their web site, it says:
>
> "If you refill before your prepaid account expires, all your
> minutes will extend to the new expiration date."
>
> I take the phrase "all of your minutes" seriously.
>
> I take it to mean this: if I buy $100 worth right now, I get 1000
> minutes that don't expire for a year. If I use 10 minutes this month,
> next month I have 990 minutes left. If next month I buy another $100, I
> get another 1000 minutes (more, actually, thanks to Gold Rewards, but
> let's keep this simple).
>
> Now I have 1990 minutes. But since I re-upped in month 2, the original
> 990 minutes don't expire at their 12 month anniversary anymore. They
> stay on and expire when my latest purchase expires, which is month 13 of
> my doing business with them.
>
> Or, let's say I buy $100 this year, get 1000 minutes, and don't use them
> at all. In month 12 I buy another $100. I now have 2000 minutes, and
> all 2000 of those minutes are good until 12 months after my LAST
> purchase, which is 24 months into my doing business with them.
>
> Or am I reading this wrong?
>
> If I'm not reading this wrong, then T-Mobile has the best deal going, I
> think. But their pay as you go coverage is crummy, because there's no
> roaming.
>

this is how it works.. as long as you keep $100 on the phone your minutes
never expire.
you dont have to buy 100$ cards but this gives you the most minutes.

Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:

>>T-Mobile. Buy a $100 refill. This will last you all year. At the
>>$100 level you are eligible for "gold" rewards. Cheaper per minute
>>rates and any amount added to your account expires a year from when
>>you add it to your account.
>
> In reading their web site, it says:
> "If you refill before your prepaid account expires, all your
> minutes will extend to the new expiration date."
> I take the phrase "all of your minutes" seriously.

> Or, let's say I buy $100 this year, get 1000 minutes, and don't use them
> at all. In month 12 I buy another $100. I now have 2000 minutes, and
> all 2000 of those minutes are good until 12 months after my LAST
> purchase, which is 24 months into my doing business with them.

I've used prepay plans for about 6 years. And they all work
like you indicated, buy more minutes before the last ones
expire, and they all carry over to the expiration of the new
minutes.

A word of warning, don't build, or let your minutes build
up. I was on Sprint prepaid for two years, when i got an
"important terms change" email on my phone. They were
discontinuing ALL prepaid plans. I had over 700 minutes
remaining (built up with 60 minute cards every 2 months). I
quickly bought another card(minutes) while they were still
available, to give me time to use my mass of minutes before
the shutdown two months later. They did offer to convert
me to any of their regular plans, and I could roll 60 of my
minutes to the new plan, which had to be used up within the
first billing period. (my $7/mo became $25/mo on their
cheapest offering- naa, i went shopping)

I'm using pharos intl prepaid now, which costs $3.33 a
month. But that is on the old attws tdma system which in
Dallas has become just about useless, the phone spends most
of its time "no service" or "roam". So, I'm using up my
remaining 60 minutes until the lights go out ;-) I averaged
15 minutes a month.

check beyondwireless for good prepaids too.

happy hunting, btw there will be replacement plans around
the same rates, but it will be months before the dust settles.

-larry / dallas

try this-

cingular bought att (ws)
sbc owns part of cingular
sbc bought att
sbc is changing name to att
new att buys cingular
cingular customers migrate to att wireless?

Did judge Green have kids? are any lawyers? consumers might
need help again ;-)

win some, loose some:

fcc said sbc dsl cannot require the wireline service. ie:
you can have sbc dsl without sbc phone service. (sbc/att
merger conditions)

sbc just announced they need a data transport fee for those
using voip on their internet. (yahoo business news under
symbol SBC)

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <[email protected]> on Wed, 02 Nov 2005
13:39:03 -0500, "Elmo P. Shagnasty" <[email protected]> wrote:

>In article <[email protected]>,
> Joseph <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> >need that anymore, but I do want a couple personal phones just to have
>> >for emergency and VERY casual personal use. 1000 minutes/year for $100
>> >is fine--but the bad coverage area worries me.
>>
>> You say that bad coverage worries you. Do you realistically expect to
>> spend a significant amount of time in the boonies?
>
>No, but all it takes is one time with the wife and kids being stuck
>somewhere and having no service. I don't need to cheapen out on
>something like that.

Then with all due respect you need something better than cellular, since all
carriers have significant coverage holes. You may want to consider a
satellite phone or even a PLB for the car. <http://www.equipped.com/faq_plb/>

--
Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <[email protected]> on Wed, 02 Nov 2005
13:39:03 -0500, "Elmo P. Shagnasty" <[email protected]> wrote:

>In article <[email protected]>,
> Joseph <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> >need that anymore, but I do want a couple personal phones just to have
>> >for emergency and VERY casual personal use. 1000 minutes/year for $100
>> >is fine--but the bad coverage area worries me.
>>
>> You say that bad coverage worries you. Do you realistically expect to
>> spend a significant amount of time in the boonies?
>
>No, but all it takes is one time with the wife and kids being stuck
>somewhere and having no service. I don't need to cheapen out on
>something like that.

p.s. A good low-cost option is to keep an unactivated TDMA/AMPS phone,
because all carriers are required to complete 911 calls even for unactivated
phones. Battery packs are available to ensure there will always be power.

--
Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

Per Joseph:
>The disadvantage with T-Mobile is you
>will not get great rural coverage or at least not as good as cingular
>since cingular also has GSM 850 and T-Mobile only has GSM at 1900
>(PCS.) Urban coverage should be very adequate for you.

Even in a non-rural setting, I'd try to test a tMobile phone under intended use
conditions.

I've got tMobile in a suburban setting (about 23 miles west of Philadelphia PA)
and, compared to the Cingular CDMA service that I dropped, find it quite
frustrating. Changing phones helped noticeably, but I'm still a candidate for
Cingular once the contract's up.
--
PeteCresswell

"Aaron" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Elmo P. Shagnasty" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> In article <[email protected]>,
>> "Jim Burks" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> > Here's what I want in a plan (in priority order):
>> >
>> > - >$10/month if I don't use the phone
>> > - GSM
>> > - Decent Nokia equipment (pop-port)
>>
>> T-Mobile?
>>
>> Coverage is an issue, though.
>>
>> I'm looking at the same issue. It comes down to T-Mobile vs. Cingular,
>> which means it comes down to price vs. coverage.
>>
>
> got to watch out cause cingular has the 1$ a day thing plus the minutes if
> you use your phone.
>
>
>

Isn't that $1 a day IF the phone is used, plus minutes?

T

"Tiffany" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:Twbaf.845$Qs3.619@trnddc01...
>
> "Aaron" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>
>> "Elmo P. Shagnasty" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>> In article <[email protected]>,
>>> "Jim Burks" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>> > Here's what I want in a plan (in priority order):
>>> >
>>> > - >$10/month if I don't use the phone
>>> > - GSM
>>> > - Decent Nokia equipment (pop-port)
>>>
>>> T-Mobile?
>>>
>>> Coverage is an issue, though.
>>>
>>> I'm looking at the same issue. It comes down to T-Mobile vs. Cingular,
>>> which means it comes down to price vs. coverage.
>>>
>>
>> got to watch out cause cingular has the 1$ a day thing plus the minutes
>> if
>> you use your phone.
>>
>>
>>
>
> Isn't that $1 a day IF the phone is used, plus minutes?
>
> T
>

My bad... that is what you are saying. Ignore comment. lol

T

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <[email protected]> on Wed, 02 Nov 2005 14:25:22
-0800, "(PeteCresswell)" <[email protected]> wrote:

>I've got tMobile in a suburban setting (about 23 miles west of Philadelphia PA)
>and, compared to the Cingular CDMA service that I dropped, find it quite
>frustrating. Changing phones helped noticeably, but I'm still a candidate for
>Cingular once the contract's up.

Cingular was TDMA, and is now GSM, but has never been CDMA.

--
Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> Joseph <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> T-Mobile. Buy a $100 refill. This will last you all year. At the
>> $100 level you are eligible for "gold" rewards. Cheaper per minute
>> rates and any amount added to your account expires a year from when
>> you add it to your account.
>
> In reading their web site, it says:
>
> "If you refill before your prepaid account expires, all your
> minutes will extend to the new expiration date."
>
> I take the phrase "all of your minutes" seriously.
>
> I take it to mean this: if I buy $100 worth right now, I get 1000
> minutes that don't expire for a year. If I use 10 minutes this month,
> next month I have 990 minutes left. If next month I buy another $100, I
> get another 1000 minutes (more, actually, thanks to Gold Rewards, but
> let's keep this simple).
>
> Now I have 1990 minutes. But since I re-upped in month 2, the original
> 990 minutes don't expire at their 12 month anniversary anymore. They
> stay on and expire when my latest purchase expires, which is month 13 of
> my doing business with them.
>
> Or, let's say I buy $100 this year, get 1000 minutes, and don't use them
> at all. In month 12 I buy another $100. I now have 2000 minutes, and
> all 2000 of those minutes are good until 12 months after my LAST
> purchase, which is 24 months into my doing business with them.
>
> Or am I reading this wrong?

That's the way it works.

"(PeteCresswell)" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Per Joseph:
>>The disadvantage with T-Mobile is you
>>will not get great rural coverage or at least not as good as cingular
>>since cingular also has GSM 850 and T-Mobile only has GSM at 1900
>>(PCS.) Urban coverage should be very adequate for you.
>
> Even in a non-rural setting, I'd try to test a tMobile phone under
> intended use
> conditions.
>
> I've got tMobile in a suburban setting (about 23 miles west of
> Philadelphia PA)
> and, compared to the Cingular CDMA service that I dropped, find it quite
> frustrating. Changing phones helped noticeably, but I'm still a
> candidate for
> Cingular once the contract's up.

Cingular does not have CDMA service Pete!

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <[email protected]> on Thu, 03 Nov 2005
11:00:38 -0500, "Elmo P. Shagnasty" <[email protected]> wrote:

>In article <[email protected]>,
> Joseph <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> >No, but all it takes is one time with the wife and kids being stuck
>> >somewhere and having no service. I don't need to cheapen out on
>> >something like that.
>>
>> And just what makes you so sure that *any* carrier will *always* have
>> service? There is no such guarantee from any carrier nor will you
>> ever find such a guarantee.
>
>Who's looking for a guarantee?

We're just taking you at your word (as quoted above). Since you're not going
to "cheapen out" and since even "one time" is such a big deal, then presumably
you'll get something better than cellular; e.g., a satellite phone, or even
just an unactivated TDMA/AMPS or CDMA/AMPS handset.

>I'm looking to tip the odds my way, that's all.

That's not how I read what you wrote.

>And if there is an obvious choice of "this guy has less coverage, and
>that guy has more coverage" my situation calls for more coverage.

Of course. But that varies from location to location -- no one carrier has
the best coverage in every location.

--
Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <[email protected]> on Thu, 03 Nov 2005
14:16:26 -0500, "Elmo P. Shagnasty" <[email protected]> wrote:

>In article <[email protected]>,
> John Navas <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> >> >No, but all it takes is one time with the wife and kids being stuck
>> >> >somewhere and having no service. I don't need to cheapen out on
>> >> >something like that.
>> >>
>> >> And just what makes you so sure that *any* carrier will *always* have
>> >> service? There is no such guarantee from any carrier nor will you
>> >> ever find such a guarantee.
>> >
>> >Who's looking for a guarantee?
>>
>> We're just taking you at your word (as quoted above). Since you're not going
>> to "cheapen out" and since even "one time" is such a big deal, then presumably
>> you'll get something better than cellular; e.g., a satellite phone, or even
>> just an unactivated TDMA/AMPS or CDMA/AMPS handset.
>
>No, because every choice is a compromise.
>
>I've set my level of compromise at the cellular level. Within that,
>T-Mobile has nice pricing but sub-par coverage, and Cingular is more
>expensive but has better coverage.
>
>you DO understand the idea that each choice is a compromise, don't you?
>I mean, I could just tell the family to stay home and never go anywhere.
>But I'm not going to do that.

How is adding a cheap unactivated TDMA/AMPS or CDMA/AMPS handset for
emergencies a compromise?

--
Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <[email protected]> on Thu, 03 Nov 2005
15:54:12 -0500, "Elmo P. Shagnasty" <[email protected]> wrote:

>In article <[email protected]>,
> John Navas <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> >you DO understand the idea that each choice is a compromise, don't you?
>> >I mean, I could just tell the family to stay home and never go anywhere.
>> >But I'm not going to do that.
>>
>> How is adding a cheap unactivated TDMA/AMPS or CDMA/AMPS handset for
>> emergencies a compromise?
>
>Not, not for JUST emergencies.

So don't plan for emergencies?

--
Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>