prepaid phone plans that don't expire?

Hi, can anyone out there recommend a phone plan (in the SE USA) where
you can pay as you go and the minutes don't expire? So far the plans
either aren't real pay as you go plans (or not what i think of as pay
as you go) liker verizon or are plans where the minutes expire after a
certain amount of time like t-mobile. I am just looking for a no
frills phone that if i make 1 call a month then i only pay for one call
a month type deal. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers

-Gaiko

<gaikokujinkyofusho@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1121111514.908671.81460@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Hi, can anyone out there recommend a phone plan (in the SE USA) where
> you can pay as you go and the minutes don't expire? So far the plans
> either aren't real pay as you go plans (or not what i think of as pay
> as you go) liker verizon or are plans where the minutes expire after a
> certain amount of time like t-mobile. I am just looking for a no
> frills phone that if i make 1 call a month then i only pay for one call
> a month type deal. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
>

Some local areas alos have pre-paid cellular that let you gab all you want
across the US for one low fee.
Limited coverage area though.
> Cheers
>
> -Gaiko
>

I'm in the SE USA and you have to remember, any prepaid plan will require
you to buy some number of minutes airtime at some time interval to keep the
phone activated.

Depending on the brand of prepaid, the time intervals are usually 30,60,90
days or a year before you have to add airtime.

I have two activated TracFone(s) and my sis has one. Two are on Verizon
network and one is on Cingular GSM.

The minutes roll over and never expire as long as you keep adding minutes of
any denomination before the due date, which is always shown on the display.
What could be more simple? TracFone is the only prepaid plan I know of that
offers this feature.

If you have other TracFone or prepaid plan questions feel free to email me.

JoshIII
upstate south carolina
josh3i@hotmail.com
Activating a new or refurbished TracFone soon?
Be sure to get a referral (by email) from a
TracFone user and you'll both receive 100 FREE
minutes airtime. Check out the refurbished
Nokia 2285/1221/1100 *give away* specials at:
www.tracfone.com
TracFone uses Alltel, Verizon, Cingular, AT&T,
and Suncom wireless networks, just to name a few!
I've been a satisfied TracFone user for 4 years.






<gaikokujinkyofusho@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1121111514.908671.81460@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Hi, can anyone out there recommend a phone plan (in the SE USA) where
> you can pay as you go and the minutes don't expire? So far the plans
> either aren't real pay as you go plans (or not what i think of as pay
> as you go) liker verizon or are plans where the minutes expire after a
> certain amount of time like t-mobile. I am just looking for a no
> frills phone that if i make 1 call a month then i only pay for one call
> a month type deal. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
>
> Cheers
>
> -Gaiko
>

Per gaikokujinkyofusho@gmail.com:
>Hi, can anyone out there recommend a phone plan (in the SE USA) where
>you can pay as you go and the minutes don't expire? So far the plans
>either aren't real pay as you go plans (or not what i think of as pay
>as you go) liker verizon or are plans where the minutes expire after a
>certain amount of time like t-mobile. I am just looking for a no
>frills phone that if i make 1 call a month then i only pay for one call
>a month type deal. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Closest that I was able to come was tMobile and their 1,000 minutes/$100/1 year.
--
PeteCresswell

Per JoshIII:
>Depending on the brand of prepaid, the time intervals are usually 30,60,90
>days or a year...

Can anybody on the inside comment on the reason for expiring prepaid minutes?

If there weren't a business reason, I'd think somebody would be offering
non-expiring minutes.

From the outside, it seems like the incremental cost is zero (i.e. once they
create a record in the carrier's DB it doesn't cost anything to have it just sit
there) and while the minutes are unused, the carrier has time value of money
working for it.

So what's missing from that view?

?

--
PeteCresswell

Per Joseph:

>It doesn't occur to you that you are utilizing their equipment, you
>are taking up a number and that these things are not expenses that go
>away just because you are not making a call.

Unless it's a deal where they supply the phone, I don't see what equipment I'd
be using. As far as numbers go, I was unaware that a number had any cost
associated with it.


> I know of no prepaid networks
>that do not require you to do *something!*

Same here - that's what prompted the question, although I was thinking only in
terms of the minutes expiring unconditionally at the end of a time period.

The idea you've introduced - of the minutes not expiring as long as one makes at
least one call every do often - is new to me and seems to undermine my own
assumption that there is some fixed cost that drives the carriers to expire the
minutes periodically.

Not that you've brought it up, I can see the idea of having to do *something*,
just because the pool of phone numbers is finite and a carrier would probably
not want a bunch of unused numbers out there in perpetuity.


>Their line cost per month for one!

Maybe that's the missing ingredient.
In the context of a cell network, what is a "line cost"?
(Assuming it's truly a variable cost and not just a bunch of fixed costs summed
up and divided by the number of accounts.)
--
PeteCresswell

Per Joseph:
>Then there's running the switch and all the costs associated such as
>electricity, staffing, other infrastructure costs etc. These costs do
>not go away with your not "exercising" the equipment.

But neither to they increase. They're what I'd call "fixed" costs - as opposed
to "variable" costs which would increase/decrease depending on how many phones
are out there which do not make or receive any calls.

The only variable-cost item that I can think of - now that the issue's been
raised - is that while my phone is turned on it's communicating with a tower
whether I use it or not.

Assuming that a given tower only has the capacity to manage so many phones
without having it's quipment upgraded that would seem tb a variable cost insofar
as the number of idle prepaid phones stresses that capacity.

Whether or not it's outweighed by the time value of the money I gave them for
the minutes I haven't used yet is another issue....
--
PeteCresswell

Feel free to start your own cell phone company with the goal of making
no money. The "idea" most companies have is how can they get the MOST
money with the least expense. You ask why don't they, and the answer is
why should they.

If you want a phone that you never have to pay for except just the
minutes you actually use, its called a pay phone and takes nickles,
dimes, and quarters, but many find them less convenient then cell
phones.

My guess is that T Mobile isn't making that much bottom line income
from a $100 a year prepaid phone user that keeps their usage low. It
could be that all the "real" profit comes from customers that start
with a cheap plan and get hooked on high cell usage and move to a
higher cost plan.

With Tracfone you'll spend as little as $10/month. If you don't sit and yak for hours on end it's the way to go..for basic communication, emergencies, "Where the heck are you?" and "Pick this up at the store Honey" calls...

Buy your cards at Wally world and put the time on over the internet, they've been extending 30 days beyond lately...

The biggest Pain is dealing directly with customer service live....

On Wed, 13 Jul 2005 07:59:09 -0700, Joseph <JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>On Wed, 13 Jul 2005 07:36:31 -0500, cyclone
><cyclone.1s3z4y@nospam.cellphoneforums.net> wrote:
>
>>With Tracfone you'll spend as little as $10/month. If you don't sit and
>>yak for hours on end it's the way to go..for basic communication,
>>emergencies, "Where the heck are you?" and "Pick this up at the store
>>Honey" calls...
>
>Or go with Beyond Wireless for as little as 7¢/month (minimum
>requirement to place a one minute call @ 14¢/minute every 60 days)
>
>>Buy your cards at Wally world and put the time on over the internet,
>>they've been extending 30 days beyond lately...
>
>Buy your time over the net with Beyond Wireless or use one of their
>dealers (slightly more expensive.) No local numbers for all
>locations, but if you're looking for something for occasional use it
>cannot be beat.
>
Didn't you have JusTalk at one time Joseph? If so what service are you
using that phone for now? I have JusTalk and I got a message from
Cingular a few days ago saying that service would cease working on
Sep 30. I suppose because JusTalk went out of business.
I suppose I could use that phone with BeyondWireless then?

Beyond website claims:

*Calls placed while of off the Beyond Wireless Network will be billed at 4 times this rate.
It's only single or double with Tracfone...that's it..although that 1min/60days is attractive....

Do the Beyond phones have airtime remaining listed on the phone?

On Wed, 13 Jul 2005 19:23:02 -0700, Joseph <JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>I dumped JusTalk or rather they dumped me. Accounts do not expire
>over time, but they require refills more often than I wanted to do it.
>You can get refill minutes with Beyond for as little as $5 and even at
>$5 the per minute rate is still 14 cents/minute. The main
>disadvantage of Beyond is lack of local numbers for all AT&T Wireless
>areas. Long distance minutes are usually so cheap that if someone has
>to make a long distance call to get to you occasionally it's worth it.
>Yes, you can use Beyond Wireless. Of course any of the TDMA resellers
>are at the mercy of cingular should cingular decide to not use their
>TDMA service any longer. I've heard reports that in many areas the
>TDMA system doesn't seem to be as robust as it once was and there's
>more chance of getting dropped calls because of that.

I'm not sure if I'll even keep the TDMA phone. We just got back from
2 1/2 weeks in northeast lower Michigan and my TDMA phone didn't work
at all up there. Luckily I also had a Tracfone GSM and that worked
fine. That is CDMA area up there so I guess a CDMA or another GSM
would be a good choice for a 2nd phone.

In message <fgd6d19vhnnenspj0lg5cerp0c8p8cn33j@4ax.com>
"(PeteCresswell)" <x@y.z.invalid> wrote:

>Per JoshIII:
>>Depending on the brand of prepaid, the time intervals are usually 30,60,90
>>days or a year...
>
>Can anybody on the inside comment on the reason for expiring prepaid minutes?
>
>If there weren't a business reason, I'd think somebody would be offering
>non-expiring minutes.
>
>From the outside, it seems like the incremental cost is zero (i.e. once they
>create a record in the carrier's DB it doesn't cost anything to have it just sit
>there) and while the minutes are unused, the carrier has time value of money
>working for it.
>
>So what's missing from that view?

There is actually a practical "business" point of view for expiring
prepaid services (be it phones, gift cards, whatever)

In essence, when you prepay service, the company now owes you that
service. On the books it's basically an interest-free loan for the cost
of providing the service (Although depending on their accounting
practices they can sometimes realize the profit immediately, but not
always)

Even if you can't cash it in for actual cash, each and every prepaid
account will get counted "against" the company every time the company
attempts to apply for a loan and/or financing.

It's easier to visualize with gift cards rather then prepaid service,
although the principle is the same. Even if Best Buy hasn't seen or
heard from a gift card holder in several months/years/whatever, if the
gift card is still valid then Best Buy needs to be financially prepared
for the card to be used at any point.

Imagine I were to spend my days collecting non-expiring "Best Buy" gift
cards and some day 30 years from now I show up and claim them. Tens of
thousands of cards, millions of dollars, and Best Buy would need to
honour them unless the gift cards can be expired somehow.

--
Q. How many Microsoft technicians does it take to change a lightbulb?
A. Three. Two to hold the ladder and one to hammer the bulb into a faucet.

Their line cost?? That sounds like a load of crap to me.

Is this true, or something they want to to believe?

Around here, they just laugh when someone asks a tough question:>:

Elaborate please.


>
>>So what's missing from that view?
>
>Their line cost per month for one!
>
>- -
>

Per DevilsPGD:
>Imagine I were to spend my days collecting non-expiring "Best Buy" gift
>cards and some day 30 years from now I show up and claim them. Tens of
>thousands of cards, millions of dollars, and Best Buy would need to
>honour them unless the gift cards can be expired somehow.

That sounds like the real answer.

But there's one loose end: assuming that they had the fiscal discipline to set
those millions of dollars aside, wouldn't they still be ahead of the game? By
virtue of the time value of money (i.e. they could put it in interest-bearing
accounts) and (this is admittedly a stretch) by inflation (i.e. the debt is
dollar-denominated at the time it was incurred, but the value of the dollars
they have to honor is reduced by 2-3 percent per year compounded.
--
PeteCresswell