A phone that will work for me?

My father found two cell phones in a dumpster. The phones can't be used
because we don't have a calling plan (the owner obviously canceled it).
Is it possible to use these phones with Prepaid calling cards?


Are there any prepaid cell phones that can be used with calling cards
without having to buy airtime (or whatever it's called) to keep the
service active? Ideally, I want to go to a store and pay $30-$40 for a
prepaid cell phone. Then, whenever I want to use it, I want to be able
to use a calling card that I purchase at the store. I don't want to
have to pay any other fees. Tracfone and Virgin Mobile don't work like
that. I don't want to pay for a service I'll hardly ever use. I might
use a cell phone for 5 minutes a year, if even that and only for
emergencies (car trouble).

Per Mike S.:
>My father found two cell phones in a dumpster. The phones can't be used
>because we don't have a calling plan (the owner obviously canceled it).
>Is it possible to use these phones with Prepaid calling cards?

Might depend on the brand and model of phone.

Brand because some are easier than others, model because some phones cover just
some frequencies and the carrier you select might not be on those frequencies.

I've got tMobile prepaids and also go something akin to the dumpster route.

Nokia candy bar phones work for me: easy to unlock and they cover tMob's 1900
freq.
--
PeteCresswell

Most old cell phones will work for 911 emergency calls without a contract.
That's what I used use before I got my phone with a contract. Now, due to
not using many minutes, the wife and I use T-Mobile To Go buying $100 worth
of minutes a year for each phone instead of having a contract and paying
each month. I do keep an old phone (analog) in the car just I case I go to
an area where gsm doesn't work just for emergencies.

"Mike S." <littleboyblu87@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1160724363.715820.34590@k70g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> My father found two cell phones in a dumpster. The phones can't be used
> because we don't have a calling plan (the owner obviously canceled it).
> Is it possible to use these phones with Prepaid calling cards?
>
>
> Are there any prepaid cell phones that can be used with calling cards
> without having to buy airtime (or whatever it's called) to keep the
> service active? Ideally, I want to go to a store and pay $30-$40 for a
> prepaid cell phone. Then, whenever I want to use it, I want to be able
> to use a calling card that I purchase at the store. I don't want to
> have to pay any other fees. Tracfone and Virgin Mobile don't work like
> that. I don't want to pay for a service I'll hardly ever use. I might
> use a cell phone for 5 minutes a year, if even that and only for
> emergencies (car trouble).
>