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  1. #1
    Citizen Bob
    Guest
    Are there any pay as you go cell phones where the minutes you purchase
    in advance do not expire, even if you never renew again.

    I want to get the cheapest possible emergency-only cell phone. I may
    never use it but when I need to I want it available. I am willing to
    pay up to 25 cents per minute for that one time use. I am willing to
    buy 100 minutes ($25) in advance and never redeem it - the cell
    company can keep it for all I care. And I am willing to buy the
    cheapest working cell phone with decent Houston area coverage.

    Cingular allows you to roll unused minutes forward but only of you do
    it before the current plan expires. I do not want the plan to expire
    ever. The cell phone company makes its money from the sale of the
    phone and the sale of the prepaid minutes. Anything more is being
    greedy.


    --

    If you consider that there has been an average of 160,000 troops in
    the Iraq theatre of operations during the last 22 months, and a total
    of 2,112 deaths, that gives a monthly firearm death rate of 60 per
    100,000 soldiers. The monthly firearm death rate in Washington D.C.
    is 80.6 per 100,000 for the same period. That means that you are
    more likely to be shot and killed in the U.S. Capitol, which has the
    strictest gun control laws in the nation, than you are in Iraq.




    See More: Non-expiring Pay As You Go




  2. #2
    JoshIII
    Guest

    Re: Non-expiring Pay As You Go

    "Citizen Bob" <[email protected]> wrote in message ...
    > Are there any pay as you go cell phones where the minutes you purchase
    > in advance do not expire, even if you never renew again.
    >
    > I want to get the cheapest possible emergency-only cell phone. I may
    > never use it but when I need to I want it available. I am willing to
    > pay up to 25 cents per minute for that one time use. I am willing to
    > buy 100 minutes ($25) in advance and never redeem it - the cell
    > company can keep it for all I care. And I am willing to buy the
    > cheapest working cell phone with decent Houston area coverage.
    > <snip>



    JoshIII responds:
    A prepaid phone is like a renting a car or construction equipment.

    If you rent a car, even if you don't plan to use it,
    its still $30-$40 a day.

    For minimal / emergency only users, a prepaid phone is already
    the least expensive cost per month of any cellphone plan on the
    market.

    Yes with prepaid, as with any plan, you own the phone, but
    in many cases prepaid phones are free (or dirt cheap) anyway.

    Why don't you consider PagePlus Cellular? You can purchase
    an "Inpulse" brand cellphone from Walmart for $40, activate it
    with PagePlus Cellular for less than $10 using an eBay reseller
    kit (sent to you via email), then only be required to
    purchase *one* $10 airtime card every 90 days. That
    averages out to less than $3.50 per month (which includes
    a 50cent/month service charge), and Page Plus Cellular
    uses the Verizon network.

    As Lee Iacooca once said, "If you find a better deal, buy it."

    .... and by the way, if you do find a better deal, please
    post it here, because I will want to switch to it myself.

    JoshIII, 14NOV06, <josh3i at hotmail . com>
    http://pasofinosc.tripod.com





  3. #3
    Todd Allcock
    Guest

    Re: Non-expiring Pay As You Go

    At 14 Nov 2006 13:21:49 +0000 Citizen Bob wrote:
    > Are there any pay as you go cell phones where the minutes you purchase
    > in advance do not expire, even if you never renew again.
    >
    > I want to get the cheapest possible emergency-only cell phone. I may
    > never use it but when I need to I want it available. I am willing to
    > pay up to 25 cents per minute for that one time use. I am willing to
    > buy 100 minutes ($25) in advance and never redeem it - the cell
    > company can keep it for all I care. And I am willing to buy the
    > cheapest working cell phone with decent Houston area coverage.
    >
    > Cingular allows you to roll unused minutes forward but only of you do
    > it before the current plan expires. I do not want the plan to expire
    > ever. The cell phone company makes its money from the sale of the
    > phone and the sale of the prepaid minutes. Anything more is being
    > greedy.


    Or you are- there are monthly costs associated with keeping a phone
    number alive- fees and taxes. Many prepraid service providers "excuse"
    those by forcing to top off at regular intervals.

    The options that most closely fit what you want:

    A used analog cellphone from a thrift store who's number is programmed to
    (123) 456-7890 should still connect to the "American Roaming Network".
    No monthly fees, no prepaid minutes, but about $3/min. billed directly to
    your crdit card. This solution will probably only work until 2008 or so,
    as carriers turn off their analog service.

    Speakout Wireless, available at 7-11 stores, resells Cingular service at
    20-cents/min, and the airtime lasts 1-year. Their smallest refill amount
    is $25, so you'll have to spend $25/year, every year. They charge $1-
    2/month in fees to your account, so your $25 wouldn't last much longer
    than a year anyway. 7-11 has a promo right now where you get a Nokia
    phone and a $25 card for $50. That covers your first year, and it's $25
    every year after.

    T-Mobile's T-Mo2Go service gives you a one-year expiration on all cards,
    including their $10 card, but only after you've spent $100 on airtime.
    So if you buy a cheap phone ($40 at Target or Walmart) and a $100 card,
    you're set for the first year, and it will only be $10 each extra year.

    www.myreadymobile.com offers prepaid service (on T-Mobile's Nework) that
    doesn't expire, as long as you make a phone call every 30 days or you
    lose $3 of credit. Don't make a call in 60 days you lose it all,
    including your number. They only sell through dealers, and there's a
    dealer on eBay selling a ReadyMobile phone for $10+ shipping which
    includes 10 minutes of time. Airtime runs 10-20 cents/min depending on
    how much you buy. This may be your best option as far as your stated
    criteria go.

    A couple more smaller companies like PagePlus and STi Mobile offer
    service with fairly low montly cost as well- you might check out Dave
    Markson's excellent www.cellguru.net for a neat comparison chart of the
    prepaid services.


    Good luck!



    --
    Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com




  4. #4
    Citizen Bob
    Guest

    Re: Non-expiring Pay As You Go

    On Tue, 14 Nov 2006 11:57:45 -0500, Larry <[email protected]> wrote:

    >> I want to get the cheapest possible emergency-only cell phone.


    >Why not get a 99 cent 3W old bagphone from the thrift shop that runs off a
    >cigarette light plug, not the inevitable dead battery of your emergency
    >phone?


    Great idea. Now, where do I begin to look and for what specific
    product?

    >You don't have to register it with any of them to dial 911,


    I would like to call people in an emergency other than just 911.

    >which the FCC forces them to provide to any phone that calls it, paying or not.
    >Set the bagphone to STD A/B so it will search both 800 Mhz AMPS systems for
    >a signal wherever you may be. It has a far stronger signal and far better
    >range than these girly glitz toyphones ever will. It'll work at least
    >through 2007 into 2008, at the current AMPS shutdown schedule.


    Unfortunately I am not a cell phone techie. Is there a web site that
    explains all that?

    >You don't have to buy service to have an emergency cellphone, no matter
    >what the company bull****ters say. It's the law!


    Where does the service come from?

    >There's one in every one of my vehicles, even though I do have a cellphone.
    >It just works better wherever a car croaks....


    Sounds like a winner - if I can find and implement what you are
    describing.


    --

    If you consider that there has been an average of 160,000 troops in
    the Iraq theatre of operations during the last 22 months, and a total
    of 2,112 deaths, that gives a monthly firearm death rate of 60 per
    100,000 soldiers. The monthly firearm death rate in Washington D.C.
    is 80.6 per 100,000 for the same period. That means that you are
    more likely to be shot and killed in the U.S. Capitol, which has the
    strictest gun control laws in the nation, than you are in Iraq.




  5. #5
    Larry
    Guest

    Re: Non-expiring Pay As You Go

    [email protected] (Citizen Bob) wrote in news:4559c1db.20693265@news-
    server.houston.rr.com:

    > I want to get the cheapest possible emergency-only cell phone.


    Why not get a 99 cent 3W old bagphone from the thrift shop that runs off a
    cigarette light plug, not the inevitable dead battery of your emergency
    phone? You don't have to register it with any of them to dial 911, which
    the FCC forces them to provide to any phone that calls it, paying or not.
    Set the bagphone to STD A/B so it will search both 800 Mhz AMPS systems for
    a signal wherever you may be. It has a far stronger signal and far better
    range than these girly glitz toyphones ever will. It'll work at least
    through 2007 into 2008, at the current AMPS shutdown schedule.

    You don't have to buy service to have an emergency cellphone, no matter
    what the company bull****ters say. It's the law!

    There's one in every one of my vehicles, even though I do have a cellphone.
    It just works better wherever a car croaks....

    Larry
    --
    My calendar must be wrong....
    In all the stores, it's ALREADY Christmas!




  6. #6
    (PeteCresswell)
    Guest

    Re: Non-expiring Pay As You Go

    Per Citizen Bob:
    >Are there any pay as you go cell phones where the minutes you purchase
    >in advance do not expire, even if you never renew again.


    My tMobile prepaids seem tb pretty close.

    The initiation fee was $100 for 1,000 minutes.

    Can't trot out the exact rules, but the bottom line is that I buy $10 worth of
    minutes each year and everything unused rolls over.

    For these two phones the diff between $10 worth of minutes and minutes actually
    used is almost nil... or even negative. So over the years, that 1,000 minute
    balance may shrink or grow slightly.
    --
    PeteCresswell



  7. #7
    Todd Allcock
    Guest

    Re: Non-expiring Pay As You Go

    At 14 Nov 2006 16:49:43 +0000 Citizen Bob wrote:
    > On Tue, 14 Nov 2006 11:57:45 -0500, Larry <[email protected]> wrote:
    >


    > >Why not get a 99 cent 3W old bagphone from the thrift shop that runs

    off a
    > >cigarette light plug, not the inevitable dead battery of your

    emergency
    > >phone?

    >
    > Great idea. Now, where do I begin to look and for what specific
    > product?


    He's referring to any old used "bag phone"- the old style phones with a
    separate handset on a cord and the phone's "body" in a briefcase or bag.

    > >You don't have to register it with any of them to dial 911,

    >
    > I would like to call people in an emergency other than just 911.

    Then Larry's suggestion is over. No cellular company I'm aware of will
    activate an analog-only phone any longer.


    > Unfortunately I am not a cell phone techie. Is there a web site that
    > explains all that?


    You can google for the programming instructions for most models of
    cellphone, or at least brand (most Motorola bag phones work the same as
    each other, most Nokias are similar, etc.)
    >
    > >You don't have to buy service to have an emergency cellphone, no

    matter
    > >what the company bull****ters say. It's the law!

    >
    > Where does the service come from?


    Larry simply means all carriers are obligated to connect 911 calls
    regardless if you pay for service or not. They are not obligated to
    provide any other emergency service.

    Since you want a phone for more than 911, you can foget about bag phones
    (except as a rural backup to whatever service you end up with for 911-
    only use.)


    --
    Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com




  8. #8
    Citizen Bob
    Guest

    Re: Non-expiring Pay As You Go

    On Tue, 14 Nov 2006 13:45:30 -0500, "(PeteCresswell)" <[email protected]>
    wrote:

    >>Are there any pay as you go cell phones where the minutes you purchase
    >>in advance do not expire, even if you never renew again.


    >My tMobile prepaids seem tb pretty close.


    >The initiation fee was $100 for 1,000 minutes.


    >Can't trot out the exact rules, but the bottom line is that I buy $10 worth of
    >minutes each year and everything unused rolls over.


    >For these two phones the diff between $10 worth of minutes and minutes actually
    >used is almost nil... or even negative. So over the years, that 1,000 minute
    >balance may shrink or grow slightly.


    How good is T Mobile's coverage in Houston?


    --

    If you consider that there has been an average of 160,000 troops in
    the Iraq theatre of operations during the last 22 months, and a total
    of 2,112 deaths, that gives a monthly firearm death rate of 60 per
    100,000 soldiers. The monthly firearm death rate in Washington D.C.
    is 80.6 per 100,000 for the same period. That means that you are
    more likely to be shot and killed in the U.S. Capitol, which has the
    strictest gun control laws in the nation, than you are in Iraq.




  9. #9
    Citizen Bob
    Guest

    Re: Non-expiring Pay As You Go

    On Tue, 14 Nov 2006 09:10:01 -0700, Todd Allcock
    <[email protected]> wrote:

    >www.myreadymobile.com offers prepaid service (on T-Mobile's Nework) that
    >doesn't expire, as long as you make a phone call every 30 days or you
    >lose $3 of credit. Don't make a call in 60 days you lose it all,
    >including your number. They only sell through dealers, and there's a
    >dealer on eBay selling a ReadyMobile phone for $10+ shipping which
    >includes 10 minutes of time. Airtime runs 10-20 cents/min depending on
    >how much you buy. This may be your best option as far as your stated
    >criteria go.


    Please comment on this phone, as it appears to be the best deal for my
    situation. I am concerned about reliability. The dealer on Ebay offers
    a Motorola C333 phone, NIB.


    --

    If you consider that there has been an average of 160,000 troops in
    the Iraq theatre of operations during the last 22 months, and a total
    of 2,112 deaths, that gives a monthly firearm death rate of 60 per
    100,000 soldiers. The monthly firearm death rate in Washington D.C.
    is 80.6 per 100,000 for the same period. That means that you are
    more likely to be shot and killed in the U.S. Capitol, which has the
    strictest gun control laws in the nation, than you are in Iraq.




  10. #10
    (PeteCresswell)
    Guest

    Re: Non-expiring Pay As You Go

    Per Citizen Bob:
    >How good is T Mobile's coverage in Houston?


    No idea. It's not as good as Cingular's in the Philly area though.

    I'd suggest going to a tMobile shop and putting the question to them in the
    context of their policy of letting a user try the service for a couple of weeks
    and then back out if coverage doesn't meet their needs.
    --
    PeteCresswell



  11. #11
    Citizen Bob
    Guest

    Re: Non-expiring Pay As You Go

    On Wed, 15 Nov 2006 09:05:47 -0500, "(PeteCresswell)" <[email protected]>
    wrote:

    >Per Citizen Bob:
    >>How good is T Mobile's coverage in Houston?

    >
    >No idea. It's not as good as Cingular's in the Philly area though.
    >
    >I'd suggest going to a tMobile shop and putting the question to them in the
    >context of their policy of letting a user try the service for a couple of weeks
    >and then back out if coverage doesn't meet their needs.


    What are your opinions about Ready Mobile?

    --

    If you consider that there has been an average of 160,000 troops in
    the Iraq theatre of operations during the last 22 months, and a total
    of 2,112 deaths, that gives a monthly firearm death rate of 60 per
    100,000 soldiers. The monthly firearm death rate in Washington D.C.
    is 80.6 per 100,000 for the same period. That means that you are
    more likely to be shot and killed in the U.S. Capitol, which has the
    strictest gun control laws in the nation, than you are in Iraq.




  12. #12
    Todd Allcock
    Guest

    Re: Non-expiring Pay As You Go

    At 15 Nov 2006 11:09:03 +0000 Citizen Bob wrote:
    > On Tue, 14 Nov 2006 09:10:01 -0700, Todd Allcock
    > <[email protected]> wrote:


    > Please comment on this phone, as it appears to be the best deal for my
    > situation. I am concerned about reliability. The dealer on Ebay offers
    > a Motorola C333 phone, NIB.


    I can't comment on it (since I never owned one) except to say it's a very
    low end model from a couple of years ago. www.phonescoop.com is an
    excellent resource for comparing features and reading other users reviews
    on virtually any model phone.

    Pragmatically, I'd say it's $10 lousy dollars. If your concerned about
    reliability buy two!

    As far as coverage, T-Mobile's website has a very accurate street-level
    detail coverage map. (I noticed you asked about Houston T-Mo coverage a
    post or two ago.) ReadyMobile is a T-Mo reseller so their Houston
    coverage would be identical.

    Target stores ran a great T-Mo prepaid promotion a few weeks ago that, if
    you're not in a hurry, you might wait and see if it comes around again:
    if you buy the $100 one-year card, they gave you a $40 Nokia phone for
    free.

    Good luck!

    --
    Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com




  13. #13
    Larry
    Guest

    Re: Non-expiring Pay As You Go

    [email protected] (Citizen Bob) wrote in news:4559f300.33274093@news-
    server.houston.rr.com:

    > Great idea. Now, where do I begin to look and for what specific
    > product?
    >
    >


    It really doesn't matter what brand of old bagphone or what company's
    service it came from as you're not going to register it, anyways. I like
    the Motorola TX200, myself, but any phone that looks like it has a
    transmitter box, rubber duckie antenna that's not ripped in half, a
    handset where everything looks intact and is relatively clean with wires
    that are not all frayed or pulled apart....and a cigarette lighter plug
    power cord, which is most important. If it has an old dead camcorder
    battery, simply recycle the gelcell at any battery store or Walmart and
    store away the battery cable you don't need, in case a miracle happens
    and they let AMPS go back online after this farce on digital. It doesn't
    need any battery on it if it's plugged into the cigarette lighter.

    Some will say it won't work on a dead car battery, but that's simply not
    true. If you close all the doors, turning off all the loads like 500
    interior flash lights, turn signals, EMERGENCY FLASHERS and the ignition
    and car radio, the battery will soon enough come back up to over 11V
    enough to power the old bagphone with 20 times more power than your girly
    toyphone to get the job done. (Most new cars don't switch the 12V power
    socket we used to call a cigarette lighter socket, any more.) But, I can
    assure you, if you store away a rechargeable cellphone in the glovebox
    and don't charge it for months, when you need it, it will be as dead as a
    doorknob because rechargeable batteries self discharge quite rapidly all
    by themselves.

    The 911 operator will be more than happy to call you a towtruck, by the
    way, to get your piece of junk off her road...instead of having to deal
    with the accident it may cause later. They don't bite...really! Before
    my father died last january at 83, I had a bagphone in his Chevy forced
    upon him kicking and screaming. He used it once, amazingly enough, and
    called 911 from the paper instructions I printed for the inside of it
    before sticking it in his trunk. He explained his situation and age and
    the 911 operator was so nice calling his garage to come get him and his
    wonderful, yet useless, GM product for a little warranty service. She
    even had him call her back, like OnStar, when the towtruck got there so
    she'd know he was safe. She told him it makes them feel like coming to
    work in the morning helping people....instead of just the usual murders
    and wife beatings.

    It's why the FCC FORCES them to provide 911 service to anyone, you know.

    Larry
    --
    My calendar must be wrong....
    In all the stores, it's ALREADY Christmas!




  14. #14
    Larry
    Guest

    Re: Non-expiring Pay As You Go

    [email protected] (Citizen Bob) wrote in
    news:[email protected]:

    > Unfortunately I am not a cell phone techie. Is there a web site that
    > explains all that?


    Hmm...never looked. Ask Google. After you find a phone, you can usually
    download the owner's manual from the company's webpages or put in:

    Motorola TX200 owner's manual

    into Google with the model number of yours. The owners manuals are in
    the tech support section of the manufacturer's webpages, usually.
    >
    >>You don't have to buy service to have an emergency cellphone, no
    >>matter what the company bull****ters say. It's the law!

    >
    > Where does the service come from?


    The cellphone companies provide 911 service to anyone who logs onto their
    system because it's an FCC regulation and part of their licensing
    agreement with the Feds. This is also true of digital cellphone
    companies, not just analog. They are supposed to forward your 911 call
    to the 911 operator, even if you haven't paid your bill for a year and
    they hate you. FCC simply makes it mandatory. FCC likes to think it's
    still in control, even though it, mostly, isn't, any more.

    >
    >>There's one in every one of my vehicles, even though I do have a
    >>cellphone. It just works better wherever a car croaks....

    >
    > Sounds like a winner - if I can find and implement what you are
    > describing.
    >


    In local thrift shops I love to browse in, I see probably 10-20 good
    candidates for your trunk a week. If you know anyone who loves thrift
    shops like I do, ask them to be on the lookout and tell them you'll
    reimburse them upto $10 for a good looking one with a cigarette lighter
    plug most people can identify. 99 cents is a good price, because none of
    the cellphone companies will actually put one on the air any more.....




  15. #15
    BillRadio
    Guest

    Re: Non-expiring Pay As You Go

    Bob,
    Forget the Bag Phone, it cannot be activated. Ready Phone may work, but you
    will get no review about it online since they have so few customers.

    Here are your best options:

    T-Mobile to Go. Already mentioned. At $100 initially, you only need to
    refill with $10 once per year. You can buy phone from them, Target,
    Wal-Mart or online.

    7-Eleven: Speak Out. Uses the Cingular network. Phones are as little at
    $30 only from 7-Eleven stores. Each refill is for 365 days and can be
    refilled for as little as $25. They do take out as much as $1.25 per month
    for "911 fees", however, it will still last a year.

    Cingular Pay asYou Go: Also Cingular network, but more expensive. $100
    every 365 days. Voice mail deposits deduct minutes.

    Both carriers have excellent service in Houston. If you leave town,
    SpeakOut is better than T-Mobile, but where T-Mobile roams on other systems,
    there is no additonal charge.

    There are other choices, and they are reviewed at:

    http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm

    Some of the other choices would not provide a local Houston number, but
    would work well.

    -Bill Radio
    -U.S. Cellular Reviews and News at:
    http://www.mountainwireless.com




    "Citizen Bob" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]...
    > Are there any pay as you go cell phones where the minutes you purchase
    > in advance do not expire, even if you never renew again.
    >

    \





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