If one shops at a retail store like Walmart, one gets offered a discount on the phone IF one also contracts with a big 3 provider. But, the big 3 providers are also the most expensive in monthly data and service fees. They tend to run $65-85 a month.
I suspect that the discounted phone cost is just recouped the 2 year contract in higher monthly fees.
Or you could buy just buy a phone outright and shop for a less expensive data and service provider like Cricket, Virgin Mobile, Republic, or Metro PCS, etc. These plans seem to run about $40-50 dollars a month. Sometimes ther is a small fee for a sim card.
The primary difference that I can see bertween the big 3 and the smaller companies is that these smaller providers are pre-paid and will cut you off immediately if the bill is unpaid, where the big 3 bill after use.
I am deciding if I want to buy with a contract with one of the big 3 providers- AT&T, Sprint and Verizon (and sometimes T-Mobile) or just buy the phone and be contract free.
So, do these less expensive service providers provide the same quality of service as the big 3?
I suspect they do. When I called Virgin Mobile to ask a question, the call rolled over to Sprint. I was kind of confused for a minute (because I was sure I had called Virgin) until the person at Sprint told me that when Virgin’s lines are busy, the calls roll over to Sprint.
In my opinion it is all about coverage and Verizon, although their customer service is about the worst, has the best coverage, so that is why I am with them.
Yes, the cost of the phone is sunk into the cost of the contract. But don’t forget that cell networks are often incompatible with each other, so if you buy an ATT-ready iPhone, it won’t work on Verizon.
So you’re still stuck with a cell phone that’s married to one network. And it’s up to you to figure out whether $500 up front for an iPhone and no contract is worth more than no upfront and a 2-year contract.
Another thing to consider is that while discount providers use the same networks as the major carriers, they often severely limit off-network roaming.
I don’t have to worry about it, no cell phone and I have no intention of ever getting one. When I am away from home I don’t want to be bothered by a phone. I figure if someone really wants to talk to me and they phone my home they can leave a message or wait and call later.
Well, the phone do much more than just make calls now. I want one to use some features in my smart car.
I guess I’m finding there just aren’t any real deals to be had. You can’t buy the advertised, up front priced, $519.00 iPhone 5s from Virgin without also committing to buying the data plan from them. (I wonder how long you have to keep the plan?)
You can buy the same phone from Sam’s for $97, but it comes with a contract.
My math says it looks mostly like a wash, and the question is ‘Pay up front or over two years?’ with the end result being about the same.
What you need to realize is that in most of the country, there are only 4 service providers - T-Mobile, Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon. Virtually ANY other provider you see is just reselling one or more of their services (and providing their own customer support). IE Virgin Mobile will give you pretty much exactly the same service in actual usage as Sprint, because they use the same towers/resell sprint service. Some MVNOs (what the resellers are called) like Straight Talk, Net 10, Tracfone, use any or all of the big 4 service providers, and it depends on what phone or SIM card you get which network you use. You will save big, big, big money if you only have one or two smartphone users and you stick with either lower end or lower markup Android Phones (like the Nexus 5, for example, as a low markup phone) and go with an MVNO like Straight Talk or Virgin Mobile.
Unless you really want an iPhone or high-end Samsung, no need to spend that much on a good smartphone.
I recently boughtthis for $99.00 - can surf the web, use GPS, watch movies, whatever. My monthly cell bill is $60, for two phones - one smart, one dumb.
I thought that too, but there are no payphones for miles around in the big city, sometimes you really do need to make a call when you are out and about. I have a TracPhone, nothing special, it costs me $100 a year to keep it active. I was able to let a woman use it to call for help when her car broke down, and it was of inestimable value when we got stuck in the sand by Walker Lake Nevada, 25 miles from town. And it has this handy button on top that turns it off when I am not using it. Kind of sucks that we have got to this pass, but here we are.
I’ve been with Virgin Mobile for 4+ years now: I was grandfathered into their $25/month plan, but when I replaced my phone a couple of weeks ago I went with a 4G phone, so it went up to $35/month.
Because the places I tend to go are good coverage areas for Virgin Mobile, it works for me as a provider. I’m fine with spending $79 on a phone and then having lower monthly costs - I come out ahead. I had an iphone back when I was with AT&T, but the monthly bill hurt.
If you’re someone who always wants the newest phone you can get, as often as you reasonably can, the contract may be the best option for you. I kind of equate it with leasing a car: you know in X amount of time you are up for a new one.
Just to clarify: Virgin Mobile USA and Boost Mobile are wholly owned subsidiaries of Sprint. Virgin Mobile USA licenses the right to use the Virgin brand name in the United States.
Ah but these days since everyone but us has a cell phone we could just ask someone to call 911 for us. Not too long ago there was an accident on the corner near us…several people called it in before we even got to the scene. I have a scanner on my computer and I am amazed by how many calls the cops get from cell phones, even though it is against the law to drive and talk on the phone here. People are reporting bad drivers all the time while they are on the road.
I’m with the same company and have been for a decade. I have a 4g lG smart phone and I use it all the time. I regularly use mapquest, watch video play games and stream music in my car. The only time I had a coverage problem was fuguratively at the ass end of nowhere
Well I could have said what I actually think about people who are so afraid to miss a phone call that they need the phone with them at all times. Then there are the cuties who wait until they are in a very public place to chat…voice raised so everyone knows “OH, look at me I have a cell phone, so be impressed” . Hell around here even people on welfare have cell phones, so it isn’t so impressive. It is really not impressive when one is in a restaurant and some jerk has to make sure that the whole restaurant knows his or her side of the conversation. I really do not understand the need to be glued to the phone all the time.
Then when our kids were at home every so often I would want some peace and quiet and would unplug the phone. My friends all knew I did it, and they would say “but what if you miss a call?”, UMM that was the whole idea. . Now we unplug the phone if we want to take a nap and be undisturbed. Works for us.
Phones are there for my convenience not other peoples. I know that is a radical idea, but that is how I look at phones
MrsTime, while you are entitled to your opinion, you’re off-topic with your comments here and your tone seals it as threadshitting. If you have nothing to offer as far as advice on cell-phone service selection, please have the self-control to refrain from posting.
This is my strategy, with a variation: I keep a pre-paid cell phone (NOT any kind of smart-ass-phone), the cheapest plan available. I carry it with me whenever I go any place. The intention is to use it only for emergencies, or for the occasional times I need to call someone while I’m out on the road. I don’t usually take incoming calls at all – I don’t even turn it on except when I’m making a call.
After buying the phone itself (about $60 IIRC), the plan costs $25 for 250 minutes (0.10 per minute), which expires after 90 days, and if I re-up before it expires, all the remaining time rolls over. I only ever use a small fraction of that time. So I’m basically paying $25 once every three months for an emergency-communication insurance plan.