# How best to negotiate with AT&T for a cheaper BlackBerry? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 13, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-to-negotiate-with-at-t-for-a-cheaper-blackberry/546582 "2010-07-13T19:41:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-to-negotiate-with-at-t-for-a-cheaper-blackberry/546582/21 "2010-07-16T15:41:39Z")
Service for 450 - 500 minutes on Verizon is not 59.99 per month, unless you are using a family plan. It’s 39.99 per month. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-to-negotiate-with-at-t-for-a-cheaper-blackberry/546582/22 "2010-07-16T17:07:47Z")
> [@crazyjoe](#): > > Service for 450 - 500 minutes on Verizon is not 59.99 per month, unless you are using a family plan. It’s 39.99 per month. While their monthly “Talk” plan is $39.99, with unlimited messaging (“Talk & Text”) [it is $59.99](http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/splash/plansingleline.jsp?lid=//global//plans//individual). You’ll notice on my chart for Verizon at $59.99 I listed messages as included. ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-to-negotiate-with-at-t-for-a-cheaper-blackberry/546582/23 "2010-07-16T18:18:27Z")
Ok, but you can get 500 messages per month (plus unlimited to other verizon customers) for $10 per month. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-to-negotiate-with-at-t-for-a-cheaper-blackberry/546582/24 "2010-07-16T18:20:09Z")
Yes, I’m sure you can. I was not trying to present a full listing of each provider’s services and options, I was relating the ones I compared because they were what was relative to me. ---
**Author:** ![ToborAton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/57b2e6/32.png) [@ToborAton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToborAton)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-to-negotiate-with-at-t-for-a-cheaper-blackberry/546582/25 "2010-07-16T21:48:46Z")
So I wanted to save you from making a huge mistake. It turns out that the unlimited coverage has a soft cap of 5 GB and that is much much easier to bump against than people seem to realize. How to spend 200 MB (200 million bytes): Listen to 4 hours of (128 kbps) steaming music. Watch half an hour of (1000 kbps) streaming video. How to spend 5 GB (5 billion bytes): Listen to 12 hours of (1000 kbps) streaming video. (Watching the Daily Show on your phone will use more than 2.5 GB) T-Mobile is actually the only carrier that doesn’t have a soft 5 GB monthly limit but they really don’t have great coverage. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-to-negotiate-with-at-t-for-a-cheaper-blackberry/546582/26 "2010-07-17T01:24:52Z")
There’s no 5 gig cap on Verizon for smartphone data, only tethering. ---
**Author:** ![nuggz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/278dde/32.png) [@nuggz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nuggz)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-to-negotiate-with-at-t-for-a-cheaper-blackberry/546582/27 "2010-07-17T03:55:00Z")
What about Sprint? You can get a new bbry for free (not a bold, those are more, but TOTALLY not worth it) if you are a new customer. 69 bucks a month gets you unlimited interenet, text and 450 LANDLINE minutes. ALL cell phone calls are free, regardless of company. Most carriers wont compromise on handset pricing, since they are already offering you a reduced price. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-to-negotiate-with-at-t-for-a-cheaper-blackberry/546582.md?page=1)