Ways to minimize your wireless bill, or how do T-mobile and Sprint stay in business?

In My Humble Opinion
1

So, ok, I was curious the other day about what it costs for a “typical” wireless package. You see all these ads where Sprint or T-mobile offers “$400” or some ridiculous number to switch over, surely the 3rd and 4th place providers are competing on price, right…

So, ok, I figured I’d comparison shop for what I’d personally prefer.

Device : a new iphone 6s plus, 64 gig. Data : about 1-5 gigs a month. (I use almost exclusively wifi). Unlimited texts, talk can be limited since I, like most modern users, text far more than I call.

I considered paying up front, but most carriers de facto offer a discount if you pay for the phone in installments by charging 0% interest or giving a slight discount.

Anyways, all 4 providers charge right at $80 a month, before taxes and fees, for this level of service. (subsidized device, about 3 gigs of data, no texting limit)

So…how do T-mobile and Sprint stay alive? If they charge the same price, or within 5 bucks a month or so, but have inferior coverage and average signal strength, going with Verizon or AT&T is a no-brainer.

The other idea I had was that I’d get one of those “pay as you go” style services. This is where you purchase a certain amount of data/talk/text time, and then you actually pay for what you actually use, and the unused balance rolls over month to month. Instead of paying $50+ a month, you spend about $100 for enough access time to last maybe 6 months or so, depending on usage. Since I’m virtually always on wifi, that’s going to not be much. You get one of those services where calls actually come in via wifi and only forward to your cell phone if you can’t be reached via wifi (google voice does this, or did a couple years ago).

In principle, if you spend $600-$700 for the phone up front and then just a few hundred bucks over 2 years on prepaid wireless cards, this saves about $1000 every 2 years. Longer, much longer, if the phone ends up lasting more than 2 years.

Oh, and a huge reason to do this : if you pay for access cards, you aren’t giving the wireless company an open line right to your credit card/bank account to scam you for whatever. If you go on a foreign trip and your phone keeps trying to download emails, for example, the wireless company doesn’t get to bill you 5 grand.

2

Sprint is the only carrier that you could even get when I moved out to where I live, and Verizon only started being reliable a couple of years ago. AT&T is still shit out here. The signal is great, and I can reach my kids most of the time I am traveling over the passes, which is a mixed blessing. So that’s how Sprint is staying in business–by keeping people like me happy. I am also lazy and hate change; in my case, inertia is Sprint’s best friend.

We’re on a second pay-as-you go for the grandkid and that has been an okay experience for him. The TracFone I initially got him was surprisingly reliable. The Verizon plan my daughter has for him now is not as good. The google voice stuff is shit in my opinion; I hate it so much.

3

…and that’s where they get you. On my phone bill (Verizon), I’m paying $70 a month for talk/text/data before fees.

Then you’ve got the access fee per line, which is $40 for my phone and $10 for each of two tablets. Insurance, roadside assistance, caller ID, advanced voicemail, and that’s another $35. Then there’s the fact that I’m paying for my phone in monthly installments, which tacks another $23 on, and I end up paying about $160 a month (after some discounts I get through my employer).

4

The people I know who do not use Verizon or ATT are people who Verizon and ATT refuse to do business with.

5

You’re comparison shopping at the very highest end of the market.

My average phone bill is $33 a month from a Sprint reseller. I don’t have the newest model iPhone, and I don’t buy one every two years. I assume there are a lot of people like me, lower in the market who take advantage of the budget plans that T-mobile and Sprint offer.

I’d rather have Verizon, but the cheapest plan I can get that matches the services I use is close to $60 a month. So I put up with worse coverage.

6

Ah, so I need to look at “Virgin Mobile” and “Boost Mobile” and all those other kinda shady outfits with the ads aimed at poor people.

7

I prefer the term “price conscious”. :wink:

But, what exactly is shady about any of those companies? Virgin is a huge company with airlines and hotels and entertainment companies in addition to telephone service. Boost is owned by Sprint. Not exactly fly-by-night organizations.

If the improvement in connectivity is worth the money for you, by all means go for it. But it seems silly to spend $30-50 extra a month because you don’t want to do business with company that advertises to “poor people”.

8

T-Mobile and Sprint stay in business by charging a fair price. All the rest of them overcharge.

My current deal was from FreedomPop. They supplied me with a new Moto E (a perfectly fine Android phone), one year of unlimited phone and text and half a gig of data per month. They are an MVNO of Sprint, which has good coverage of where I am. As I have WiFi from other providers, half a gig is fine.

All this cost me $149. Phone and service costs me just under $12.50 a month. The phone is unlocked and I can put anyone else’s SIM card in it. Presumably Sprint makes enough to re-sell their service to FreedomPop at a profit or they wouldn’t do it.

I’m astounded at people who pay $100 or more a month. The phone has a crappy camera, but seriously people - if it has a ringtone it is not a camera. Buy a real one.

9

Sprint and T-Mobile rent out their facilities to the cheaper providers. VirginMobile uses Sprint’s network, while Walmart Family Mobile uses T-Mobile.

In fact, and off-brand wireless company you choose is using one of the big four networks. If they use Sprint, they pay a fee to Sprint for airtime the Sprint isn’t using, so it’s found money. It looks like Sprint is host to quite a few off-brands, so those can do a lot of subsidizing.

I used VirginMobile and switched to Walmart Family Mobile when it became cheaper. Currently, I get unlimited phone, text, and data for $30 a month. That’s one gig of 4G and unlimited 3G once that’s used up. I also had to purchase my phone up front, but that’s the best way to do it, anyway.

Paying $80 for a single line is just plain wasting your money. Even if you need a specific carrier in your area, there is a budget carrier that uses the exact same network.

10

Interestingly, the people I know who do not use Verizon or AT&T are people who refuse to do business with Verizon or AT&T.

11

I use T-Mobile (as far I know, Verizon and AT&T would do business with me, but I haven’t asked lately), and I’m not seeing this as the T-Mobile fee structure, though perhaps I’m not following how you’re accounting for the device subsidy. My bill has three parts: service, taxes/fees (which go to various governments), and device. For device, I’m simply paying off 1/24 of a zero-interest loan every month. I’m not using any of those upgrade-whenever-you-feel-like-it plans. I’m pretty sure every carrier offers something similar, so I’m just going to ignore fees and device.

My service is unlimited talk and text + 1GB LTE data + unlimited 3G data. I also get 3G data internationally. That’s $50. I could get 3GB for $10 more, or 5GB for $20 more.

I see Verizon has the same price now at the 1GB tier, but they’re $5 more expensive at the 3GB tier, and they don’t have a 5GB tier. They have a 6GB tier which is $10 more than T-Mo’s 5GB. No idea offhand if they offer any lower-speed data free or international coverage.

When I bought my phone a year ago, I don’t think that Verizon rate existed, so when I finish paying it off, I may consider changing. But I’m not a must-have-latest-device guy, and don’t think it makes much sense to pay off the rest of my device so I can switch it to Verizon, have no change in price, have it infested with super-cookies, and maybe have marginally better coverage.

So that’s part of how T-Mobile’s staying in business.

12

I’ve been with T-Mobile for about fifteen years. They are cheaper than all the other carriers, and offer better services for less money. That’s how they stay in business, from my point of view. Their only drawback is that they don’t have very good coverage in the boondocks. But since I rarely leave the big city, that doesn’t matter to me. Other’s mileage will of course vary.

13

Well, either we know different people, or your people aren’t being entirely honest with you.:smiley:

14

Sprint bought Virgin mobile a few years back.

15

Keep in mind that “Will T-Mobile and Sprint survive?” has been, and possibly still is, a hot question for the past few years.

T-Mobile was about to be bought by AT&T, the Feds stepped in and pretty much said that they want more competition and stopped the deal. Part of the merger agreement was that if the deal was stopped, AT&T would pay T-Mobile several million dollars as well as hand over some spectrum–which T-Mobile has used to improve their position.

Yes, there are coverage differences between providers. But those are sometimes overstated–does the guy living in New York City really care that Verizon has better coverage in Iowa cornfields? There are enough millions of people for whom the coverage is reasonably similar for that not to matter all that much–or at least be a reasonable trade-off (a couple bucks less vs occasional call drops in places I only spend occasional time in)

And then there’s marketing. T-Mobile has marketed itself as a company breaking all the old, consumer-unfriendly practices of wireless contracts and whatnot. This seems to have worked, at least for now–they’ve gained a ton of subscribers, passed Sprint for #3, and have shown a profit for the last couple quarters.

Is that sustainable? Or will it be like an airline announcing a price cut, where they get a short-term benefit, but then everyone else lowers to match and they all end up falling in line, but making slightly less money than before. Dunno.

16

As has been noted, Virgin Mobile is owned by Sprint. I was with Sprint for about ten years, then switched to Virgin Mobile. At the time I was texting more than I got with my Sprint package and would have to buy more texts for about $10. Virgin Mobile had unlimited texting for about $25 less. Why on earth would I have stayed with Sprint?? I have to buy/provide my own phone, but my self-esteem isn’t dependent on the latest gadget so that’s not a problem. As long as I can text and do basic internet stuff I’m happy. The rest is what my tablet’s for, anyway.

I recently had an experience with Virgin’s customer service that was very good, too. I had to talk to India, but the guy was very polite, resolved my issue and I only had to wait about 20 seconds before I was connected with him.

One doesn’t have to be poor :rolleyes: to use Virgin Mobile. If you want good value and don’t need the latest phone, give them a look.

17

Sprint offers reasonable plans. I don’t know that their network is any good where I live.

You can cut your phone bill by taking out some feature such as texting. But then i f people keep texting you you need to text back instead of calling each one to tell them not to text. You could handle in family texts all through facebook messaging app.

I’m paying for the phone of my 20 year old still in college and my 23 year old who was unemployed 2 months and has a low paying job. They get to use my data plan. Eventually I will need to spin them off to pay their phone bills. I’ll send them a check to cover about 30 dollars a month and they can pay the other 30.