Cheap, low-usage cell phone plan needed for HPPNW

[G. Leis]

Well, yes and no. For heavy talkers a post-paid contract plan is usually the best option. OTOH, if you use in the neighborhood of 150-175 minutes per month or less, prepaid might be a better choice.

Here are a couple of websites that might be helpful in your research: For general info regarding any and all things wireless Howardforums is regarded as the definitive source. Many of the posters there are CSRs or engineers with AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint and various overseas providers as well as most of the major handset manufacturers.

Additionally, Dave Markson (AKA "Cellguru") has created an excellent comparison chart of most major prepaid companies.

It seems to be a little known fact that the big telcos wholesale some of their bandwidth to third-party providers. These so-called MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators) can often come up with prepaid rates and plans superior to those offered by the companies that own the physical net. PagePlus for example, uses Verizon's network and provides voice service for as little as $0.06/minute. You don't have to buy a phone from them either; any old Verizon CDMA phone you might have laying around they will activate.

In the past, prepaid was targeted toward younger customers or people with suspect credit. No longer. Mella and I have FICO scores in the area of 800 and are firm believers in these plans - and we're not alone. Prepaid is the fastest growing segment of the wireless market, and that growth is coming from people dumping their contract plans when they expire. Personally, we have no use for 2 year commitments just to get a free handset.

Net10 and Tracfone (both owned by América Mvil and essentially providing the same service) will probably give you the best overall coverage because in Hawaii, they have agreements with both AT&T and T-Mobile and wherever you go you stand a pretty good chance of being within range of a tower belonging to one or the other. The only drawback - if you want to call it that - to these two outfits is that you must use their phones. With other GSM providers you can simply use any unlocked phone and swap SIM cards, i.e. use a T-Mobile card in a Cingular phone.

aloha,
Gene



_________________________

Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati