Why the hell are phone plans still so ridiculously expensive?

[Raziaar]

I hate this phone centric fad culture that we've cultivated. I'm trying to find some phones for incredibly light usage for phone and text, but am having absolutely no luck.

I'm trying to breach the market and find something reasonable that I can use, but everything I come across is so absolutely ridiculous that it makes me just continue to not bother. It feels like I'm stepping backwards in time when I have to deal with all these different plans and contracts and packages.

I'm at the point where I really need to get a cell phone for phone and texting usage(rarely, not interested in becoming a texting whore... I save myself for my PC), but I don't want to have to pay 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 or more dollars a month.

Sucks that I can't get a nice ****ing phone(I like gadgets) and not be stuck in some stupid ass data contract when in all reality I'd only use the internet parts of the phone where I could have a wi-fi connection.

Don't know how to continue with this. Need to get a phone, don't want to deal with this shit. How do you guys do it?

 

[Krynn72]

Need to get a phone, don't want to deal with this shit. How do you guys do it?

By dealing with this shit. $80 ****ing dollars a month for this bullshit. I was thinking about just dropping my plan to a shitty 400 minute, 500 texts plan and then "upgrading" my phone to a shittier one. Then I could just use my current smart phone as a mp3 player or something, maybe play pandora via wifi or something. I dont even know what functions a phone has left when it has no service though. And even if I do get a plan like that, its still 60 ****ing dollars a month.

But yeah, Verizon blows. I had AT&T before them and they blow. I guess I'll be trying T-Mobile next, and from there I'll just use burners. **** phones in this country. ****ing monopolized market despite having two major providers. They've pretty much got an unspoken deal in which they destroy any other company trying to improve service and costs, so that they can extort more money from their customers.

EDIT: ****, look at this shit. I looked up some lesser known phone companies and they're still bullshit.

Offering national GSM coverage through AT&T, Consumer Cellular's lowest-cost ($10) plan is strictly for the user who wants the comfort and accessibility a cell phone provides, but doesn't necessarily plan to make any calls. The low monthly fee doesn't include any minutes at all, and each minute used will cost 25 cents.

TEN DOLLARS A MONTH FOR NOTHING. TEN DOLLARS SO YOU CAN HAVE AN ACCOUNT FOR A SERVICE IN WHICH THEY PROVIDE NOTHING.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

There's a couple guys at my workplace that are pretty much broke, living paycheck to paycheck. They still eat out every other day for lunch and have these fancy unlimited data smartphones ($60/mo T-mobile I think). I thought the radio thing was awesome since it gets pretty much everything in the world. But I aint about to start paying that shit****load for no ****in radio, nuggah.

 

[Robbo]

TEN DOLLARS A MONTH FOR NOTHING. TEN DOLLARS SO YOU CAN HAVE AN ACCOUNT FOR A SERVICE IN WHICH THEY PROVIDE NOTHING.

I was thinking 'thats a bit harsh I'm sure they provide..... no wait they literally are charging you for nothing :S'

As for phone plans, I'm not sure how it works where you are but I can get a new iPhone for $25 a month with more calls and data included than I'm ever going to use.

 

[Krynn72]

With this phone, I literally can't go any cheaper. These are the options available to me. And I'm "lucky" too because I'm grandfathered in with a unlimited data plan for "only $29.99" which they're now charging $80+ for now. Are you ****ing kidding me?

 

[ríomhaire]

I have a top-up phone and if I pay €20 I get a month of "free" texts, calls and internet data. I can also use my phone as a modem. It's nice to have something cheaper than in the States.

 

[YROC]

I have that too, but in the states. It's about $38 a month, though. Infinitely better than any plan.

 

[Bad^Hat]

You don't have prepaid cards there? Or are those absurdly expensive too.

 

[Omnomnick]

They charge that much for one simple reason.

Because they can, modern society thinks it needs to be connected constantly, so people are willing to pay these stupid prices just to be able to go on Facebook on the train.

 

[dfc05]

You don't have prepaid cards there? Or are those absurdly expensive too.

We do. They are cheap. My family just has those Nokia phones you can get from Walgreens, and prepaid t-mobile cards from Walmart or wherever. I've heard that some stores have really good prepaid cards including texts -- I think Costco or Sam's Club?

I also hate how people are constantly paying a lot for new phones and TV. It'd be fine if they kept it to themselves, but I'll get derisive comments about things like my phone, my old digital camera (I rarely take pictures so what's the point in buying a new one), or having only basic TV without cable. One of my friends dragged her husband to get iPhones a couple years back not even because she "needed" it but because she wanted to be "modern," and as she tends to be nosy, she would constantly bug me about my phone all the time and tell me about all these new phone services that I don't want.

[edit] If you are using your phone a LOT, prepaid may not be cheaper.

 

[Warped Dan]

My girlfriend, her mom, her dad and I all went on a family plan. I am the Father so to speak when it comes time to pay the bills and make sure everyone is paying. My girlfriend and I pay around $50 a month with unlimited data while her parents pay around $35 each. All of us are happy. We got unlimited texts, nights and weekends free and 700 anytime minutes which we never even touch more than 30% of that total. Verizon is a great network and I'm starting to see the 4G signal most of the time so uploading pictures from anywhere is a breeze. I highly recommend getting some friends together or family members and doing the family plan. Its cheaper and just as easy

 

[Stylo]

The hell is with the US?

I pay £15 (like $24.19) every 2 months. I get 500 free texts and unlimited internet for the month I top-up and then I skip a month and use the Pay&Go credit - then rinse and repeat.

 

[Warped Dan]

how many minutes do you get? also is it a smartphone?

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Yeah what is it exactly that you want cowman? Sounds like you said you want a regular mobile phone with texting ability but then complain about smartphones.

I have what they call a 'feature phone' which has little things like a notepad, drawing pad, alarm clock, and slideout keyboard for texting. But smartphones are the ****s that you get the data charges for downloading apps, surfing the net, etc. Smartphones are those android/iphone things.

 

[sinkoman]

I got lucky. When I worked at Slaveway, they offered an AMAZING deal off of my cellphone plan. 20% off my monthly bill and all phones/accessories, for as long as I stay with Verizon. I quit about a year ago, but I still get the discount.

 

[Raziaar]

Yeah what is it exactly that you want cowman? Sounds like you said you want a regular mobile phone with texting ability but then complain about smartphones.

I have what they call a 'feature phone' which has little things like a notepad, drawing pad, alarm clock, and slideout keyboard for texting. But smartphones are the ****s that you get the data charges for downloading apps, surfing the net, etc. Smartphones are those android/iphone things.

I'm complaining about smart phones because it seems that the providers require that you have a data plan if you have a smartphone. I don't want internet connection from the phone company's phone plan, I want it from wi-fi internet spots at my work, businesses, or my home.

what I want is minutes every month for emergency calls(not many at all), and the ability to send a few hundred texts a month.

 

[MJ12]

I use T-Mobile. Not great either, but whatever. Bought a standard QWERTY style texting phone. Much less computer dependent now.

I don't talk on the phone enough, so I just get the unlimited texting plan ($15 dollars a month) and add between $10-$15 dollars worth of "talk-minutes" every two months. Works well enough for me. If I am going to have a real conversation.... I just skype.

 

[Krynn72]

Yeah, I think im going to switch to T-Mobile. I do use data quite often, but if I switch to T-mobile I can get unlimited texts (rather than my current 500) and still get unlimited data, but for ~$20 cheaper. The only thing is they throttle my speed after 2gb data, but I think thats ok, because I dont think I use much more than that each month anyways. Also I suspect Verizon does it to me even though they don't say they do.

 

[Stylo]

I hardly ever call people. Although people ring me a fair bit. I just prefer texting. Plus, being in a rock band has made me slightly more deaf than average so if it's noisy around me, I struggle to hear phone conversation. :|

 

[sixteenth]

I really need to get rid of AT&T. They are overcharging me for a service that doesn't actually work. I have a grandfathered iPhone unlimited plan that's nearing it's 2-year mark. I'm not going to sign another 2-year agreement. **** that. I love my iPhone, but can't take AT&T's service. I'll probably go on over to Verizon...

Here's my beef with AT&T: Sure, their 3G can be faster in portions of the country when compared to other networks. But, THE RESPONSE TIME/PINGING IS ****ING RIDICULOUSLY LONG IT DOESN'T MATTER. I take public transit everyday, and when not reading I like to occasionally browse Reddit, here, Google News, etc. It is completely impossible with the pinging rate on AT&T's network. Once I finally connect, I download pages fast as ****, but the initial connection sometimes takes up to 5 minutes. I live in the middle of a populated city, goddamn't. There are spots all over Chicago where you will literally never get a response.

 

[Mogi67]

I'm complaining about smart phones because it seems that the providers require that you have a data plan if you have a smartphone. I don't want internet connection from the phone company's phone plan, I want it from wi-fi internet spots at my work, businesses, or my home.

what I want is minutes every month for emergency calls(not many at all), and the ability to send a few hundred texts a month.

So get an unlocked or used phone off the internet and then deactivate the 3G. There you go

 

[sixteenth]

So get an unlocked or used phone off the internet and then deactivate the 3G. There you go

Doesn't matter. My father tried to do the same thing. It may be different for other carriers, but AT&T recognized that it was a smart phone, remotely, after he disabled 3G and inserted his SIM. They automatically started charging him a "smartphone data plan" that month. Worst part is, they didn't even tell us. We found out during the next billing cycle.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

With a family plan AT&T gives us a pretty damn good plan in terms of unlimited text/talk for everyone. Data caps are high enough too, so long as you don't actually stream several movies in a row on 3G (lol). Though, as soon as I'm too old to be on the family plan, I'll probably go to U.S. Cellular for their rollover minutes and the best prices on the basics.

Buying data roaming wasn't as bad as I thought it would be either, and I used the map features everywhere in London. Worth the cost.

But generally speaking, yeah, cellular services cost an arm and a leg--it sucks ass.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

I guess you want a sort of pay as you go phone but as a smartphone. Can't say I know of any though (I think I'd like that too).

 

[Mimsta]

I don't really know what phone plans are like in the States/internationally, but I'm in Canada and I've got a $25 monthly plan that gives me unlimited texting, unlimited weekends and evenings starting from 5 PM, and 150 daytime minutes. Since I'm on a 2 year contract, my Android phone only cost me about 30 bucks. It's great even without the data plan because I can still use wifi at home or on campus. This is starting to sound way too much like a phone ad so I'll stop.

 

[Sulkdodds]

Is there no such thing as a PAYG phone in the US?

You guys do sound like you get a bit ****ed for prices, though. As a journalism student who likes to phone and text people to alleviate boredom on walks or long train journeys, and who needs to phone people regularly in the course of my work, I have realized very quickly that a monthly plan will always be cost effective for me. If I have a PAYG phone (as I did for the first couple weeks) my spending is unavoidably enormous. So I found a cheap deal on a refurbished middle-range HTC and get just about enough minutes, waaay more than enough texts and a surprisingly generous data allowance for £15 per month.

 

[Ennui]

I pay $60 a month for unlimited calls, text, and 3G data transfer... and that plan is actually grandfathered, and now for the same price I would have significantly capped data since as far as I understand it Verizon doesn't offer unlimited plans anymore.

The reason prices for cell service are so high here in the US is because people will pay for it and there are a small number of companies that have a virtual monopoly on the market and telecommunications infrastructure. Same reason that internet access is so absurdly overpriced here too. There are cheaper options though, pay as you go phones and prepaid plans for people who don't spend their lives constantly using their phone.

 

[sixteenth]

I just got a new post-grad job with an excellent salary, so I'm switching off my parents plan (finally) and going with Verizon. **** YOU AT&T. I'M DONE WITH YOUR CRUMMY SHIT SERVICE. I'M MOVING UP IN THE WORLD, BITCHES.

Or should I wait a few months for the new iPhone...

 

[Krynn72]

I just got a new post-grad job with an excellent salary, so I'm switching off my parents plan (finally) and going with Verizon. **** YOU AT&T. I'M DONE WITH YOUR CRUMMY SHIT SERVICE. I'M MOVING UP IN THE WORLD, BITCHES.

Or should I wait a few months for the new iPhone...

I went to Verizon because I didnt like AT&T, and honestly there is no difference between the two. Thats why I plan on switching to T-Mobile as soon as this contract is up. Got to find a company worth supporting.

 

[MFL]

Not that there is an alternative, but the price for SMS messaging (texting), is so ridiculously overpriced that I'm amazed that essentially no one has raised a ruckus about it yet. Quite frankly, that service has the single highest ratio of price vs. cost to perform in the entire god damn world. Think about it. You are literally using only a couple dozen bytes of data. Plus a little bit of metadata for their routing. That is so not a lot as to be laughable. And you all pay 15 dollars a month and more to transmit it UNLIMITED. It's a freaking joke. Over the course of typing this, I downloaded more data than I could transmit in a year of straight texting. If it were to cost the same per byte as texting transmission, well, it would run me thousands upon thousands of dollars. And all of that, every bit, would be profit to the phone companies.

 

[Dynasty]

I'm currently on £15 ($25?) a month in the UK. Unlimited texts, 300 minutes and a 500mb limit on my data usage.

I dont use my minutes up as most people call me, and I keep my data usage low by keeping 3G off until I want it on, and then I use Opera to reduce my usage on websites significantly.

I dont know if its the same in the US, but you HAVE to banter. You have to make them give you an option YOU want at the price YOU want. If you're going in saying ''I want the latest phone for $10'', dont expect a positive response of course.

I was paying £30 a month with the latest Blackberry a few years back. I moved overseas, I wanted to reduce my bill as I wouldnt be using it. I walked into Vodafone, said I was moving overseas and didnt want to be wasting £30 a month on a phone I'm not using, and they OFFERED me a £15 reduction. Sweet.

Make something up and they'll reduce your bill.

Banter with them and its amazing what you can get thrown in.

 

[Krynn72]

When I was calling to cancel my AT&T account they offered me some decent proposals if I recall correctly. I think if you wait until you contract ends and then call to cancel they offer decent price reducing deals. I cant remember how good they were exactly though since I didnt really care (the cost wasnt why I was cancelling). I'm going to be cancelling my Verizon account in the next two months, so I'm sure it will happen again.

 

[Raziaar]

Hmmm... I'm taking a look at virgin mobile beyond talk plan right now.

Seems pretty good. $35 a month for unlimited text, data(not really though), and 300 minutes.

http://www.virginmobileusa.com/cell-phone-plans/beyond-talk-plans.jsp