![]() ![]() Terms and prices may vary when long distance calls are made or when customers access another companys wireless network (roaming). Movida charges 50¢ per day and Verizon, 99¢ per day.Ĭustomers who travel a lot and use their phone on the road must shop carefully for a prepaid plan. Cingular, for instance, charges a $1 per day access fee with its 10¢ per minute plan. At Cingular, Movida and Verizon, users may have to pay a daily access fee on certain plans. Alltel and Verizon users pay $35 to activate their phones. Some companies charge extra activation and access fees. The per-minute rate falls to 10¢ if you pay $100 for 1,000 minuutes. For example, with the T-Mobile To Go monthly plan, you can buy 30 minutes for $10 with a per-minute rate of 33¢. The fewer minutes you purchase, the more you pay per minute. The lowest per-minute rates are for the most part offered with monthly payment plans. If you are really chatty, look for a plan that lets you reload minutes at a low price during the month if you run out, instead of a plan that charges you a much higher rate for additional minutes. ∿or people who just want a phone for emergencies, shoot for a rate of 10¢ per minute with the longest expiration policy you can find, she recommends. Sherry notes that it is almost impossible to directly compare rates because of factors including unlimited night and weekend minutes, free mobile-to-mobile calls, expiration periods, rollover minutes and other aspects of the market. ![]() (With some plans, a minute is called a unit.)ĬA found that rates vary depending on the amount of time you buy, whether the minutes are good for daytime or night/weekend calls or special promotions are in effect. The minutes are debited from your account every time you make a call. Most companies offer two types of prepaid plans: pay-as-you-go and monthly arrangements that require you to pay in advance for a certain number of minutes. Its striking how each plan has its own set of distinct rules. ![]() ∽ont ignore the fine print, said CAs Linda Sherry. Most plans require additional fees for roaming or extras like text messages and multimedia services. Many insist that you buy minutes each month to keep the service active. Prepaid wireless plans are not without conditions, however. The simplicity of pay-as-you-go plans is appealing, with no contracts and no credit checks. Prices even lower than 10¢ per minute were found, but they require a significant monthly commitment. CA found that the NET10 plan delivers a 10¢ rate with the fewest requirements. Rates of 10¢ per minute are commonbut most come with daily access fees, rapid expiration or other strings attached. In its new Prepaid Wireless Survey, Consumer Action (CA) looked at prepaid wireless plans offered by 12 companies and found that prepaid wireless is a viable option to postpaid plans in terms of price and services. Even the phones offered by prepaid companies are keeping step, with camera phones and personal digital assistants available for a price. The prepaid market, once reserved for low-income buyers or those with poor credit, now includes people who want to control costs. Now an alternative to this systemprepaid wirelessis growing in popularity. The cell phone industry has grown advertising postpaid calling plans to credit-worthy customers who enter one- or two-year contracts and pay monthly service fees for a predetermined number of minutes. Prepaid wireless has clear benefits-even if you have a good credit historyĬA finds many alternatives to postpaid cell plans Please note that you are prohibited from using CA's name or any reference to its surveys in advertising or for any other commercial purpose. Questions to ask about prepaid wireless.Consumer Action Prepaid Wireless Survey. ![]()
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