Prepaid wireless plans compared
Choosing a wireless phone provider can be a daunting task. There are many providers, each with a dizzying array of service plans. The task gets even more complex if you are shopping for prepaid wireless service.
Before you purchase prepaid service, or wireless service at all, you should ask a few questions.
First off, you need to find out which providers offer coverage in the areas in which you will use your phone. Many providers’ prepaid plans offer only digital service, with no analog service available when traveling in rural areas. If you travel a lot, or live in the country, your choices narrow considerably. Check the coverage maps provided by each wireless carrier you’re considering to ensure that the areas you need will have coverage.
Second, you need to consider how much you plan to use the phone, and how much you’re willing to pay for the service. Prepaid service is usually more expensive than traditional postpaid service, though you can find some bargains, and I’ll highlight a few of them below.
With those in mind, let’s take a look at some prepaid service plans. The prices and offers shown below were confirmed as of September 19, but wireless carriers are always changing things, so be sure to verify that an offer is still valid before making a purchase.
Verizon Wireless
The INpulse prepaid service plan from Verizon Wireless costs $0.99 per day and $0.10 per minute for domestic anytime calls. The plan includes unlimited nights (9:01 pm to 5:59 am) and unlimited IN calling to other Verizon Wireless subscribers. It does not include unlimited weekends, and text messaging is $0.05 per message. This plan allows analog roaming outside the coverage area for $0.69 per minute. The INpulse plan requires purchase of specific phones at full price, and has an activation fee ranging between $0 to $35, but include $50 of initial airtime credit. Refill minutes expire in as little as 30 days. The INpulse coverage area varies depending on the model of phone purchased. Tri-mode phones have the largest coverage area where you won’t pay the $0.69 per minute roaming charges, or can use the service at all.
Verizon Wireless also offers an EasyPay service in limited areas, which more closely resembles traditional wireless service plans. One gives 350 anytime minutes per month, unlimited nights and weekends and unlimited IN network calling for $50 per month, and the other gives 700 minutes per month, unlimited nights and weekends and unlimited IN network calling for $70 per month. Text messaging is $0.10 per message, and most phones can be used. These plans use the same phones as regular Verizon Wireless subscribers, and the purchase price for phones is the same as the one-year contract price for postpaid subscribers.
Cingular Wireless
Cingular Wireless offers GoPhone service with two payment options, each with several options of their own. Both require the use of specific GoPhone phones.
First, the Pay As You Go plan has two options: either pay $0.25 per minute for all of your calls, or pay $1.00 daily access — but only on days you use your phone — and $0.10 per minute, with unlimited calling to all other Cingular Wireless subscribers (but you still pay the $1.00 daily access). Text messaging is $0.05 per message. Prepaid cards of $25 or more expire in 90 days, and unused balances roll over.
Second, the Pick Your Plan plan offers more traditional service, starting at $29.99 per month, which includes 200 minutes, and overage is $0.15 per minute. Higher service plans offer more minutes and less for overage. Text messaging is $0.05 per message. At the $39.99 per month plan, night and weekend minutes are offered, and at the $69.99 plan, unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling is available.
On both plans, a dual-mode phone is required for maximum coverage area.
T-Mobile
T-Mobile only offers GSM service in the U.S., so its coverage area is the most limited of all the major wireless providers.
T-Mobile prepaid service costs as little as $10.00 for 30 days, or $25.00 for 90 days, giving 30 or 130 minutes each. Subscribers who spend at least $100 over the lifetime of their accounts are upgraded to Gold Member status, where each refill gives additional minutes. Text messaging is $0.10 per message sent, and received messages are free.
T-Mobile also now has prepaid service for its Sidekick data device. For $1.00 per day you receive unlimited data transfer and messaging, and pay only $0.15 per minute for any calls made. The Sidekick II is $279.99 after mail-in rebate on this plan.
Sprint Nextel (Sprint PCS)
Unlike most other providers, Sprint does not offer prepaid plans. Instead, in most markets Sprint offers what it calls an account spending limit. Customers who don’t pass a credit check will be offered regular service plans with an account spending limit of $125. If the balance of your account exceeds $125, or your Sprint bill becomes past due, your service will be cut off until the balance is less than $125 or made current. Nextel plans may require a deposit of up to $100. Sprint Nextel Fair & Flexible plans start at $29.99 per month for 200 minutes, or $34.99 for 400 minutes, and add $5 for each additional 100 minutes used in a month. The plans are available on both Sprint and Nextel phones.
Other Services
The venerable TracFone service has been around for years, and may be a good choice for people who need a phone for limited use or emergencies only.
Virgin Mobile, while it caters to the younger crowd, may also be useful for those who want a phone for limited use of less than 100 minutes a month.
If you expect to use 300 minutes or more a month, another option may be Net 10 Wireless, which charges only $0.10 per minute for all U.S. calls.
Which one is right for you?
If maximum coverage is what you need, because you live in a rural area or travel extensively to or through rural areas, then Verizon Wireless or Cingular would be your best bets. If you rarely travel outside urban areas, you may do better with a T-Mobile or Sprint PCS plan.
If you plan to use the phone extensively, or if you find your usage moderate to heavy, but hard to predict from month to month, consider the Sprint PCS Fair & Flexible plan, the Cingular Pick Your Plan plan, or the Verizon Wireless EasyPay plan, if available in your area.
On the other hand, if you only want a phone for emergencies, and will use it rarely or never in other circumstances, the Cingular Pay As You Go plan or the T-Mobile plan may be best for you, depending on how much and where you travel. If you travel outside of the areas covered by T-Mobile, then choose Cingular.
