Sorting through the critical mass of cell phone plans on clarkhoward.com

There's been so much press devoted to Apple's iPhone being lowered to $199 and beefed up with faster web-surfing capabilities. But here's the gotcha: The data plan is going from $20 to $30, with a 2-year contract required. So you'll actually wind up paying more than if you bought the iPhone when it was more expensive.

Meanwhile, Clark thinks there's a bigger telecommunications story that got wholly ignored: T-Mobile's new Family Time Unlimited plan. The upshot of this plan is that you can add additional lines for $49, which makes it perfect for small business and families. That includes unlimited calling, texting, IM and picture and video messaging.

There's no doubt that the trend is moving toward unlimited calling when it comes to cell phones. Metro PCS offers a family plan that's $100 total for 4 lines. That's perhaps the best deal in cities that Metro already serves.

Unless you're a heavy cell user, Clark advises you to skip the traditional Big 4 carriers and check out Net10.com. There's no monthly fee and all calls are 10 cents/minute. This is particularly great if you use under 300 minutes/month.

If you're between 300 and 1,500 minutes/month, T-Mobile may still be the best for you -- not AT&T, Verizon or Sprint. T-Mobile is the smallest of the Big 4 and has high customer satisfaction ratings.

What others are saying

Revol
revol offers unlimited talk and text for $47 or $74 for two phones. How does this stack up to other plans? I had a plan with cellular one who is now at&t but all of a sudden the service is awful (we have been with them I think for about 12 years) we had 1800 anytime minutes for $70 with 2 phones.
By Gary Grusha @ 06/19/08 02:08:48 PMreport abuse
Watch you T-Mobile phone more then your wallet
My son's phone was stolen in school. We contacted T-Mobile as soon as we discover it and they offered to suspend the line. My son's phone contract is within 3 months of expiration and after the thief raked almost $400 in charges in just 4 days, we decide not to renew that line. As it turns out you can only suspend a phone line for up to 30-day, something T-Mobile forgot to mention when I called them initially after reporting stolen phone.

After 30-days suspension, if the line is not activated it will be canceled and since I still have 3 more months on that line's contact, T-Mobile will charge me some $200 bucks for terminating the contract earlier. Now, this is clearly not the only option. In fact I was presented with 3 alternatives:

1. Buy a new SIM card for $22 to transfer the number to;
2. Transfer that line to someone else for only $35 (Sorry, can't recommend this service to anyone any longer)
3. Or buy a new phone.

As you can see T-Mobile could not care less about the customer because all the options you are given are designed to squeeze more money out of you.

So, the conclusion is clear --watch your phone more then your wallet out there, especially if you have T-Mobile.
By S. @ 06/17/08 08:57:48 PMreport abuse
iPhone plan
On top of the increase of the data plan this does not inculde any text messaging, that will cost you an additional $5 for just 200 text messages. So, thats $15 extra dallors a month with a new contract.
By cdavenport @ 06/12/08 03:05:04 PMreport abuse
Tracfone vs Net 10
Just trying to get the big difference between Tracfone and Net 10. With Tacfone everytime you add minutes it brings out your 90 days another 90 days, on a 60 minute or a 120 minutes prepaid. Net 10 is $30.00 for 300 minutes 60 days. Tracfone is about 120 minutes for 90 days. Does Net 10 do the same thing, by bring it out 60 on top of the 60 days you already have, just don't know.
By Guy @ 06/12/08 02:07:42 PMreport abuse
t-mobile pay per minute plan
My wife and i gave sprint the heave-ho last october and ported are numbers to t-mobile. we bought 2 new unlocked gsm razr phones on ebay for about $100 each. we are pretty low volume users and average about 100 minutes/month or less. You can buy a 1 year, 1,000 minute prepay card for about $90 on ebay or $100 directly from tmobile. so we pay about $200/year total for both phones. with sprint we paid about $800/year for two phones, constantly fought with them over billing issues,etc. T-mobile's pay per minute network is 97% of their postpaid network so the service works fine. we will absolutely never go back to postpaid service. never. if you are a low volume-especially less than 200 minute/month per phone user, tmobile is the best deal out there in most of the country with national prepaid calling.
By brian @ 06/11/08 06:48:51 PMreport abuse

Revol

revol offers unlimited talk and text for $47 or $74 for two phones. How does this stack up to other plans? I had a plan with cellular one who is now at&t but all of a sudden the service is awful (we have been with them I think for about 12 years) we had 1800 anytime minutes for $70 with 2 phones.

By Gary Grusha @ 06/19/08 02:08:48 PMreport abuse

Watch you T-Mobile phone more then your wallet

My son's phone was stolen in school. We contacted T-Mobile as soon as we discover it and they offered to suspend the line. My son's phone contract is within 3 months of expiration and after the thief raked almost $400 in charges in just 4 days, we decide not to renew that line. As it turns out you can only suspend a phone line for up to 30-day, something T-Mobile forgot to mention when I called them initially after reporting stolen phone.

After 30-days suspension, if the line is not activated it will be canceled and since I still have 3 more months on that line's contact, T-Mobile will charge me some $200 bucks for terminating the contract earlier. Now, this is clearly not the only option. In fact I was presented with 3 alternatives:

1. Buy a new SIM card for $22 to transfer the number to;
2. Transfer that line to someone else for only $35 (Sorry, can't recommend this service to anyone any longer)
3. Or buy a new phone.

As you can see T-Mobile could not care less about the customer because all the options you are given are designed to squeeze more money out of you.

So, the conclusion is clear --watch your phone more then your wallet out there, especially if you have T-Mobile.

By S. @ 06/17/08 08:57:48 PMreport abuse

iPhone plan

On top of the increase of the data plan this does not inculde any text messaging, that will cost you an additional $5 for just 200 text messages. So, thats $15 extra dallors a month with a new contract.

By cdavenport @ 06/12/08 03:05:04 PMreport abuse

Tracfone vs Net 10

Just trying to get the big difference between Tracfone and Net 10. With Tacfone everytime you add minutes it brings out your 90 days another 90 days, on a 60 minute or a 120 minutes prepaid. Net 10 is $30.00 for 300 minutes 60 days. Tracfone is about 120 minutes for 90 days. Does Net 10 do the same thing, by bring it out 60 on top of the 60 days you already have, just don't know.

By Guy @ 06/12/08 02:07:42 PMreport abuse

t-mobile pay per minute plan

My wife and i gave sprint the heave-ho last october and ported are numbers to t-mobile. we bought 2 new unlocked gsm razr phones on ebay for about $100 each. we are pretty low volume users and average about 100 minutes/month or less. You can buy a 1 year, 1,000 minute prepay card for about $90 on ebay or $100 directly from tmobile. so we pay about $200/year total for both phones. with sprint we paid about $800/year for two phones, constantly fought with them over billing issues,etc. T-mobile's pay per minute network is 97% of their postpaid network so the service works fine. we will absolutely never go back to postpaid service. never. if you are a low volume-especially less than 200 minute/month per phone user, tmobile is the best deal out there in most of the country with national prepaid calling.

By brian @ 06/11/08 06:48:51 PMreport abuse

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Jun 11, 2008 -- Sorting through the critical mass of cell phone plans

What others are saying