Best Phone Packages (Grant: to buy, college, subsidized)

[Beenhere4ever]

Watching a group of three people today on the LRT made me wonder what are some of the best phone packages in Minnesota. They all got off a plane and were busy for the whole trip catching up on stuff on their smart phones. I did think of disturbing their telephonic reverie to ask what they paid a month, but I decided not to. Did think "I could post it on City-Data to see what people are doing". So many smart phones o ut there now, and the people focused on them don't all look like corporate types.

[xandrex]

It's certainly not just corporate people anymore. Over 50 percent of cell phone users now have a smartphone. As for the best plans...well...it's a bit like deciding who is the best person to hack off your leg. They're all pretty expensive, really.

[golfgal]

I agree, packages are just expensive. I would say that 90% of our kids' friends all have smartphones. I have one too. Most of our friends have one as well.

We use Verizon because they have the best coverage in our area.

[xandrex]

It was really shocking when I studied abroad in the fall of 2011. I was in England and listening to people talk about the price they paid on their phones. It was ridiculously low. Many were on contracts where they got the subsidy for the phone like we do, but paid just a fraction. I think most of my friends there with smartphones were paying about $45 a month for everything. Their data was a bit more capped, but WiFi was ridiculously universal (I couldn't believe how many networks would pop up in any given area) so you could hop on those.

I'm on AT&T here and don't have any issues. I'm still on my family's plan as I was in college when I last upgraded, but it seems an individual plan for me is going to run somewhere in the range of $90+ every month. Yikes.

[1stpontiac]

Originally Posted by xandrex

It was really shocking when I studied abroad in the fall of 2011. I was in England and listening to people talk about the price they paid on their phones. It was ridiculously low. Many were on contracts where they got the subsidy for the phone like we do, but paid just a fraction. I think most of my friends there with smartphones were paying about $45 a month for everything. Their data was a bit more capped, but WiFi was ridiculously universal (I couldn't believe how many networks would pop up in any given area) so you could hop on those.

I'm on AT&T here and don't have any issues. I'm still on my family's plan as I was in college when I last upgraded, but it seems an individual plan for me is going to run somewhere in the range of $90+ every month. Yikes.

On the flip side, T-mobile is going to try the non-subsized route....you'll be able to buy the iPhone for their system for ~$600, but then you'll get an unlimited talk, text, and data (2GB at high-speed) for something like $50/mo. Might be a nice option if you can live without upgrading your phone every year (or find somewhere else cheaper to get them).

[Kebinminn]

Originally Posted by 1stpontiac

On the flip side, T-mobile is going to try the non-subsized route....you'll be able to buy the iPhone for their system for ~$600, but then you'll get an unlimited talk, text, and data (2GB at high-speed) for something like $50/mo. Might be a nice option if you can live without upgrading your phone every year (or find somewhere else cheaper to get them).

I'm not sure with T-mobile specifically but with some of these prepaid smartphone plans you can bring your own unlocked phone and then just pay for the SIM card which is a buck or two.

[xandrex]

Originally Posted by 1stpontiac

On the flip side, T-mobile is going to try the non-subsized route....you'll be able to buy the iPhone for their system for ~$600, but then you'll get an unlimited talk, text, and data (2GB at high-speed) for something like $50/mo. Might be a nice option if you can live without upgrading your phone every year (or find somewhere else cheaper to get them).

I've heard of this, but I wonder if it will get much traction. T-Mobile is dead last in subscriptions and I don't know what could be done to boost their numbers. Americans are programmed to like their discount and likely don't realize they're paying a fee to make up for that subsidy every month.

I'd probably go the unsubsidized route if it weren't for the fact that it's T-Mobile offering it. Their network still lags behind the others and it'll be quite a while before they roll out LTE coverage.

The prepaid companies of the world offer good value, but you typically have to either to deal with their limited selection of phones or bring an unlocked phone (with the most popular phones such as the iPhone locked to networks AT&T).

[Beenhere4ever]

Originally Posted by golfgal

I agree, packages are just expensive. I would say that 90% of our kids' friends all have smartphones. I have one too. Most of our friends have one as well.

We use Verizon because they have the best coverage in our area.

This what makes me wonder. I ride transit all the time. What I see a lot of is every kid with a smart phone and most IMMIGRANTS with one. I'm struggling to figure out the economics. With the immigrants, I'm figuring that's the only phone service they have. Centurylink land service isn't that cheap anymore, which may help sell the smartphone who don't want two phone numbers.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by 1stpontiac

On the flip side, T-mobile is going to try the non-subsized route....you'll be able to buy the iPhone for their system for ~$600, but then you'll get an unlimited talk, text, and data (2GB at high-speed) for something like $50/mo. Might be a nice option if you can live without upgrading your phone every year (or find somewhere else cheaper to get them).

That is pretty much what ATT and Verizon have now too. You get a base plan for however many phones and add whatever data you want to the plan. We have 6 people on our plan, 5 smartphones with 8GB of Data. Each phone after the basic plan is only $9.99 but then you pay extra for the data too. It's expensive no matter what you do .

[1stpontiac]

I've avoided going the smartphone route so far because I'm sure once I do, it would feel impossible to go without. And our simple, dumbphone talk-only plan is only $60/mo for 2 phones.