Why are phone plans so expensive?

[Lean L]

I'm currently on a family plan with att.

2 lines
700mins shared
200 txts on one
200mb data on the other

This shit adds up to around $120 a month? How have wireless telcos been able to continually rip everyone off like this?

What can I do to lower this?

 

[Juddog]

I'm currently on a family plan with att.

2 lines
700mins shared
200 txts on one
200mb data on the other

This shit adds up to around $120 a month? How have wireless telcos been able to continually rip everyone off like this?

What can I do to lower this?

3 choices:
* make your own company and try to compete
* continue paying the exorbitant fees
* not use one.

 

[Anubis]

This shit adds up to around $120 a month? How have wireless telcos been able to continually rip everyone off like this?

there are no other options thats how

 

[arch113]

Why are phone plans so expensive?

The cost of building/upgrading and maintaining thousands of towers plus the bandwidth cost of each tower cost $$$

 

[Lean L]

See I have no problem with paying for services that are somewhat inline with the price. I'm not getting that much pleasure from having a phone that I can call people and receive calls on...

Why are phone plans so expensive?

The cost of building/upgrading and maintaining thousands of towers plus the bandwidth cost of each tower cost $$$

Bandwidth costs? I can believe that 3g/4g costs money but 20c/text is a crime.

 

[spaceman]

coz verizon guy need braces

 

[Zebo]

Try the unlimited regional carriers cricket/metropcs/boost etc.

I think I pay $90 for 3 lines unlimited for my boys.

 

[TwiceOver]

If you can live without that 200mb data. StraightTalk would cover all that for $60/mo.

I can't believe what people pay for smartphones. I think the cheapest plan I can find is ~$70/mo from Sprint (which sucks around here). Other than that I couldn't find one for less than $90/mo.

 

[frostedflakes]

Well AT&T and Verizon are like the most expensive out there. At least for individual plans, family plans might be more reasonable compared to the competition. Smaller regional providers might be able to offer more competitive plans. But coverage will probably be worse, so that's the tradeoff.

 

[spaceman]

im waitin out this contract and its the last one ill sign
after 10yrs+ with the v im goin paygo in 2012 or sooner..if my etf prorates down enough to be worth it
i use some data,some minutes but it just aint worth it
+my droid reception sucks and verizon wont do a damn thing about it

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Prepaid (eg: mingowireless @ "$35 for 30 days - 1000 minutes - 1000 texts - 100 MB") or at the very least get away from AT&T (eg: boost mobile @ "$50 unlimited everything and no contract").

 

[gaidensensei]

Unlock a droid, iPod or whatever and use wifi only. Or reduce your 3G to edge and use tmo band phones. Add a messaging unlimited plan for all phones in the plan, available for families.

 

[HAL9000]

Holy fuck! That is expensive. It's not like that in the UK.

I pay £20pm for 800 Minutes, 500 Texts and Unlimited Data.

 

[Lean L]

Unlock a droid, iPod or whatever and use wifi only. Or reduce your 3G to edge and use tmo band phones. Add a messaging unlimited plan for all phones in the plan, available for families.

I already have a wifi only phone. Coverage is very limited though as implied.

Ideally it would look something like this:

2 lines
300mins
unlimited 4g for both

$85

Does that not seem reasonable for wireless internet? I would make calls through the internet and avoid paying for all those minutes completely.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

You may to get some sort of corporate discount depending on where you work. How much is the 200 MB and the 200 text?

 

[vi edit]

Unlock a droid, iPod or whatever and use wifi only. Or reduce your 3G to edge and use tmo band phones. Add a messaging unlimited plan for all phones in the plan, available for families.

Can you actually unlock an Iphone and use it on a verizon network? I'd love to do that for my wife and not worry about the $30/mth dataplan.

 

[dabuddha]

Go with a pay as you go plan. I switched from AT&T to Straight Talk (which uses the AT&T network) and I pay $45/ phone for unlimited everything.

 

[ponyo]

Google search Page Plus. Virgin Mobile. Yes, we're getting ripped off in the US.

 

[Lean L]

You may to get some sort of corporate discount depending on where you work. How much is the 200 MB and the 200 text?

Plan breaks down like this

700 min - $60
200txt - $5
200MB - $15
extra line -$10

That only adds up to $90... The rest are network charges and probably a few texts... This is crap.

 

[Patranus]

If starting a phone company is so easy/cheap, you are more than free to raise the capital and start your own low cost company.

 

[Brainonska511]

Cut back on the anytime minutes? Get rid of the 200MB data....

I can't believe all the people with smartphones. They seem terribly overrated and not worth the cost.

 

[Lean L]

Cut back on the anytime minutes? Get rid of the 200MB data....

I can't believe all the people with smartphones. They seem terribly overrated and not worth the cost.

Can't cut the data plan... iphone

Need the minutes. Usually the plan is 1400 minutes, it's cut back recently from rollover minutes.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

Can't cut the data plan... iphone

Need the minutes. Usually the plan is 1400 minutes, it's cut back recently from rollover minutes.

What about the text messages? Can you cut those?

 

[Soundmanred]

Why are you on a family plan?

 

[vi edit]

Cut back on the anytime minutes? Get rid of the 200MB data....

I can't believe all the people with smartphones. They seem terribly overrated and not worth the cost.

I couldn't give a shit about 3G data access. For me it was more the interface, apps and web browsing over wifi that I enjoy with the phone. I had to pay $30 a month for that convenience though. It beats carrying both a phone and an ipod though.