Comparing  The Provider Plans And  Find Your Best Prepaid Wireless  Phones

There is a buzz about prepaid wireless phones nowadays and everyone seems to have these.  Some  people think  it’s  a great way to cut off  their phone bill every month.  Possibly the best thing about prepaid wireless phones is what it doesn’t have. There are no contracts to sign, no monthly bills, no long-term commitments, no credit checks, no age limit and no hidden fees. These features are what make prepaid wireless phone so attractive.

prepaid-wireless-phone

But actually sometimes prepaid cell phone can stop you or your family members from wasting money. With prepaid wireless plans, you’re going to pay as you go along. So you know how much you are spending. Ideal candidates for prepaid services include people who use their phones rarely to call friends or family when they are out and about or who only own a cell phone because they think they may need it for an emergency. Also prime candidates for prepaid services, especially for plans specific to text messaging. There are three important things to compare when you look at prepaid plans. Those are refill requirements, cost per minute and fixed costs.

So, it is important to do some research before you choose your prepaid wireless phones provider. I have already done this research for  a complete and detailed summary of the main prepaid cell phones  providers, their refill requirements, costs per minute and fixed costs. These are for you

Source :  http://news.cnet.com

Verizon InPulse

It offers a wide range of post-paid options. And it has recently updated its prepaid service options, which include pay-as-go and pay-per-day options.

Who is it good for? Verizon’s InPulse plan is good for consumers who use their phone occasionally and don’t text much and for people who don’t care about cool, feature-rich phones.

Pros: Great network coverage and reliable service.

Cons: Available only on a handful of phones (no smartphones available); expensive compared to other plans, roaming charges apply in the areas where Verizon Wireless isn’t available, and a $25 activation may apply in some areas.

Pay as you go: Users are charged 25 cents per minute of talk time. Money can be added in various increments, but those increments vary in terms of expiration.

Pay per day: These day plans allow users to pay only for service only on the days they use their phone. There are three tiers of service. For $1 a day, It’s also 10 cents to send and receive text messages. The $2-a-day plan offers unlimited calling to other Verizon subscribers and unlimited calls on nights and weekends. Calls to non-Verizon subscribers during peak times costs 5 cents a minute. And texting is 5 cents per message. The $4 a day plan offers unlimited calling to anyone, anytime

Multimedia and picture messaging is 25 cents across all plans.

Roaming charges are 20 cents per minute

Can get unlimited texting for $20 a month or for $10 a month users get unlimited in-network texting plus 250 additional text messages to anyone.

Phones: Only a limited number of Verizon handsets are offered for the InPulse service.

AT&T GoPhone

It offers several post-paid services and exclusive phones, such as Apple’ iPhone. It also offers pay-as-you-go, pay-per-day and monthly prepaid service options all with no contract.

Who is it good for? AT&T’s GoPhone plans are good for occasional cell phone and text message users.

Pros: Great network coverage, reliable service, includes rollover minutes.

Cons: Limited number of handsets for prepaid service, a better value than Verizon, but pricey compared to other prepaid services.

Pay as you go: AT&T also offers users the ability to put money in their prepaid account and pay 25 cents per minute.

Pay per day: For $3 per day users can make unlimited calls to any domestic caller for 24 hours

Text messages on these plans cost 20 cents to send and receive, but users can buy packs of messages. Multimedia messages cost 25 cents a pop.

Users are charged $0.01 per kilobyte for mobile Web usage.

Monthly plans: Users can also pick a plan starting at $30 a month for 250 voice minutes. Calls are charged 15 cents after that. Overage charges are 13 cents per minute. The $50 a month plan offers 400 anytime minutes, 3,000 nights and weekend minutes, and unlimited mobile-to-mobile calls. Overage charges on this plan cost about 12 cents a minute. And the $70 a month plan includes 650 anytime minutes, unlimited nights and weekends, and unlimited mobile-to-mobile calls.

Phones: AT&T only offers a very limited number of phones for its prepaid service, which don’t include any smartphones. But the carrier offers refurbished phones at a big discount

Boost mobile

It offers pay as you go, pay per day, and a monthly unlimited plan.

Who is it good for? Boost Mobile has typically catered to the young urban market.

Pros: Phones offer lots of features; service options suit almost anyone; walkie-talkie service offered.

Cons: Pricey handsets that are not subsidized.

Pay as you go: Users can add as much money as they like, Texting costs 10 cents a message to send and receive, and it costs 25 cents to send and receive MMS messages.

Multimedia messaging is 25 cents per message, and it costs 35 cents a day to access the mobile Web.

Monthly unlimited plan: The Boost Unlimited plan is $50 per month and comes with unlimited voice minutes, unlimited text, unlimited MMS, unlimited walkie-talkie, and unlimited mobile Web access all day long any day of the week

Phones: Boost Mobile offers a wide range of phones that have lots of different features

T-Mobile USA

it offers pay-as-you-go, pay-per-day, monthly plans, as well as a special texting plan for Sidekick users.

Who is it good for? The FlexPay plan is good for consumers who don’t want a contract

Pros: Easy to use starter kits available, minutes roll over as long as the account is refreshed within 90 days.

Cons: No mobile Web services.

Pay as you go: T-Mobile offers four tiers of refill cards

Pay per day: For $1 a day, users get unlimited night minutes starting at 7 p.m., and unlimited mobile-to-mobile minutes

Monthly plan: T-Mobile’s FlexPay plan allows users to choose from among T-Mobile’s most popular post-paid calling plans, but users only pay for them on a prepaid basis

Sidekick: T-Mobile has a special plan for the popular Sidekick, which costs $1 per day for unlimited text messaging, e-mail, and Web browsing. And calls cost 15 cents per minutes.

Texting rates apply across all the plans, except the Sidekick plan, and texts cost 10 cents to send a message and 5 cents to receive a message in the U.S. and Canada. Messages are 35 cents to send and 5 cents to receive messages from anywhere else.

Mobile Web services are not available.

Phones: T-Mobile’s pay-as-you-go and pay-per-day services don’t include all of its hottest phones.

Virgin Mobile USA

Virgin Mobile USA is a mobile virtual network operator that uses Sprint’s CDMA network to offer pay-as-you-go plans, monthly, and unlimited monthly plans, and a special deal for heavy texters.

Who is it good for? from occasional talkers to hardcore texters and chatters.

Pros: Wide array of service offerings, including a new pink slip plan that will pay the cost of a monthly service for up to three months when subscribers lose their jobs.

Cons: The $50 unlimited plan is cheaper than most contract plans from the large carriers, but offers fewer features than the Boost Mobile Unlimited plan.

Pay as you go: Virgin Mobile’s pay as you go plans allow users to buy a certain bucket of minutes in various denominations. The first bucket offered costs $20 and gives users 200 minutes of talk time. The $30 plan offers 400 minutes. And the $50 plan offers 1,000 minutes

Monthly plans : Virgin Mobile offers a monthly plan that starts at $30 a month for 300 minutes of anytime talk time and 1,000 minutes of night time calling

Unlimited Monthly: Virgin Mobile also offers a few different texting plans. For an additional $5 a month, users get 1,000 free text messages and for $10 a month they get unlimited text messaging.

Text-messaging rates are 15 cents to send and receive messages.

Each service charges 10 cents a minute for talk time.

Phones: Virgin Mobile has a wide range of phones available, with some starting as low as $10. There are no smartphones included in the lineup but there are two phones that offer a full QWERTY keypad.

MetroPCS

is a regional wireless carrier that offers only flat-rate, unlimited monthly plans.

Unlimited monthly plan: For $30, users get unlimited local calling. The $35 plan offers unlimited local and long distance calling. For $40 a month, users get unlimited local and long distance calling plus unlimited text messaging. The $45 plan also includes Web access and picture messaging. And for $50 a month, users can get unlimited local and long distance calling, unlimited text and multimedia messaging, unlimited Web access, and unlimited e-mail and AOL Instant Messenger. This premiere unlimited service also includes unlimited use of location-based service Loopt as well as access to a navigation service.

Text messaging, picture messaging, and mobile Web access is not available with the $30 basic plan.

Phones: MetroPCS offers a wide range of phones including the Blackberry Curve, which costs $449.

Cricket

Cricket is a regional wireless carrier owned by Leap Wireless that offers flat-rate unlimited monthly plans as well as a pay-as-you-go service. It also offers 3G broadband wireless service for laptops.

Pay as you go: Cricket offers three pay-as-you-go plans, which it calls PAYgo. The $1 a day plan offers unlimited local calling for the day. The $2 a day plan offers unlimited local and long-distance calling and unlimited texting. And for $3 a day, users can get unlimited calling, texting, and mobile Web access.

Monthly plans:The $30 a month plan offers unlimited local calling, but roaming or long-distance minutes are not included. The $45 a month plan includes unlimited local and long-distance calling plus unlimited texting and multimedia messaging. The $50 per month plan offers everything in the $45 a month plan plus unlimited mobile Web access and 30 free minutes of roaming. Cricket also offers a $60 a month Cricket Nation 200 plan that offers everything in the $50 plan and 200 free roaming minutes.

Wireless broadband: Cricket offers a $40 a month 3G wireless broadband service.

TRACFONE

Tracfone is a nationwide prepaid-only service that offers both pay-as-you-go plans and monthly service plans.

pros: Cheap pay-as-you-go phones; simple plans; minutes carry over, as long as users add more minutes at least every three months

Cons: Pricey for big talkers. And the texting rates are difficult to understand, no mobile Web access.

pay as you go:Tracfone offers a traditional pay-as-you-go service that allows users to buy refill cards to top up their phones. A $30 card offers 120 minutes of talk time.

Monthly plans Tracfone also offers monthly plans, and for $10 a month users get 50 minutes of talk time. A $20 a month plan offers 100 minutes of talk time, and a $30 a month plan give users 150 minutes of talk time. With certain phones, users are charged 0.3 units to send text messages. Receiving text messages is free.

Phones: Tracfone offers a wide range of low-cost and simple phones starting at $10. U.S. Celluar is a regional cell phone operator offering both prepaid and post-paid service in 26 states. Pros: Monthly and pay as you go services available.

U.S CELLULAR

Pros: Cheap pay-as-you-go phones; simple plans; minutes carry over, as long as users add more minutes at least every three months.

Cons: There are no pay per minute plans. All Talk Tracker plans mimic traditional cell phone service plans offered via US Cellular except that they require no credit check or monthly contract to get service.

Pay as you go:Tracfone offers a traditional pay-as-you-go service that allows users to buy refill cards to top up their phones.

Incoming text messages are free and outgoing messages are 25 cents. US Cellular also offers texting bundles. For $5 a month users can get 250 free text messages and $10 a month gets users 750 text messages. Unlimited texting costs $15. Mobile Web access isn’t available.

Monthly Plans: U.S. Cellular offers four basic monthly calling plans. The $45 a month plan offers 350 anytime minutes. Incoming text messages are free and outgoing messages are 20 cents. Unlimited texting costs $15. Mobile Web access aren’t available.

Phones:The phone selection is very limited for prepaid phones.