PREPAID CELL PHONE SERVICES
SUCH AS TRACFONE, ALLTEL, ATT WIRELESS, BOOST MOBILE, CINGULAR, i-WIRELESS, SIMPLE FREEDOM, T-MOBILE, VIRGIN MOBILE
Consumer guide to frugal living to long distance phone services
Including telephone, cell phone, telecommunications, telecom, definitions, glossary and how-to information
Original research and information © Copyright Savvy-Discounts.com 2005 except where noted
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Guide To Prepaid Cell Phone Services | Guide To Cell Phone Service Providers TERM: PREPAID CELL PHONE SERVICES EXAMPLES OF SERVICES: Tracfone, Alltel, ATT Wireless, Boost Mobile, Cingular, i-Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile
EXAMPLES OF CARDS TO RECHARGE A PREPAID CELL PHONE ACCOUNT: Easyspeak Prepaid Refill Card, Simple Freedom Wireless Airtime Card, ATT Free-2-Go Wireless Refill Card, Fastcard Airtime Refill, Virgin Mobile Top-Up Card, Verizon Wireless Pay-As-You-Go Free Up DEFINITION: A user pays for minutes in advance and cannot go over the allotted prepaid time. While most plans are calculated in minutes, the user is actually paying for two things at the same time: cell phone service and minutes for talking. Plans come with different conditions. Some may require that the user add more minutes each 30-90 days or the account will be deactivated. Another plan allows minutes to be used for an entire year before the account must be recharged with new minutes. HOW TO CALL: Calls are made in the traditional way with a cell phone. Dial the number and press send; also press end when finished to make sure that charges stop. With a prepaid cell phone service such as provided by TracFone, it provides a constant message on the LCD screen of the cell phone that informs the customer of the number of prepaid minutes remaining. COST: Costs will vary considerably depending on the number of minutes bought and how often the minutes are renewed. Minutes can be bought for as little as 10 cents a minute in quantity or 75 cents a minute for ones that are good for a year. Generally the more often minutes must be renewed the less the minutes will cost. While the per minute price with prepaid is more than that of a traditional cell phone plan, the per month charge can be considerably less if the prepaid cell phone is used only for short conversations and vital communications. NOTE: A minute is not always a minute. With prepaid cell phones, a minute has become a unit all by itself. For example, one company charges one minute for a minute of a local call and two minutes for a minute of a roaming call. BILLING/PAYMENT: The user pays for the phone and the minutes before using the service. EXAMPLE: Tracfone has monthly and yearly plans. A yearly plan bought online can run about $100 with a refurbished phone included and 100 minutes. Extra minutes which can be bought yearly are about $100 for 150 minutes or about $150 for 300 minutes. OTHER LINKS AT THIS SITE: === Product page - discount prepaid cell phone; no credit check, no annual contracts, no activation fees, no monthly bills, no age limits === Cell phone backup, prevent data loss, restore address book, prevent overage and roaming charges |