Tips on finding the best cell phone plan and checking coverage. Includes the MyRatePlan cell phone rate plan comparison tool.
From: WWLP 22 News, Springfield, MA
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Straight Talk, a no-contract service that offers two of the cheapest cell phone plans currently available, announced this week that they have expanded their service to include the AT&T network. Previously, Straight Talk was exclusively running across the Verizon Wireless network. This change will expand the number of locations where Straight Talk is available, as there some locations not yet covered by Verizon.
If both AT&T and Verizon are available where you live, the network you use with Straight Talk will be dependent on the phone you choose. AT&T works on GSM technology, while Verizon uses CDMA, and the technology is not compatible.
How to Choose a Network
If you live in an area served by both carriers, the Straight Talk website will offer you phones from both carriers. However, if you know Verizon (or AT&T) has better coverage where you live, you will probably want to get a phone that works on the better network.
While not explicitly providing this information on their website, Straight Talk has made it easy to tell. Just look at the letter code at the end of the phone model. If it is a “G”, it is a GSM phone and will work over AT&T; if a “C” it is a CDMA phone and will work over Verizon. For example, the LG100C is a CDMA phone, while the LG620G is a GSM phone.
Straight Talk Plans
As mentioned earlier, Straight Talk has a couple very attractive rate plans, particularly if you are a fairly heavy voice user and also want to use text and data. For $30 a month, you get 1,000 voice minutes, 1,000 text messages and 30mb. of data. For $45/month, you get an unlimited allowance of all. Both plans include calls to 411 at no extra cost.
To make sure Straight Talk is best for you, compare it to other prepaid and no contract cell phone plans.
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This is the latest in our series of how to reduce your cell phone bill.
Do you call internationally (from the U.S.) on your cell phone? If you are using your cell phone provider for international long distance, you probably have run up some pretty significant bills. For example, calling France on AT&T is $1.49 per minute, while it is $3.49 a minute to India. One way to cut these costs is to see if your carrier has a monthly feature that offers reduced rates. AT&T has “World Connect” which, for $3.99/month, shaves quite a bit off these rates. Similarly priced programs are available with Verizon and Sprint. T-Mobile is $5/month.
To save even more, try a carrier bypass service. We work with a company called Enjoy Prepaid that has made the process rather simple. Basically, you purchase a calling card with some value on it (e.g., $20) and register it. Since it is registered, you won’t need to dial a PIN. There’s an access number you call, but that can be set up as a speed dial on your phone, meaning you only need to dial the phone number… just as if you were dialing directly. Call a landline in France or India for just a couple pennies a minute. (Calls to cell phones in foreign countries, whether with a calling card or directly with your carrier are usually at higher rates.)
If you want to try out Enjoy Prepaid or just check out the rates to where you call, click here. Use coupon code FRW15-943201586 by July 4 for 10% off your order.
A few other things to keep in mind as you consider your international long distance options
- Even if you make just one 3 minute international call a month, you’ll be better off with either of the two options above
- Enjoy Prepaid (and similar prepaid programs) are generally cheaper than even the discounted carrier rates. However, you should compare rates for the places you call the most. Make sure you compare the cost to both landline and wireless calls in those countries.
- The carrier wireless program fees are charged monthly, so if you don’t plan on making international calls for a while, remember to have the plan changed on your account or you’ll pay a monthly fee for no reason
- Enjoy Prepaid offers a number of different card programs. The lowest rates tend to round calls up by a couple minutes and may have a small weekly fee. In general, if you make short phone calls or make international calls infrequently, you should opt for the card with the least rounding and no fees. The longer your calls, and the more frequent, the more beneficial it will be to take the lower per minute rates.
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In a move that will eventually be copied (in some form) by other wireless (and possibly home broadband) providers, AT&T has moved to a tiered, usage-based data pricing for its smartphone devices.
The previous smartphone/iPhone/BlackBerry data plan, at $30 month, was for unlimited usage. Going forward (current customers are not required to switch), purchasers of the will be able to choose a 200 MB DataPlus plan for $15/month or 2 GB for $25/month. Those on the lower-priced plan who exceed their bucket will be charged $15 for an additional 200 MB. Those exceeding the bucket on the higher plan will receive an additional 1 GB of data for $10. All plans include unlimited AT&T Hot Spot access on Wi-Fi capable devices.
MyRatePlan Comments
- For light users of data (emails with no attachments, web browsing), there is an opportunity to save up to 50% on the prior cost of smartphone data. (AT&T claims 65% of its smartphone subscribers fall into this category). Since all other national carriers have a required smartphone data plan of about $30, AT&T may have an opportunity to poach some of those customers
- At the same time, by grandfathering in existing customers with the unlimited plan, AT&T reduces the risk that those people will defect. It is unclear if/when Verizon or another carrier will have the Apple iPhone, but this move may help AT&T retain those customers when the phone does become more widely.
- The overage pricing structure somewhat discourages taking the 200 MB plan, as the monthly cost doubles if that is exceeded. It is also somewhat punitive that any excess doesn’t roll over to subsequent months, as AT&T does with its Rollover voice minutes. If a user ends up going over their allowance two days before the end of the billing cycle, they will still be charged $15 even though it is unlikely they will utilized much of that data.
- For the heaviest 2% of users (those that AT&T says exceed 2 GB usage per month), the price for data will increase, perhaps sharply. For example, someone that uses between 5 and 6 GB per month, will now pay $65, more than 100% increase. As we mentioned earlier, existing smartphone customers can keep their unlimited $30 plan, so initially this will impact a small number of people. In fact, this may be a tacit effort to get prospective new customers who would tax their network to go somewhere else. At some point, when AT&T’s network fully catches up to the exponential use of data, we would expect the carrier to introduce at least one new high allowance tier, to be perceived as more welcoming to heavier users.
- The other quirky thing about the new data pricing is that AT&T is now the only carrier where a smartphone rate plan can be cheaper than a quick messaging phone rate plan. AT&T voice rate plans start at $39.99, making the lowest monthly cost on a smartphone plan $54.99 ($39.99 + $15 data plan). However, that minimum cost is $59.99 for quick messaging plans, as those require at least $20 of some combination of messaging and non-smartphone data plans. Given how profitable text messaging is for carriers, this non-competitive high minimum monthly cost (vs. other carriers) in this category is somewhat surprising.
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Dish Network announced today that, as of June 3, 2010, they will offer local channels in the 29 local markets they don’t currently serve. As of that date, they will provide local channels in all 210 television markets in the United States. The final 29 markets are:
Alpena, MI; Biloxi-Gulfport, MS; Binghamton, NY; Bluefield-Beckley, WV; Bowling Green, KY; Columbus, GA; Elmira, NY; Eureka, CA; Glendive, MT; Greenwood-Greenville, MS; Harrisonburg, VA; Hattiesburg-Laurel, MS; Jackson, TN; Jonesboro, AR; Lafayette, IN; Lake Charles, LA; Mankato, MN; North Platte, NE; Ottumwa-Kirksville, IA & MO; Parkersburg, WV; Presque Isle, ME; Salisbury, MD; Springfield-Holyoke, MA; St. Joseph, MO; Utica, NY; Victoria, TX; Watertown, NY; Wheeling-Steubenville, WV & OH; and Zanesville, OH. (Source: Dish Network press release).
The last time we checked, Dish offered HD channels in 157 of the 210 markets. To see whether HD locals are available in your market (and to compare to the offerings of DIRECTV), visit our local channel lookup page. By contrast, DIRECTV offered locals in about 155 markets, HD in 138 of those. These numbers are likely a bit higher now. In any case, HD local channels are available to the vast majority of Americans on both satellite providers.
When MyRatePlan began its side-by-side comparison of Dish Network and DIRECTV back in 2003, the two providers were just starting to carry local channels and the carriage at that time was limited to just the largest markets. This was one area that the cable companies had satellite beat. However, over the next few years, local channels were added to most markets, followed by the HD version of local channels in most locations.
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