by Rex Trulove

Created on: July 29, 2010

It would be simple to say that a prepaid cell phone is a cell phone that is paid for in advance, and without signing up for a contract to do it. This defines what a prepaid cell phone plan is, but it doesn't tell a person much about the phones nor the plan itself.

There are plenty of misconceptions about both the phones and the service. Part of the reason is that at one time, those beliefs may have been true. They often aren't true anymore.

Among the first to offer the prepaid service were the cellular phone service providing giants: Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T. Since these companies derive a great deal of revenue from contract plans, they purposely trimmed the service a little for prepaid services. This encourages people to graduate to a full plan, on contract. It only stands to reason, since this is where they make the majority of the cell service money.

This means that the phones were often quite basic, and the plans often didn't cover things like roaming and text messaging, without additional charge. Many phones and plans didn't even allow for Internet connection. This made them fine for most emergencies, but not much else.

Things have certainly come a long way in a short time. There are now companies catering to the prepaid side of the cell phone business. Some of these do so almost exclusively. A single example is a company called Straight Talk.

Their phones are modestly priced, ranging from about $39 to a little over $100. The phones are comparable in quality to cell phones costing far more from a major carrier. Most are Internet capable, can be used to send text messages, and come with a charger. Some feature a large screen and keypad, to make texting easier. Many are also blackberry enabled.

As with those offered by the big companies, a compatible phone is required in order for the plan to work. However, it is the plan where the biggest difference is seen.

An inexpensive plan can cost $30 a month, and this includes 1000 minutes of airtime minutes, including texting and limited downloads, though 411 calls are free. So far, this doesn't sound a lot different than a plan from one of the big boys that 'only' cost about $50 or so per month. However, it does get a lot better.

For $45 a month, prepaid, a person can have unlimited calling, nationwide. They also have unlimited text messaging and Internet. The 411 calls are still free. There aren’t extra roaming costs, because there is either a signal or there isn't. It isn't common to not have a signal,

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>