Cell Phone Prepaid Plans

Has anyone ever ported a number into prepaid? Or dealt with call forwarding?

I'm in a strange situation where I don't use my cell anymore, due to carrying a work cell all the time. They don't mind our personal usage, so that we keep it on us, and don't just leave it at home. (All in all- probably a wise idea. No requirement to carry a personal cell makes a happy me.)

Right now, I'm just forwarding the calls from the personal cell to the work, but have been considering porting the number into the work plan. That will bind me to a 2 year contract Sprint.. which I just don't want to do. On the other hand, taxes and such take my $40 plan to almost $55 a month.

I'm open to ideas on where to park the number & forward, until I eventually leave the company. (Not any time soon, but it's all a planning thing.)

I'm currently on Cingular/ATT if it matters, and could probably set up a VOIP server (asterisk) if I needed to.. I just want to be able to get the number back into a cell eventually.

Prepaid might be a nice option, since I only use about 70-125 min a month, on the forward. Does prepaid have any taxes?

Anyone have any thoughts or comments?

(I hadn't realized that prepaid had become a reasonably option these days...)

Matthew Barr Senior Systems Adminstrator - Community Connect mbarrmbarr.net cell: 646-765-6878

On 24-Jul-07, at 02:11 , mbarr wrote:
> (I hadn't realized that prepaid had become a reasonable option
> these days...)

Read the fine print - I am fairly certain that my Virgin contract
said that I had to 'use' the phone, not just forward calls.

In 'Cell Phone Plans for the Rest of Us', Tom Schmidt says of Virgin
Mobile that

   Coverage is nationwide using the Sprint PCS network with no long
   distance or roaming charges.

What does that mean? My current Sprint account offers 'no long
distance or roaming charges' but that's only if I use the Sprint
network. I can use Sprint anywhere in the lower 48 where Sprint has
coverage to call anywhere at no charge. However, in areas where
Sprint has no coverage I can use other providers (digital or analog)
but I have to pay $0.50/minute roaming charge, plus $0.50/minute long
distance if the call isn't local.

What is the whole truth on Virgin Mobile?

Art Evans

On 24/7/07 09:11, Michael Wenyon wrote:
> I would recommend the Nokia 'Shorty' phone for Virgin Mobile USA (I have also owned the Kyocera model). Both phones have similar functions but the Nokia is just nicer to use because of its evolved user interface, especially for texting.
>
> The Nokia Shorty's phone book has multiple fields. The phone sends and receives short emails from its own email address (telephone number followed by vmobl.com). The display is monochromatic, visible in sunlight or at night with a white LED backlight which also gives an illuminated keyboard.

I endorse the Virgin pre-paid recommendations, but I wouldn't necessarily diss
  the Kyocera phone(s) in favour of the Nokia.

I live in the UK, but travel to the US just frequently enough to make it more
convenient and economic to have a US cellphone than use my UK one there. I'm
a fan of the Virgin pay-as-you-go, and have now used a couple of phones (on my
last trip I picked up another because my wife came over as well).

My original one, bought in a Duane Reed drugstore, is a Kyocera K10: pretty
similar to the Nokio Shorty physically; also has multiple fields in the
address book, also sends and receives emails from <number>vmobl.com, also has
monochrome (on mine) screen with backlight on screen and keyboard. It also
has some form of accelerated input for texting, not sure if it's T9 or not. I
   haven't used the Shorty, so don't know anything about it - but I bet it
can't beat the K10's killer feature - a built in flashlight! (Also, I don't
know about the Shorty, but one thing I really appreciate on this phone, which
doesn't apply on the Nokia I use in the UK, is an option to lock the keyboard
automatically after a few minutes.)

The one I've just got is a Kyocera 'marbl'. Extremely small flip phone,
colour screen (for all the good that does you), really all the features
mentioned above - except the flashlight (and the keyboard lock doesn't apply
because it's a flip). I'm not sure if it has a better system for accelerated
text input, or if I just figured it out better on this trip. I got it for $20
at Radio Shack.

If you want super economy (I'd have gone for this if I'd known) you can
currently buy a reconditioned K10 "Royale" (colour screen, no cheese) from the
Virgin website for $9.99, with free shipping - and $10 call credit. That I
think really counts as a bargain!

A recent article in (I think) the Harvard Business Review discussed companies
whose profits depended on mis-serving their customers. Cell phone companies
were a prime exemplar, with a business model that pretty much depends on
confusing customers into picking the wrong plan. While Tom described Virgin
as appealing to the hip youth (and Adam), this article suggested that when
they entered the market, Virgin's core pitch was as the customer's friend:
with a wide choice of straightforward contract plans, no annual lock-ins, no
roaming or long-distance fees, and no penalties for switching between plans;
as a result they have apparently achieved dramatically lower customer
'disloyalty' and churn.

- Ben

At 2:32 AM -0700 7/25/07, Ben Rubinstein wrote:
>I haven't used the Shorty, so don't know anything about it - but I bet it
>can't beat the K10's killer feature - a built in flashlight!

Yeah, I use that flashlight regularly - just helped find a friend's
son's knocked-off glasses during an evening outdoor concert with it
this weekend.

cheers... -Adam

>In 'Cell Phone Plans for the Rest of Us', Tom Schmidt says of Virgin
>Mobile that
>
> Coverage is nationwide using the Sprint PCS network with no long
> distance or roaming charges.
>
>What does that mean?

As far as I can tell, it means what it says. The phone works
everywhere it can get a signal, and it never charges you extra if
you've somehow ended up on another provider's network, or if you call
long distance from your local area code. My K10 Royale provides no
feedback as to whether you're on the Sprint network or not, so I have
no idea if it uses other networks regularly or not. Sometimes other
people with different providers have service when I don't, but
there's nothing unusual about that since not all phones will work
with all cell services via roaming.

cheers... -Adam

OK, the Kyocera has a better flashlight. The Nokia Shorty does have a kind of flashlight, using the same white LED as the display, but it's not as good as the Kyocera one.

But I still prefer the Nokia for its overall ease of use. Although the Kyocera has the same list of features (more or less), I never used them after the first week and eventually forgot how to, whereas I actually use those features on the Nokia all the time--because they are simpler to access.

I was under the impression that you only get a Virgin Mobile signal if you are in the direct Sprint PCS coverage area. In other words, it seems that some at least of the roaming agreements that Sprint has with alternative carriers for its own customers are not available for Virgin Mobile customers. In particular, I had the impression that on Virgin, with the phones they offer, you only get 'digital' access, not access to 'analog' networks.

If I am correct, Virgin Mobile might be less attractive for rural customers than urban ones. Does anyone know more about this?

I spend most of my time in urbanity and have not had access problems with my phone.