How come cell phone plans are not getting cheaper

[Liviathan]

I have Cingular. I have an old plan, they had a special promotion. I have 1000 minutes, rollover for $40 a month.

I was looking in the site, and I did compare providers, and no one is really offering anything special for about that price. I saw that T-Mobile has a 1500 minute plan for 40, but no one compares.

I thought by now minutes would have become cheaper.

 

[duragezic]

Because they can probably. I'm sure they are still rolling in new customers all the time. Especially people who don't really need it. Like my friends parents got nice as hell phones and probably some HUGE plan and they admit they almost never use it. They pretty much only turn it on to make a call or two.. almost never receive them.

Anyway I only pay $27/mo since I'm on a plan with 3 other people. I think thats one of the best ways to do it. In nearly 2 years, I have not ONCE worried about my minutes like cutting a call short or asking someone not to use it too long, and we've never went over once. So that's probably your best bet for bringing the cost down.

 

[JonTheBaller]

illegal immigrants

 

[Platypus]

because telcos are greedy as fvck?

 

[kevnich2]

Why make the plans cheaper when people keep buying them at the higher prices. Supply & Demand. The less they have to invest in their networks the cheaper the service is but again, if people are willing to pay the higher prices, they won't ever lower them. Look at verizon (which I will admit has the best voice and data network period), they have higher priced plans IMO but people buy them so they keep investing and upgrading their network more and more.

 

[ForumMaster]

because they can? if people are still willing to pay, why lower prices? if there would be mroe competition, the prices would get lower. but since people are still willing to buy, why lower profit?

 

[mugs]

They are getting cheaper, just not as quickly as you'd like.

I used to pay $40 a month for 250 minutes.

 

[dullard]

When cell phones were booming, companies were (a) spending tons of money building towers and then later (b) struggling for market share. Thus prices started high to cover the tower expenses but then plunged to get the customers away from other providers.

But now, things have settled. It is now a maturing market. A big drop in prices will no longer convert a lot of people from land lines to cell phones. A big drop in prices will no longer convert a lot of people from your competitor to your company. Thus, there is no incentive for a big price cut and/or free minute increase.

We may even eventually enter a long period of increasing prices like all other mature utilites.

 

[CptObvious]

it sucks. most of the providers have phased out their $30 plans, so even though i only use maybe 250 minutes a month i pay >$40 a month for verizon.

 

[halik]

Why should they?

Not to mention you're asking this question in terms of nominal money (ie dollar enumerated amounts). Five years from now, the same plan should cost you (0.03^5) more

 

[preslove]

I also dislike how you have to sign up for 2 years on any new plan. I don't want that kind of commitment. What if I move to a place with terrible reception?

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: CptObvious
it sucks. most of the providers have phased out their $30 plans, so even though i only use maybe 250 minutes a month i pay >$40 a month for verizon.

Pay-as-you go is an option. I might consider that next time around if I'm still not using my phone much AND I get free IN calling. Most of the people I call are Verizon customers.

 

[SirChadwick]

Originally posted by: preslove
I also dislike how you have to sign up for 2 years on any new plan. I don't want that kind of commitment. What if I move to a place with terrible reception?

They normally let you get out of it as long as its within 30 days of receiving your phone/service. If you move and reception is bad... you have to basically complain every day until they let you out of your contract.

 

[iwantanewcomputer]

i pay 15 a month tacked onto my family's home phone/internet/2 other cell phones

 

[j00fek]

Originally posted by: Platypus
because telcos are greedy as fvck?

:thumbsup:

 

[pontifex]

i should go with a pay as you go plan or something like that but several of the ones i've seen end up costing almost the same as a regular plan anyway (for my amount of useage at least)

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: j00fek

Originally posted by: Platypus
because telcos are greedy as fvck?

:thumbsup:

Eh... yeah, they want to make a profit like every other business. They're facing a lot of competition from VOIP providers, and they're investing billions in infrastructure to remain competitive. But if they want to make a few bucks off cell phone service, they're greedy.

 

[Fritzo]

They could be cheaper, but they don't want them to be. They COULD offer you service for $10/month if they wanted, but they wouldn't make much profit. Notice how your package comes with caller ID, call waiting, 3 way calling, conference calling, etc etc included? You think these services are free? Well, they're free for the company, but YOU pay for them. Some old ladies in New York sued Verizon over these unwanted features because they just wanted basic phone service. Not sure if they won or not, but the point is they pad the price with features to make it seem like it should cost that much, when in reality it doesn't need to.

 

[theNEOone]

i agree, paying for minutes is ridiculous. plans should all be fixed prices for unlimited calls like land lines.


=|

 

[Platypus]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: j00fek

Originally posted by: Platypus
because telcos are greedy as fvck?

:thumbsup:

Eh... yeah, they want to make a profit like every other business. They're facing a lot of competition from VOIP providers, and they're investing billions in infrastructure to remain competitive. But if they want to make a few bucks off cell phone service, they're greedy.

This argument is always good for a laugh, it's impossible to accuse any capitalistic business of being greedy without someone saying 'that's the point of business.'

In reality they're just nickel and diming you for stuff that shouldn't cost as much as it does, like broadband access. Look at other countries in the world who have actually adopted a standard instead of bucking the trend like the US always tends to do with international standards. There's just no reason to be paying that much. How is it fair for the customer to foot the bill for newer technologies that they don't want and simply don't use?

I'm all for companies making a profit and I certainly don't assert that they should operate at a loss so we have cheap service but honestly, it's a bit ridiculous.

 

[Eeezee]

I pay $33 a month for all of the minutes that I'll ever need (Free nights/weekends and mobile to mobile), that's only $10 more than my land line was and this is free long distance

I'm not about to complain, that's pretty cheap. The cheapest land line plans are $25+ around here.

 

[Viper GTS]

A big part of the answer is handset subsidization.

Everyone wants camera phones, video phones, music phones, big beautiful displays, etc. Offering those phones for "free" requires a huge cash outlay that is not recovered until nearly the end of the contract period (hence early termination fees). It costs hundreds of dollars to add the typical new account, & it's not profitable for a LONG time.

Viper GTS

 

[chickadee]

i wish there was a middle ground on plans. I only need like 300 minutes a month cause im on a plan by myself.. but to get that, its only $10 cheaper than the 600 minutes + the 600 one gives you free nights and weekends.

i dont think it should be only 10 less for 300 minutes and free nights and weekends.

 

[Schfifty Five]

I think it's b/c since they always lose money on phones, and phones are becoming more and more expensive to produce, then the only way to make that profit is to up their rates.

 

[duragezic]

Originally posted by: chickadee
i wish there was a middle ground on plans. I only need like 300 minutes a month cause im on a plan by myself.. but to get that, its only $10 cheaper than the 600 minutes + the 600 one gives you free nights and weekends.

i dont think it should be only 10 less for 300 minutes and free nights and weekends.

Yep, Alltel does this too. The lowest plan is pretty much useless since it has no unlimited n/w and m-to-m. Though I'm fine with ~300 minutes.

In your case, this would be great to add a line to your plan. If you have any friends whos contracts are expiring soon and they will pay the bill reliably, add a line for about $10 more a month. Then you'll be saving $20+/mo, you'll still have 300 minutes each and free n/w and m-to-m. If 300 minutes each isn't enough you can jump up to the next plan and still save about $10/mo.

At first, my bro, myself, and my roommate got a 800 or 1000 minute plan. Then another roommate added a line so we went to 1200 minutes and our bill dropped in price each. Two of us use way under our 300 each anytime minutes, so even if someone goes over (no one has ever went over 400-500 anytime minutes AFAIK, so we are never near 1200 total) it's not a problem.