Is there any prepaid GSM?
- Thread starter mercanucaribe
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Zenmervolt
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- Oct 22, 2000
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I know for a fact that T-Mobile (GSM carrier) leases network bandwidth to 3rd party pre-paid providers, but I can't recall precisely whom at the moment.
ZV
ZV
I don't want any of those services that require special phones. :thumbsdown: to Cingular and T-Mobile.
Originally posted by: jalaram
What are you talking about? They're normal GSM phones. It's the SIM cards that are prepaid.
Exactly, I have an English phone and when i come over to the states all i do is pop in my t-mobile prepay sim. All works fine...
Alex
Cingular is way too expensive. $1 per day in addition to the 10 cents per minute? What the hell is that? I believe T-Mobile has a similar thing.
Originally posted by: aiex
Originally posted by: jalaram
What are you talking about? They're normal GSM phones. It's the SIM cards that are prepaid.
Exactly, I have an English phone and when i come over to the states all i do is pop in my t-mobile prepay sim. All works fine...
Alex
what he said...lol this stuff confuses me sometimes
I used prepaid Virgin Mobile when I went over to London. I'm not sure they exist in the US, but you might want to check. And I was using my Cingular phone for the service. As long as the GSM phone is unlocked and it's has the necessary bands, you should be fine.
Originally posted by: jalaram
What are you talking about? They're normal GSM phones. It's the SIM cards that are prepaid.
No, you can't necessarily just "plop" it in because most phones are locked. My phone for example is locked until you get the "unlock code".
Did you actually look at the info on the websites or are you just trying to be funny?
Cingular:
Two options to fit your budget:
* $0.10 per minute: includes Unlimited Mobile to Mobile calling and $1.00 per day access charge only on days when you use your service.
* $0.25 per minute: one simple rate for all your calls.
T-Mobile:
Refill card Whenever Expiration
value Minutes® (days)
$10.00 30 30
$25.00 130 90
$50.00 400 90
$100.00 1000 365
Originally posted by: goku
Originally posted by: jalaram
What are you talking about? They're normal GSM phones. It's the SIM cards that are prepaid.
No, you can't necessarily just "plop" it in because most phones are locked. My phone for example is locked until you get the "unlock code".
If you buy the phone from any provider, it will be locked to that company as you said. However, that applies to prepaid and postpaid and almost all providers. He was saying that Cingular and T-Mobile require special phones. They don't. They can use phones locked to their companies or unlocked GSM. Plus, many "locked" phones can be unlocked by 3rd party companies.
The OP wanted prepaid GSM. Cingular and T-Mobile offer it. They don't require special phones. And they don't have to charge $1/day.
Yes.. Cingular makes you pay $1 per day you use it, which is almost every day for me. T-Mobile is expensive, unless you get a lot of minutes.. Not a risk I'd want to take considering the crappy reception here in Austin.
Did YOU see the option about the $0.25 per minute without the $1/day charge?? 2x the price of gobeyondwireless = teh no!
what constitutes a good gsm service for you?
you don't to want to seem to pay what a good gsm service charges
you don't want a phone that's locked (pay for an unlocked phone, no one is stopping you)
if you use your phone everyday, you might as well skip the 1$ cingular charge and just get a monthly plan...
if tmobile is spotty in texas, then i fear what reception other lesser known gsm providers will have (even though many of them lease the same "lines")
you mentioned gobeyondwireless, why not go with them then?
too bad you guys in tx don't get cricket, it seems like it would fit what you're looking for except for the being locked into phones (although you get free incoming calls)
you don't to want to seem to pay what a good gsm service charges
you don't want a phone that's locked (pay for an unlocked phone, no one is stopping you)
if you use your phone everyday, you might as well skip the 1$ cingular charge and just get a monthly plan...
if tmobile is spotty in texas, then i fear what reception other lesser known gsm providers will have (even though many of them lease the same "lines")
you mentioned gobeyondwireless, why not go with them then?
too bad you guys in tx don't get cricket, it seems like it would fit what you're looking for except for the being locked into phones (although you get free incoming calls)
Ok. I get it now. You want the price of beyond wireless, the coverage of Cingular, the flexibility of GSM, and a free unlocked phone. No, I don't know of any such plan.
When did I say I didn't want to buy an unlocked phone???? That's the REASON I want GSM, so I can buy a phone that won't be obselete when TDMA is phased out by law (?). If I could use TDMA forever I certainly would.
Zenmervolt
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TDMA is dead. Long dead.
CDMA is what Verizon uses and it's not going anywhere.
GSM is an offshoot of TDMA and is somewhere between a half and a full generation OLDER than CDMA.
GSM's only saving grace is that it is cheaper to implement and used in Europe. CDMA is technologically superior to GSM in every way. GSM has been "cracked" and the signals can be intercepted as well as tracked. CDMA is, as yet, un-interceptible and the phone's location cannot be traced through its CDMA signal (some phones transmit additional GPS data, but that's not part of CDMA). CDMA also has higher voice quality, more bandwidth for both voice and data transmission, each tower can handle more connections than a GSM tower, and has the already discussed benefit of vastly superior security.
CDMA is not going to be phase out any time in the foreseeable future. Of the two, GSM is most likely to be phased out and replaced first since it is already two years older than CDMA.
ZV
EDIT: Additionally, the US currently only has CDMA as a viable option for rural areas. Thusfar every GSM provider in America has chosen to use a network architecture that provides coverage only to major metropolitan centers and major travel routes. Look at the coverage maps for American GSM providers and you will see that the coverage follows the interstate system. Only Verizon and Alltel's CDMA networks strive to offer coverage in rural areas beyond major population centers and travel routes.
From a purely business standpoint, the decision by the American GSM providers makes sense as it limits their required investment in network infrastructure by a large amount while still giving them access to the vast majority of potential customers. From a customer's standpoint, however, it is a bit limiting if you spend lots of time in rural areas.
That's ridiculous. GSM doesn't have even near complete coverage yet costs twice as much as TDMA. What are you paying for?
Zenmervolt
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Compatability with Europe.
It's a huge benefit for the business world, execs in my company generally choose T-Mobile to provide service if they travel. A couple of exceptions live in rural areas and stick with Verizon because T-Mobile doesn't have service where they live (in rural Washington state).
I'm not sure about price for pre-paid, but T-Mobile tends to be less expensive by a small margin than Verizon for equivalent plans.
From a business standpoint GSM makes sense if the company is global (like T-Mobile) because it means only one infrastructure to support. Otherwise it would cost too much to maintain the technical staff for two separate technological systems. You lose economies of scale.
ZV
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