For the last two years, I have found it unnecessary to have a home phone. I have cable Internet service and use my cell phone for everything, so there is really no reason to pay for home-phone service – or at least so I thought.
A couple of months ago I lost (or believed I had lost) my cell phone and did not have it for an entire weekend. I was not so worried about not being able to call people in general, but it scared me to think I had no way of getting in touch with 911 or anyone else in case of emergency.
The easiest solution would have been for me to get a new phone, but T-Mobile, my cell phone provider, has no locations in the state I live in, so my only option was to get a new phone through the mail from their website. This would still have taken the weekend to get and would not solve my immediate problem.
While discussing my concerns with a friend, he suggested I get a pre-paid cell phone. This is something I could do immediately, and it would cost less for me to keep and maintain than a home phone. I would still get the new phone from T-Mobile’s website, but a pre-paid phone would be an excellent emergency option to get me through the weekend.
I got online and researched a few different options and decided that AT&T; was the best provider to choose, based on the plans available and the fact that the AT&T; store was almost directly across the street from my house.
I went to the store and spoke to the sales person about pre-paid phones, and he introduced me to the go phone. Information about the go phone can be found at http://www.gophone.com/prepaid/.
There were a few plans to choose from, but I decided on the $1 per day plan with free mobile to mobile. Basically the way it works is I load the phone with either a phone card or my CC or debit card. If using a phone card, I believe denominations start at $10. If using a credit or debit card, $15 is the minimum that can be purchased. This particular plan has free activation and offers a free $10 phone card.
Each day that the phone is used, one dollar is charged and then calls are 10 cents per minute when making calls to anyone “outside” the AT&T; network. If you call someone with AT&T; service, there is no charge per minute, only the one dollar per day. The minute the phone is used for any reason during the day, the one dollar is charged, however if the phone is not used at all for the day, there is no one dollar fee.
The most cost effective way to use the phone is to only call people in the AT&T; calling network. Of course this may not always be possible. For me, I use the go phone for people who have AT&T; and my other phone (which turned out to be in my desk at my office and not lost after all) for any other calls. Fortunately, AT&T; is such a large cell phone provider, that the majority of people that I know have it. Utilizing mobile to mobile not only keeps the cost of the pre-paid down, but it also keeps down the cost of my regular cell phone, as I am not using it nearly as much.
Although the go phone is very convenient and has some great features and services, there are some things to be careful of. First, the money that is put in to the phone, either via credit/debit card or calling card, does not last indefinitely. $15 lasts 30 days, $25 lasts 90 days and so on. The length of time that the calling cards are active will say on the back of whatever denomination of card you purchase. I have lost a few dollars because I didn’t use them in time before they expired.
Another thing to remember is that if the phone is not used for 30 days, you lose the number and have to get a new one. Therefore, it isn’t worthwhile to get a go phone if you never plan to use it. I had intended to use it only for emergencies, but it is actually much more cost effective to use the phone for AT&T; mobile to mobile calls. And, it’s still cheaper than having a home phone.
Pre-paid phones are excellent choices for people who truly don’t use their phones that often or who, because of poor credit history, are unable to get a regular cell phone plan. Aside from a few quirks and kinks that needed to be worked, out, I have had good luck with my go phone and would recommend it and AT&T;’s service to anyone looking for a good pre-paid phone plan.
