06/20/2015:
Updated RingPlus with overages reduced to 2c minute/text/data. Prepay
chart updated.
Updated Tracfone. Prepay chart updated.
06/10/2015:
- Your chance to sign up for free cell service on
RingPlus starting June 13, 2015! The content sponsored Free Cell Phone Plans
(on the Sprint network) will include 200 minutes, 50 text messages, and 10 MB of
LTE data (overages will be billed at two cents per each minute, text, and MB).
Those rates are very low!
05/31/2015:
- Verizon has been the lone holdout for allowing it's MVNOs access to it's LTE
network. Only Tracfone/Net 10/StraightTalk/PagePlus has had access to LTE
up until this point. That changes on 6/1. From the leaked data from Selectel,
their PAYG will have no access to data. A huge disappointment to say the least.
With that in mind I have re-looked at Tracfone as the Verizon LTE provider and
have found rates far less than I imagined (I had
not kept up obviously). The rates are so low at the $25 and below price points,
that everyone else is going to be left in the dust. I should not say that
Tracfone rates are so low at the PAYG level, I should say that everyone else has
rates that are simply insane! I will be testing this out next week and will
report back. I have tested it out and everything above is validated.
- Updated PAYG data chart
04/12/2015:
- Thanks to those that remind me that they still find the charts useful!
- Updated PAYG chart: RingPlus for their cheapest plan (Ian)
- Updated PAYG chart: T-Mobile updated PAYG
- Updated PAYG chart: Lycamobile PAYG 5c rate and no data (some accounts not
updated yet)
- Updated My Stuff
- Updated PagePlus coverage map
link
- Waiting for the rumored
Google MVNO that will run on T-Mobile and Sprint.
It's been stated that it will only run on the Nexus 6 and they are working on some
international
roaming agreements.
- U.S. Cellular finally is showing
"future LTE" in the Manchester/Nashua NH
metro.
- T-Mobile has turned on Band 12 (700 MHz) LTE coverage in southern NH which
should compete nicely with Verizon. The sad part is only a few phones can
receive band 12 right now (Nexus 6 and Note 4/Note Edge are the big names).
International Roaming is now included in some T-Mobile and Sprint plans. Calling
is 20c/min, texts are free and data is limited to 2G (128kbps on Tmo and 64kbps
on Sprint)
10/05/2014
- Corrected H2O airtime expiration. $10 and $20 refills expire in 90 days.
Thanks Eric!
8/11/2014
-
Spot Mobile will shut down 9/7/14. They are no longer processing new activations
or refills. If you want to keep your number then port out! [thanks Niranjan]
-
T-Mobile Prepay Plan changes effective 8/17/14 [corrected]. Not very un-carrier. There
is a minimum $3/month charge and data passes are $5/day or $10/7 days. 10c
voice and 10c text. Don't know if you can stay on the old plan, but its unlikely
you can switch back and forth between PAYG and the daily plans.
7/24/2014
-
Spot Mobile may be about to shut down. Based on other MVNOs going under, we
should know in the next few weeks at most. You can no longer activate service
and I suggest porting out soon if you want to keep your number.
- Lycamobile is in the middle of making plan changes. Much of what they say
never happens or takes forever to take place so hard to know what will happen.
Rumors say voice will go from 2c to 5c a minute, and that PAYG data maybe
eliminated. They have new Lycamobile Plus plans coming out and they may
just be confused about that. They really ought to know what they are doing!
- Ptel has added LTE data to most plans
- Selectel has announced to dealers that starting at the end of July they can
only activate Verizon approved devices. Whether this applies to other MVNOs such
as PagePlus has yet to be announced.
7/1/2014
- TruPhone lower rates
started today. I can confirm taxes and fees are included. The website is changed
to also state that.
6/21/2014:
- TruPhone is lower their
rates as of 7/1/2014. In the USA it will be 9c a minute, 9c to send a text
and 9c a MB. Incoming text AND voice will be free. Will have to wait until 7/1
to see if taxes and fees are included in that rate. There are a slew of
international roaming rate changes (some up and some down). New Tru counties of
Hong Kong (not going to debate whether it is a country), Germany, Netherlands,
Poland and Spain will have low rates.
3/27/2014:
- Ringplus Mobile
is offering their
free plan (200 minutes, 500 text, 50MB of data a month) on 3/28/2014 from
3:00PM to 3:30PM EDT only!!! You must sign up during those 30 minutes.
They have done this several times over the past six months. If you have a
compatible Sprint device then check out the
rules of the road that you have to follow, but they are easy as long as you
are not planning to use it as a glove box phone. You must have a credit
card on file so if you are going to do this set up an account and credit card
ahead of time so that you can add the device during the 30 minutes. RP has several low cost
plans that do not have any rules to follow. Coverage is limited to the
nationwide domestic Sprint network (basically the same as Boost Mobile or Virgin
Mobile). If you have one of the compatible LTE devices (the Google Market
Nexus 5 for instance) you can use it (assuming you can find a Sprint SIM card;
hint: get it at Ting for $10). There is no tax added on the free
plan but there is on the others.
- FreedomPop also has
some free plans for Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). However I have not had much
luck trying to figure out how to sign up. Most of the free stuff is limited to
the soon to be decommissioned Sprint WiMax network, but supposedly some include
LTE and EV/DO. I have not been able to find it! The web pages you go
to are based on what e-mail and zipcode you enter. Then you can't ever go
back without deleting cookies. I gave up after a while. If you are interested
the best info seems to be at
SlickDeals. Reading the updates it now looks like there is a $10 activation
for BYOD.
- TracFone's
PagePlus service will *finally* reduce their standard plan data rate from
99c/MB to 10c/MB. The base MMS will reduce from 25c/msg to 5c/msg (you still pay
for data transport). Not fantastic, but at least reasonable-ish. It's due to go
live in mid-April according to
PrepaidPhoneNews and the PagePlus dealer network [Thanks Paul].
[Update: New rates went live 4/9/2014]
- Updated the prepaid data chart.
- Updated the prepaid comparison
chart.
3/2/2014:
- Turning this space into a blog. Something different than all the news sites
that are way better at news than I am!
- Sadly no new PAYG good deals to be had
- I decided to try a port from
Truphone to
Lyca Mobile because
... let's see who is up for the challenge! At this point, fail. For the
past four days, four attempts have failed. Disappointed but not surprised. These
are both UK companies with connections to small US operators. Will keep you
updated!
[Update 3/27: I gave up. Turns out the problem is that Truphone uses
Level 3, so the port is really a considered a landline for porting purposes.
I was able to port to T-Mobile prepaid as they caught the issue. It did take two
days to get that done.]
[Update 3/28: Port from T-Mobile to Lycamobile went through in 3-4 hours]
- My Verizon plan
was switched automatically from Family Share to More Everything, which brings
price cuts to most customers. I assume that most customers, like me, actually
get zero savings.
- Last year Ringplus Mobile
made waves with their free plans on the Sprint network and are still going
through some growing pains. In return for the free service (different voice
minutes, texts and data depending on what promotion people got in on) you listen
to ads while waiting for the other party to answer. You must use some amount of
voice minutes or get terminated (not hard to meet although some customers
complain even though its free LOL). Sometimes calls are not connected as there
are likely some issues with the ads playing when first making a call. Although
not PAYG their new Kate Plan includes 50 voice minutes and 10 texts for $1.99
plus tax/fees (overages 2c voice, 2c text and 2c/MB). Service includes LTE but
you are
mostly limited to older Sprint phones. You can see their latest free plan
promotion here
(expired). Their
facebook page
will probably be the first place you hear of the next promo.
11/17/2013:
- Updated prepaid comparison charts to show
that Truphone allows call forwarding (thanks
@XIPRELAY).
- Sprint launches
Myway Student Promo on 11/15 "which gives students up to 12 months of free
talk, text and 1GB data on the Unlimited, My Way plan with the purchase of a
smartphone at Best Buy".
- Sprint giveth (above) and Sprint taketh away. Starting 11/15 Sprint is banning
recent smartphones (Samsung GS4, HTC One, etc) on Sprint MVNOs. Check out this
HoFo thread for details and discussion.
11/09/2013:
- T-Mobile's free 200MB data for life for tablets is in full swing from 11/1.
Pretty much anyone can get it but (1) devices are limited to
this list
and (2) data can only be used on the device it was activated on. This
keeps people from starting several 200MB free data plans and swapping SIMs! I am
using it on my AT&T iPad3. I am able to get HSPA being in one of
Tmo's refarmed areas.
11/09/2013:
- Truphone drops the 100KB/session minimum. Billing is now done at a minimum of 1/10
of a cent (about 6-7KB). Details
here. Updated prepaid data and
comparison charts.
11/08/2013:
- Restarting the news!
11/08/2013:
- Updated my stuff. Note II, Note 3, Nexus 5.
07/28/2013 (upd 8/1):
- AT&T lowers MVNO data rates although with a gotcha! According to
Prepaid PhoneNews,
Airvoice (AT&T MVNO) is
now offering data on all plans at 6c/MB. That is a new low!
H2O data is reduced from 30c to 10c
as of 8/1.H2O also
restores 90 day expiration on $10 and $20 refills! The gotcha is that speeds are
capped around 1000kbps down.
PAYG and
prepaid data charts updated.
07/27/2013:
- Removed Talk For Good from
PAYG Chart Looks like they are
out of business (phone disconnected, plan page under construction for weeks)
06/07/2013:
- AT&T is removing data packs from most of its remaining GoPhone plans.
They are doing this to "better align with what customers are choosing and
telling us they want". Translation: Pay $65 or
more a month or else. Prepaid Phone News does a nice write-up
here. Updated prepaid data
chart as well.
- Lycamobile is a great entry in the PAYG world and most of the bugs have now
been worked out. I have added it to the
PAYG Chart. Seemingly no
airtime expiration and simply use it every 90 days (have not tested this yet
obviously) to keep it alive. 2c/minute, 4c/text, 6c/MB of data. T-Mobile USA
network only.
Incoming text is free, it will roam internationally (not cheaply tho), data session minimum of 200kb.
- PTel Review:
My new account set up quickly upon receipt of SIM. Voice and text worked
instantly.
There was no instruction for setting up data either via printed info or on the
website. The following APN settings should have been provided with the welcome
info.
APN: wholesale
MMSC:
http://wholesale.mmsmvno.com/mms/wapenc
Data and MMS/receive worked as soon as the APN settings were made. MMS/send
took a few hours to be allowed to be sent. That seems typical with a port or new
number.
Online account management is great. Call records are posted pretty quickly
(usually in a few minutes for voice and text, longer for data).
Chat works well. Agents are knowledgeable and I did not stump them with any of
my questions.
Porting: I ported my Ptel/Sprint number to Ptel/Tmo. It took about 20 min for
the SIM to be updated with number. Then it took an additional hour to be able to
make calls and send text. About 2-3 hours later I was able to receive calls and
receive texts. I got the email telling me the port would be complete a couple
hours after it was.
The website mentions the 50c monthly surcharge. A chat session identified that
only applied to the Sprint network. That should be made clearer.
-
Talk for Good Review:
Overall this is a good service. There are some growing pains. My point of
view of the review is for Pay as you Go (the $6 plan)
I got email welcoming me to TalkForGood. The e-mail talked about account into
and logging in with phone number and password. It was not mentioned that the
password would come in a text message after activation.
Activated using *22890. That went fine. Text message received after activation
giving me the account password.
My account was deducted $8 (for the $6 plan and $2 for 10 MMS). I did not want
the MMS package but that is fine. I am here to test.
Tried to logon using phone number and password. Did not work. Contacted
customer support. They could not figure it out and had to escalate. Got text
the next day stating they fixed it and gave me the new password. I logged in ok
and changed my password.
Voice and SMS worked fine with no issue.
MMS did not work. It took several days to resolve MMS. Ultimately this was an
issue on the TalkForGood side. The rep had me pull the battery and do a factory
reset. Neither worked. When it was fixed my account was deducted a second $2
for the MMS package. Whatever CS did caused me to lose access to my online
account. The next day I got a new login and password. That worked (although it
is annoying to have to enter a phone number from CA to log into my account).
I asked CS to remove the MMS package and fix my log in account ID back to my
phone number so that I did not have to cut/paste a strange number in each time I
logged in. I also asked to have one of the $2 charges removed (since I was
charged twice for the MMS package). Both were completed in a few days.
Voice roaming on US Cellular and Sprint worked. There was no roaming charge.
There is no data roaming.
Call forwarding worked, as did three way calling and call waiting.
The website says you are charged for non answered or busy calls. That is not
true as I tested it several different ways.
It is not clear on the website what taxes or fees are added. It appears you are
charged sales tax on the monthly charge. My account was charged VT sales tax on
the monthly $6 because of the way it was set up. It is hard to say what will
happen in other states.
The smart card is a far better method to fund the $6 plan than add-ons. The
add-ons expire after 30 days but the smart card is good for 360 days. The
whole smart card concept is not well described. How do you even buy one? Why
would anyone want to buy the add-ons when it is more economical to use the
smartcard concept?
MMS is 20c each without the MMS package. It makes no sense to purchase the $2 /
10 MMS package as it expires each month.
April 2013
04/21/2013:
- Corrected Talk For Good Airtime rate on PAYG (5c). Updated the Prepaid Chart.
[thanks Laurel]
- Will be adding Lycamobile
to the PAYG chart if I ever receive the SIM!
04/08/2013:
- Removed Virgin Mobile from the Prepaid Chart since they have discontinued it for new
accounts.
- Updated My Stuff
for providers and devices.
February 2013
02/10/2013:
- Updated My Stuff
for providers and devices.
-
Updated Prepaid Chart. Deleted Boost iDEN.
Corrected Spot text rates.
-
Be careful with TMobile refills.
They have cut their discounts to resellers 2/1/13 so you may end up paying more
than face value for them.
- Corrected phone limitations for Boost and Virgin.
02/03/2013:
- Updated
Prepaid Chart with some corrections and the two services mentioned above.
-
Updated Prepaid Data chart.
-
Updated Bands for providers and bands
-
Updated Seniors page
January 2013
01/19/2013:
- Reviews of Ptel (T-Mobile mvno) and Talk for Good
(Verizon Wireless mvno) coming soon! I am testing out both services right
now. Feel free to ask questions about either service.
2012
11/25/2012: Updated Prepaid Data
chart; added Spot Mobile. Lots of new data plans look promising in the
future but I am not adding them until they actually occur (e.g. alleged Ultra
Mobile 4.9c/MB).
11/20/2012: Mingo Wireless has just
sent an e-mail to existing customers today informing them that the service
is being discontinued. They have re-enabled service until the end of the year
to allow existing customers to port to other providers. One would expect this
notice to be placed on their home page soon.
11/20/2012: New PlatinumTel T-Mobile based PAYG and Ultra Mobile
PAYG plans are coming. When details are actually published I will add them
to the chart assuming they are worthy.
11/20/2012: PlatinumTel, one of the low cost PAYG data providers
has announced they are moving from the Sprint platform to the T-Mobile platform.
This is a disappointment for those waiting to get cheap Sprint data with a
decent Smart Phone on the rumored Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) plans coming
soon. PlatimumTel has indicated they will not shut down their Sprint service
until the second half of 2013 (based on one of their Facebook posts).
11/20/2012: Sprint MVNOs have been saying they are getting BYOD,
but, as indicated by the PlatinumTel switch from Sprint to T-Mobile, apparently
it is only going to be for high cost monthly plans. Sprint has been
strategically disallowing smart phones on its MVNOs PAYG plans. This is likely
to prevent Sprint's own prepays (Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile) from losing a
boatload of customers to the much cheaper PAYG, where customers can utilize
Wi-Fi most of the time and only use a little data, thus saving a possible $20+ a month.
This may backfire on Sprint, as have many of their strategies over the past
several years. Hopefully they will see the light sooner, rather than later.
11/14/2012: Mingo Wireless service has been shut down
unexpectedly on 11/6. If you recall the apparent family operation was unable to
successfully operate as a Verizon MVNO and switched to Sprint. Guess that did
not work either. The owners simply walked away, deleted their facebook page and
updated their Linked in pages to disassociate themselves from the now failed
operations. Of course thanks to Google cache it is not very hard to figure it
all out. The Mingo web site still operates like nothing is wrong. I would avoid
their other businesses such as Babblebug. [Update 11/20: customers report service
being restored].
09/29/2012: PagePlus has eliminated it's stand alone texting
plan, instead pushing customers to the $30+ a month plan. Not a good time to be
PAYG.
9/29/2012: Boost Mobile is raising PAYG costs for those still on
the 10c iDEN plan. Starting 11/7 those customer will be paying 25c a
minute and per text. The iDEN system is expected to be shut down by June 2013
and this is one way to push users over to CDMA.
9/13/2012 9/29: Spot Mobile to announce new prepaid plans on
9/15 10/3. New
SIM cards will be required. Will still be T-Mobile based. Data will be
available. The existing PAYG plan will remain (with option for data). There will
also be unlimited plans starting around 10/1
10/3. Probable plans are hinted at
here. [Update
11/20: Data is available to purchase although there is currently no way to track
usage and expiration - coming soon I was told by a customer service
representative. I added data and it worked (proper APN settings required]
8/20/2012: Q2Y2012. It's hard to get the subscriber numbers these
days but Fierce Wireless did a nice job.
Check it out here.
Also updated my Android home screen on this page. I am using
LauncherPro to get the 6x6 icons. Not much wasted real estate!
07/29/2012: Added Airvoice back to the Prepaid PAYG
chart (they are actively marketing it again). Also added Airvoice to
the prepaid data chart. Plus, if you have AT&T
PAYG you may be able to call and switch to the $1 mobile to mobile plan which
has rollover data! Voice rates suck but you can add text and data
packages. YE HA!
05/28/2012: Corrected Alltel Prepaid Coverage on the
Coverage Map page [thanks Zster]
05/12/2012: Updated Prepaid PAYG
chart; added h2o, Boost CDMA
05/11/2012: Rumors that
T-Mobile may buy Metro PCS. Rumors that
AT&T may buy Leap.
American
Movil does purchase Simple Talk.
05/11/2012: Added prepaid data chart.
05/11/2012: Q1Y2012 provider add update
(total connections) [Providers no longer publish the information making
comparison difficult]
04/7/2011: AT&T is discontinuing data for its PAYG GoPhone
(starting 4/18/12). With that loss goes the best data value IN PAYG (without
having to pay the voice tax). With the number of people getting tablets GoPhone
was a good choice to combat the $20+ per month to run the data on the devices.
People are not going to pay $20+ a month per device going forward. It is just
too damn much money. With the provider forcing tiered plans people are going to
demand that they use it however they want. DSL service used to require
voice service just like data plans require voice service. They had to abandon
that with competition from cable. Hopefully we will see the same thing
happen with PAYG data with someone (like Tmo) taking the high road and offering
it. Right now people are hacking their devices to get access to tethering and
Hotspots that the providers are so desperately trying to lock down so as to not
become the dumb data pipe. They are doing this to protect their revenue
rather than looking ahead to be innovative (and taking away affordable data
access & charging data access through apps is NOT innovative). Let's hope they
do not act like landline providers and simply lose business rather than compete
in the market ($60+ landline vs $10-$20 VOIP). Many people have abandoned
landlines for this reason (and avoiding the high cost of communications). I am
working on a data chart as we speak.
03/17/2011: Added "Lookup Number", will not only list provider
(Correct in most cases, but not as good as mobile) but also the Caller ID info
associated with it. Corrected/updated links page [thanks
Linda]
03/06/2011: Corrected Page Plus info on the
Hybrid Comparison chart
(needs overhaul). [thanks Tom]
03/02/2012: Deleted Airvoice & h2o from the
PAYG chart as they just raised the minimum
monthly cost from $3.33 to $10. [thanks Jan]
03/02/2012: Q4Q2011 provider add update
(total connections)
Verizon:
108,700,000 total; 1,000,000 net adds
AT&T:
103,247,000 total; 2,500,000 net adds
Sprint:
55,021,000 total; 1,600,000 net adds
T-Mobile:
33,185,000 total -526,000 (net loss)
MetroPCS:
9,347,000 total; 197,000 net adds
U.S.C:
5,891,000 tota l; -41,000 (net loss)
Leap:
5,930,000 total; 175,000 net adds
Tracfone: 19,762,000
total; 493,000 net adds
(listing Tracfone separately since their numbers are built into the provider
numbers above)
01/22/2012: Spot Mobile
reported to no longer work on the AT&T network. Updated the Prepaid Comparison chart.
01/15/2012: Corrected Spot Mobile minimum monthly cost. Updated
the Prepaid Comparison chart.
[thanks
Penelope]
01/08/2012: I need to redesign the website soon!
Added Spot Mobile to the Prepaid Comparison chart.
There have been some noise about their parent having financial problems but at
$1.25/month it's to cheap to leave off.
November 2011
11/25/2011: Corrected T-Mobile PAYG text rates while roaming in
CA/MX. Updated Prepaid Comparison chart.
[thanks Edward]
11/15/2011: Corrected T-Mobile PAYG data info (none now that web
daypass is gone). Updated Prepaid Comparison chart.
[thanks rwshopping]
11/11/11: 3Q2011 update (total connections)
Verizon:
107,700,000 total; 1,300,000 net adds
AT&T: 100,700,000 total; 2,100,000
net adds
Sprint:
53,399,000 total; 1,300,000 net adds
T-Mobile:
33,711,000 total 126,000 net
adds
MetroPCS:
9,149,000 total; 69,000 net adds
U.S.C:
5,932,000 total; -36,000 (net loss)
Leap:
5,755,000 total;
10,000 net adds
Tracfone: 19,269,000 total;
515,000 net adds (listing Tracfone separately since their numbers are built into the provider
numbers above)
October 2011
10/7/2011: Boost Mobile increased PAYG text and voice rates from
10c to 20c. Existing customers grandfathered until they make a change.
Dumbphone data increases from 30c to 50c a day. Updated Prepaid Comparison chart.
September 2011
9/9/2011: Corrected TracFone minimum monthly cost to $5.99. Updated Prepaid Comparison chart.
[thanks Shari]
August 2011
9/9/2011: AT&T PAYG now roams in Canada. Rates are 39c/minute,
25c text and $20/MB data (ouch). Beats no service though. Updated Prepaid Comparison chart.
[thanks Ivy]
8/8/2011: 2Q2011 update (total connections)
Verizon:
106,300,000 total; 2,300,000 net adds
AT&T:
98,600,000 total; 1,100,000
net adds
Sprint:
52,123,000 total; 1,100,000 net adds
T-Mobile:
33,600,000 total -50,000 (net loss)
MetroPCS:
9,080,000 total; 200,000 net adds
U.S.C:
5,968,000 total; -70,000 (net loss)
Leap:
5,746,000 total; -103,000 (net loss)
Tracfone: 18,754,000 total;
225,000 net adds (listing Tracfone separately since their numbers are built into the provider
numbers above) [thanks Ed]
8/1/2011: PagePlus lowers PAYG text to 5c and data to 99c/MB. Updated Prepaid Comparison chart.
July 2011
7/10/2011: T-Mobile 2 Go PAYG raises incoming text rate from 5c
to 10c starting 8/13. Updated Prepaid Comparison chart.
May 2011
5/6/2011: 1Q2011 update (total connections)
Verizon:
104,000,000 total; 1,800,000 net adds
AT&T:
97,500,000 total; 2,000,000
net adds
Sprint:
51,031,000 total; 1,100,000 net adds
T-Mobile:
33,600,000 total -99,000 (net loss)
MetroPCS:
8,881,000 total; 726,000 net
adds
U.S.C:
6,033,000 total; -39,000 (net loss)
Leap:
5,849,000 total;
331,000 net adds
Tracfone: 18,529,000 total;
780,000 net adds
April 2011
4/16/2011: AT&T improves GoPhone PAYG data starting 4/17.
$5/10MB, $15/100MB, $25/500MB. Data rolls over if you renew a package before it
expires (no change from the way it was). Updated Prepaid Comparison chart.
4/1/2011: AT&T prepay now charging for international texting. Updated Prepaid Comparison chart.
March 2011
3/30/2011: Updated Tru info. Updated Prepaid Comparison chart. [thanks
bbr]
3/21/2010: The biggest wireless news in a long time happened
yesterday when
AT&T announced it was purchasing T-Mobile USA for approx $39B.
3/4/2011: Updated pagePlus info. Updated Unlimited
Prepaid Comparison chart. [thanks Tom]
February 2011
2/25/2011: 4Q2010 update (total connections)
To correct the way numbers are calculated, starting
this period the numbers are based on total connections (which means Verizon
Wireless numbers have been underreported until now)
Verizon: 102,200,000 total; 1,100,000 net adds
AT&T: 95,500,000 total; 2,800,000
net adds
Sprint:
49,910,000 total; 1,100,000 net adds
T-Mobile:
33,730,000 total; -23,000 (net loss)
MetroPCS:
8,155,000 total; 298,000 net adds
U.S.C:
6,072,000 total; -31,000 (net loss)
preliminary; USC official results 2/24
Leap:
5,530,000 total; 435,000 net adds
Leap numbers include 320K from Pocket Communications acquisition
Tracfone:
17,700,000 total; 1,100,000 net adds
(listing Tracfone separately since their numbers are built into the provider
numbers above)
[corrected USC losses]
2/5/2011: Added
Tru to the Prepaid Comparison chart.
Rates are now pretty good including 17c/MB data on the T-Mobile USA network.
Although there is no domestic USA roaming the SIM will work throughout the
world.
January 2011
01/03/2011: Updated PlatinumTel info. Updated Prepaid Comparison chart.
[thanks Efraim]
December 2010
12/27/2010: 4Q2010 update
AT&T: results 1/27/2011
12/25/2010: Updated pagePlus info. Updated Prepaid Comparison chart.
[thanks Class 1]
12/24/2010: Updated PlatinulTel, AT&T, Tmo info. Updated Prepaid Comparison chart.
[thanks boomerang & robert]
12/12/2010: PagePlus $80 refill now good for one year. Also
clarified PlatinumTel airtime rolling over for a max of one year. Updated
Prepaid Comparison chart.
November 2010
11/04/2010: 3Q2010 update
Verizon:
93,200,000 total; 997,000 net adds
AT&T: 92,800,000 total; 2,600,000
net adds
Sprint: 48,813,000 total;
644,000 net adds
MetroPCS:
7,900,000 total; 223,000 net adds
T-Mobile:
33,800,000 total; 137,000 net adds
U.S.C:
6,103,000 total; -41,000 (net loss)
Leap:
5,088,000 total; -200,000 (net loss)
Tracfone
- 16,700,000 total; 745,000 net adds
(listing Tracfone separately since their numbers are built into the provider
numbers above)
October 2010
10/17/2010: New T-Mobile prepay plans are live. Updated
Prepaid Comparison chart.
10/16/2010: Looking to put an Android on cheap prepaid data (or
NO data at all - many people are probably within WiFi range much of the time)?
That is the sweet spot! In addition, the Google Voice app on Android is
very usable so you can get away with no text plan fairly easily (no MMS though).
And with the hacked version of Skype you can use VOIP without using any voice
minutes (not quite ready for prime time but getting close)! I will look at the
cheapest data you can get away with. There are plenty of higher cost options !!!
T-Mobile Prepaid: Any T-Mobile USA or unlocked
850/1700/1900 GSM/UMTS phone. $1.49/day data (only on days of use) (throttled
after 30MB). 5c/10c text, 10c+ voice. T-Mobile USA coverage plus some roaming.
NO DATA PLAN REQUIRED.
AT&T Prepaid: Any AT&T or unlocked 850/1900 GSM/UMTS phone. Data is
$5/1MB, $20/100MB. Data rolls over. Text is $5/200, $10/1000 or $20/unlimited.
Voice is 10c. AT&T network only plus minimal roaming in the midwest. NO
DATA PLAN REQUIRED.
Boost Mobile: Motorola i1. $349.99. 5c/day data, 10c text, 10c voice. Sprint iDEN network only.
NO DATA PLAN REQUIRED.
Virgin Mobile: Samsung Intercept. $249.99.
$25/mo for unlimited text/data and 300 minutes. Sprint PCS network only.
Can't put this one on PAYG unfortunately.
10/9/2010:
New T-Mobile prepay plans coming 10/18. Web day pass as $1.49/day(any device
including smart phones). $1/day plan goes away. $30/1500 talk/text
combo/30MB, $50 unlimited talk/text/100MB and $70/unlimited talk/text/2GB
[updated].
10/03/2010: New
AT&T Gophone options officially start today. Basic PAYG goes from 25c/min to
10c/min to better compete with the rest of the prepaid industry. Package options
stay the same. The unlimited text/data is reduced from $3 to $2 a day that
you text/voice. New $75/mo unlimited text/data/200MB data. Updated the
Prepaid Comparison chart
10/03/2010: U.S. Cellular kicks off it's
Belief Project. Single line plans start at $50 a month. The plan reduces costs for
those that have all smart phones on a family plan but increases monthly costs for
many of those
on individual lines or on "mixed" dumb/smart phone family plans. The plan also
adds a point system that can be used for various things such upgrades and
forgiveness for missing a payment due date. The points can't easily be converted
to a cash equivalent which makes it difficult to directly compare to other
providers or even older USC plans. [revised]
September 2010
09/22/2010: Corrected PlatimumTel info on the
Prepaid Comparison chart.
[thanks Thar]
09/22/2010: Updated NH coverage area.
AT&T 3G updated. [Thanks Larry]
09/11/2010: Updated NH coverage area.
Updated ME coverage area.
09/11/28/2010: Updated My Stuff.
09/07/2010: Updated Roadrunner
page
(Coverage report Andover ME). U.S. Cellular's GSM 850 roaming network is live
(not much detail right now, but network is 310-730).
09/07/2010: Corrected Pageplus info on
Pageplus page. [thanks Ed]
August 2010
08/11/2010: 2Q2010 update
Verizon - 92,100,000 total; 1,400,000 net adds
AT&T - 90,100,000 total; 1,600,000
net adds
Sprint
- 48,200,000 total; 111,000 net adds
T-Mobile
- 33,600,000 total; -93,000 (net loss)
Tracfone
- 15,900,000 total; 460,000 net adds
MetroPCS
- 7,600,000 total; 303,000 net adds
U.S.C.
- 6,144,000 total; -3,000 (net loss)
Leap
- 5,288,000 total; -112,000 (net loss)
July 2010
07/27/2010: Pulled Airvoice CDMA from the
prepaid comparison chart as
the Verizon-based service is going away by end of year (to be replaced with
Sprint MVNO perhaps).
[thanks Big Blue 023]
07/22/2010: Corrected T-Mobile rates on
Prepaid Comparison chart.
[thanks Bob]
07/15/2010: Updated ME Coverage Area
chart - added Sprint coverage to Augusta and Bangor [thanks Jerry]
07/13/2010: Corrected PagePlus plans on
Hybrid Comparison chart.
[thanks Bob]
May 2010
05/31/20: Updated NH Coverage Area
Chart. Quite a bit of new 3G coverage for U.S. Cellular, AT&T, and
T-Mobile. Sprint stands out for having done basically nothing for years in what
seems to be a "third world country" in their book.
05/31/20: Working on a new data plan table. There are so many unlimited
and hybrids to keep track of and voice rates are so low as to be a commodity
now. Seems that getting deals on text and data are where the holes are
right now so that is where I am going to concentrate. See
newbie page for some updated info.
05/31/2010: PlatimumTel
has come out with a new PAYG plan (5c voice, 2c text, 10c MMS and 10c data). The
only catch is you have to use their phones and there are no HTML/Smartphone
capable handsets in the bunch to take advantage of the low data rate. There are
also hybrid and unlimited available. Sprint network only (no roaming).
05/16/2010: New T-Mobile prepay plans in effect. $15/month for unlimited text/mms and
10c voice. $50 unlimited voice/text. The downside is data. The new
data plan is pay by the hour. 99c. [update 5/31 - only a few select dumb phones
can use the 99c/hour data. No smartphones]
05/12/2010: 1Q2010 update
Verizon
- 92,800,000 total; 1,500,000 net adds
AT&T - 87,000,000 total;
1,900,000 net
adds
Sprint
- 48,100,000 total; -75,000 (net loss)
T-Mobile
- 33,700,000 total; -77,000 (net loss)
Tracfone -
15,500,000 total; 1,000,000 net adds
MetroPCS
- 7,300,000 total; 692,000 net adds
U.S.C. -
6,147,000 total; 6,000 net adds
Leap
- 5,400,000 total; 446,000 net adds
[thanks Ed & danny.boi]
05/04/2010: New Virgin Mobile plans revealed to take effect at the end of May.
Biggest news is Blackberry BIS add on for $10/month and three new phones
(Blackberry Curve $300, LG Rumor Touch $150 and Kyocera Loft $70). Downside of
course is no roaming.
April 2010
04/30/2010: PagePlus Canada roaming confirmed at 60c/min. Updated
Prepaid Comparison chart and
Hybrid Comparison chart.
4/20/2010: PagePlus unlimited plan price increase from $39.95 to
$44.95 effective May 18.
March 2010
3/28/2010: Updated My Stuff (VZW
shut down Unicel GSM in this area so that they could run CDMA/EV-DO on it).
Also pics of my the a855.
03/26/2010: Updated NH Coverage Area
chart - corrected MetroPCS roaming partner [thanks Mike]
03/24/2010: Cricket has
one-upped MetroPCS in a big way. Where as MetroPCS has free roaming on
U.S. Cellular nationwde, Cricket now has free roaming on Sprint nationwide.
That's big. You still have to reside in a Cricket service area to start
Cricket service.
03/24/2010: One of the Page Plus owners responds
here and that gives you the flavor of how the company is run. As of
right now Page Plus is still a great deal for PAYG. Their unlimited is not
exactly unlimited, if you hit their undocumented thresholds you get the boot off of
unlimited with no warning. If you talk hundreds of minutes a day, call forward
often, or have long data sessions, then I would avoid the unlimited plan and go
with another provider. You can not activate several smartphone brands or phones
that are sold for Verizon prepay. Other than that things seem to be stable. [upd
3/26]
03/19/2010: Page Plus appears to be going down the tubes, new drama on a daily
basis. I can no longer recommend them. If they do not come clean on what is
going on by early next week they are off the prepaid charts. Don't port your
postpaid or landline right now.
February 2010
02/25/2010: 4Q09 update
Verizon - 91,200,000 total; 2,200,000 net adds
AT&T - 85,100,000 total; 2,700,000 net
adds
Sprint
- 48,100,000 total; -200,000 (net loss)
T-Mobile - 33,800,000 total; 371,000 net adds
Tracfone -
14,400,000 total; 1,200,000 net adds
U.S.C. -
6,141,000 total; 10,000 net adds
MetroPCS
- 6,640,000 total; 317,000 net adds
Leap
- 4,950,000 total; 298,000 net adds
[thanks for the tip Ed]
2/20/2010: Updated Coverage
Report
page
(Coverage report Andover ME from last fall! )
2/19/2009: AT&T updated their coverage maps a couple days ago. Nothing much
changed in the northeast.
02/06/2009: Updated VT coverage area
with AT&T 3g areas [thanks Travis]. Also updated
NH coverage area. Corrected USC
coverage map link.
02/05/2010: PagePlus is making several unannounced changes (such as denying
smartphone activations). They are not stable right
now, not sure what is going on. Be careful!
02/03/2010: PagePlus lowered roaming rates from 59c down to 29c.
Unsure if this includes Canada. Updated
Prepaid Comparison chart and
Hybrid Comparison chart.
January 2010
01/31/2010: Updated My Stuff (VZW
activated EV/DO on PCS band F in my area - probably spells the end of Unicel GSM
which was just there to hold the license anyways). Updated various devices.
01/27/2010: Apple's big announcement today is the iPAD which is basically a
large screen iPhone without the phone that runs WiFi or AT&T 3g.
01/25/2010: Fixed the year of the last couple of updates [thanks
Paul]. Also corrected PagePlus rates on the
Prepaid Comparison chart
[thanks JW]
01/20/2010:
Pageplus lowered its basic airtime rates making it even a better deal.
Airtime good for 120 days. $10/100 min; $25/400 (6c/min); $50/1000 (5c/min);
$80/2000 (4c/min).
01/20/2010: Tracfone specials:
(A) Free ground shipping on phone orders of $19.99+ (B) Get free accessory kit
with the purchase of a Tracfone. Promo code 88160. Add phone to cart and add
promo code at checkout.
(C) Get $3 off on any phone or accessory $19.99 or more with coupon code 23444.
You can add both codes (one at a time). [Thanks Sean]
(D) New LG 290c (CDMA) available for $49.99 that includes double minutes. You
will have to use a zipcode that has CDMA phones such as
04655.
(E) New LG 600g (GSM) available for $19.99 that includes double minutes.
(Limited markets)
(F) 200 bonus minutes on the one year airtime card with bonus code online (total
650 min/reg phone; 1000 min/double min phones - for
$99.99)
(G) 250 bonus minutes on the one year double minute card with bonus code online (total 1050 minutes for
$125.99)
December 2009
12/20/2009: AT&T is
turning on 3G throughout VT the next two weeks. Naturally the maps have not
been updated to reflect it. Word on the street is that
Bennington, Brattleboro, Killington, White River Junction
have been on about a week with Burlington to go live any day now [thanks
Sweeper]
12/11/2009: Revised prepaid chart.
Deleted Alltel U; Updated PagePlus max per minute rate from 12c to 10c. [fixed
thanks sabojo]
November 2009
11/05/2009: 3Q09 update
Verizon - 89,000,000 total; 1,200,000 net adds
AT&T - 81,600,000 total; 2,000,000 net
adds
Sprint
- 48,300,000 total; -500,000 (net loss)
T-Mobile - 33,400,000 total; -77,000 (net loss)
Tracfone -
13,200,000 total; 712,000 net adds
MetroPCS
- 6,322,000 total; 66,000 net adds
U.S.C.
- 6,131,000 total; -24,000 (net loss)
Virgin - N/A -
purchased by Sprint
Leap
- 4,656,000 total; 116,000 net adds
October 2009
10/26/2009: Looking for a Boost i776? It's
available for sale.
10/24/2009: Need a Net10 LG 600G phone with 130 minutes
remaining? It's
available for sale.
10/24/2009: Help create an
SMS shortcode white list for
Google Voice.
10/22/2009: Corrected PagePlus unlimited plan cost [thanks
wp74]
10/19/2009: Reviews of the upcoming
Motorola Droid indicate we may really see something big here. Is that why
Verizon is thumbing their nose at the iPhone lately? We'll have to wait and see.
[thanks for the boygeniusreport link jason]
10/19/2009:
Sprint agrees to purchase iPCS. No surprise there. Did anyone really think
that Sprint would divest iDEN and WiMax in just one regional market?
10/19/2009: Updated Boost to include call waiting as an available
feature. Prepaid Comparison Chart
and Unlimited
Comparison Chart updated. Got a Boost text today saying its now available
(has been broken for years for many of us). [thanks jac1599]
10/18/2009: Continued developing the
Unlimited
Comparison Chart. Added Virgin, Boost, Metro, Cricket, PlatinumTel and AT&T.
Feedback appreciated.
10/17/2009: Started
Unlimited
Comparison Chart. Starting with Unlimited Talk 'n Text and Straight Talk.
Feedback appreciated.
10/17/2009: 3Q09 update. AT&T to announce 10/22
10/8/2009: Page Plus Cellular once again sets the standard for
great plans. The
Talk n Text 1200 plan starts tomorrow (10/9). For $30 a
month you get 1200 minutes, 1200 texts and 50MB of data to use while on the
Verizon Wireless network. If you roam on other networks then minutes cost
59c, SMS is still included, but data will not work (including MMS).
10/1/2009: U.S Cellular finally has a decent
coverage viewer tool! Had to update coverage chart for NH and ME. A lot of coverage
is still 1x.
September 2009
9/27/2009: Updated NH,
ME and
VT coverage charts
(USC has EVDO deployed across most of NH and ME. Maps are not updated. I finally
modified my e815 PRL to pick up USC 3G.
9/18/2009: Updated NH coverage charts
(Tmo turned on a great deal more 3G, various updates)
9/13/2009: Rumors are that T-Mobile USA's corporate parent,
Deutsche Telekom, is
working on a bid for Sprint Nextel.
9/13/2009: Sprint Nextel comes out with a
M2M for all networks
9/13/2009: Annual trip to Andover ME reveals that Verizon has
full EV/DO throughout the area, and that GSM is degraded (basically from poor to
unusable). I have yet to load a USC PRL to check their EV/DO coverage. Leave
your iPhones at home.
August 2009
08/10/2009: 2Q09 update
Verizon
- 87,700,000 total; 1,100,000 net adds
|
AT&T
- 79,600,000 total; 1,400,000 net adds
Sprint
- 48,800,000 total; -427,000 (net loss)
T-Mobile
- 33,500,000 total; 325,000 net adds
Tracfone -
12,500,000 total; 730,000 net adds
U.S.C.
- 6,155,000 total; -88,000 (net loss)
Virgin
- 4,978,000 total; -269,000 (net loss)
MetroPCS
- 6,256,000 total; 193,000 net adds
Leap
- 4,540,000 total; 203,000 net adds
(corrected USC 11/5/2009)
08/07/2009: PagePlus today releases the
best unlimited prepay in the industry. $40 for unlimited text, unlimited
voice and 20MB of data. Downside is that MMS costs 10c/each+data. Data overages
are 60c/MB. I will add an unlimited chart at some point but it changes almost
daily!
July 2009
7/29/2009: Sprint
announces it will acquire Virgin Moble USA. It looks like Sprint is trying
to compete in the prepaid world in order to gain new subscribers.
7/27/2009: Updated NH coverage charts
(Claremont NH now has native T-Mobile coverage - thanks Sweeper)
7/26/2009: I have started a prepaid text and
data plan page. Please provide feedback.
7/26/2009: USCC has started turning on EV/DO in the New England
market starting 7/15. Official rollout expected in August. Some areas people
have confirmed: ME: Augusta, Bangor, Bar Harbor, Brownfield, Ellsworth, Norway,
Oxford, Presque Isle, Yarmouth NH: Ossipee. Will confirm southern NH
when I manage to load up a compatible PRL.
7/25/2009: Updated ME
and NH coverage charts
7/5/2009: Tracfone specials:
(A) Get $3 off on any phone or accessory $19.99 or more with coupon code 23444
(B) Free ground shipping on phone orders of $19.99+
(C) Various airtime deals
7/5: Revised prepaid chart.
Other chart updates in progress
June 2009
6/14/2009: Updated NY
and NH coverage charts
6/7/2009:
- Changed CellGuru Sales to
CellGuru
Auctions which links to my eBay items for sale. I have a few phones I will
be putting up soon
- Also replaced the RCR Wireless Button with Wireless Week.
My Stuff updated with i465 and s1300
- Updated Maine coverage chart
May 2009
5/17/09: Several Updates
AT&T GoPhone now has a $3/day plan for unlimited voice calling only on the days
where a voice call is billed.
New native T-Mobile coverage in Plattsburgh and Malone NY; WRJ/Lebanon,
NH; Burlington VT Int'l Airport [thanks i0wnj00].
Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile have released an unlimited prepay voice plan for
$50.
Rumors and photos of the upcoming Blackberry Storm 2 are out
iPhone version 3 is rumored to be released soon
Today at 8AM all Unicel GSM customers in NH/MA/ME are transitioned over to the
Verizon Wireless CDMA/EVDO network. The GSM network is now a roamer-only system.
5/11/09: 1Q09 update
Verizon
- 86,600,000 total; 1,300,000 net adds
AT&T
- 78,200,000 total; 1,200,000 net adds
Sprint
- 49,100,000 total; -182,000 (net loss)
T-Mobile
- 33,200,000 total; 415,000 net adds
Tracfone -
11,759,000 total; 567,000 net adds
U.S.C.
- 6,243,000 total; 47,000 net adds
Virgin
- 5,247,000 total; -133,000 (net loss)
MetroPCS
- 6,050,000 total; 384,000 net adds
Leap -
4,337,000 total; 493,000 net adds
5/7/09:
Updated
My Stuff
MetroPCS came and went.
March 2009
3/29/09: Will be updating the charts with o2 and possibly some
other providers. Looking to start an unlimited chart as well.
3/8/09:
Updated
My Stuff
Added Nokia e71, BB Storm 9530 and Moto i776 pics
3/1/09: PagePlus officially announces WAP/Web/Data access for $1.20/MB. Brew
applications are expected shortly.
http://www.pagepluscellular.com
3/1/09: 4Q08 update
AT&T - 77,000,000 total; 2,100,000 net
adds
Verizon
- 72,100,000 total; 1,200,000 net adds
Sprint
- 49,300,000
total; -1,100,000 (net loss)
T-Mobile -
32,800,000 total; 621,000 net adds
Alltel -
Tracfone -
11,200,000 total; 743,000 net adds
U.S.C. -
6,200,000 total; 20,000 net adds
Virgin -
5,380,000 total; 216,000 net adds
MetroPCS - 5,367,000
total; 520,000 net adds
Boost -
Leap - 3,840,000 total;
385,000 net adds
February 2009
2/20/09: T-Mobile is test marketing a
$50 unlimited voice plan in San Francisco.
2/15/09: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
Virgin Mobile text rates jump to 15c. The T&C have been changed so those people
that had 5c or 10c rates are no longer grandfathered. Everyone pays 15c unless
you sign up for a text package.
2/14/09: For upcoming items check out the
Guru Sales Page.
2/14/09: Tracfone specials:
(A) Refurb Moto v170 phone with 60 minute card and 60 minute bonus $19.99
(B) Moto w375 bluetooth camera phone with double minutes for life $29.99
(C) 200 bonus minutes on the one year airtime card (total 600 minutes for
$99.99)
(D) 200 bonus minutes on the one year double minute card (total 1000 minutes for
$139.99)
(E) Get $3 off on any phone or accessory $19.99 or more with coupon code 23444
(F) Free ground shipping on phone orders of $19.99+
2/14/09: Updated the Coverage
Area charts.
2/14/09: PagePlus specials: “Buy one get one” and a “Buy one get two”
offer online at
http://www.pagepluscellular.com
2/12/09: Verizon Wireless announces
Friends & Family starting 2/15. Unlimited calling to five numbers on
single lines that have 900+ minutes and ten numbers on family plans that have
1400+ minutes.
2/10/09: USC has shut down TDMA and AMPS network-wide. That's the
last of it here in New England and likely for most of the country.
2/10/09: Nokia to sell the
e63 unlocked
phone for $279 at retail centers. It's basically a watered down
e71 (no GPS, 3G
is UMTS only, plastic & thicker, no side buttons). However it should start a
price war for full-retail phones.
2/10/09: Verizon is expected to
[bg link] revamp their prepay plans tomorrow. The MVNO's don't have too much
to worry about however. New PAYG matches AT&T (25c voice/20c text). Messaging
bundles $10/250&M2M, $20/unlimited. Hybrids revamped. [thanks offthegrid]
[turns out true]
2/7/09: MetroPCS launched service in NYC and the Boston metro (Worcester,
Providence, and Manchester) on 2/4. Service is provided on the new AWS band
(1700 MHz). If I find one of their AWS phones with field test I'll be testing
[thanks offthegrid]
2/1/09: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
January 2009
1/26/09: News from VT
New Verizon Wireless towers on the top of Stratton and Magic Mountains in SVT
yielding a better signal throughout Bondville, Winhall, Londonderry and the
surrounding towns [thanks Rob]
A drive through VT this past weekend shows that AT&T prepaid phones now display
AT&T and work! The MNC is still 310-890. AT&T wasted no time cutting TDMA
and AMPS. They were working a few weeks ago before AT&T took over but no longer.
1/26/09: USC Customers were notified that TDMA/AMPS would be shut
off at the end of February. [thanks Fred]
1/26/09: Sprint to cut 8000 jobs and announce 4Q08 stats on 2/19,
a week earlier than planned.
1/20/09: Corrected links
page [thanks sarah]
1/17/09: May 17 is the date that Verizon is pulling the plug on
its GSM customers in NH/ME/MA. Anyone that has not transitioned to CDMA by that
time will lose service. Customers are offered a free phone (but I don't know the
model). The GSM network will remain active for roamers.
1/16: Boost Mobile is releasing a new
unlimited calling plan for $49.99 starting 1/22 with no extra taxes or fees.
Unlimited voice, text, web and walkie-talkie. [thanks offthegrid]
1/9/09: AT&T has added it's new Unicel coverage areas to it's phones. GoPhone
users now have coverage on the Unicel networks in VT, NY and WA.
1/8/09: Verizon has completed it's acquisition of Alltel.
1/5/09: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
Corrected PagePlus info [thanks John]
1/3/09: Upgraded the forum software, please use the new link to
the left. You might have to request your password. You can now self-register.
December 2008
12/24/08: Tracfone specials: now has
free ground shipping on ALL orders
12/24/08: AT&T took over the Unicel GSM network in VT and NY on
Monday. Current Unicel customers are grandfathered for up to one year. AT&T
plans and phones to be available in January and store rebranding to be done by
the end of February. 75 new positions to be filled in VT more than doubling the
current staff at the 10 retail locations in the state.
12/24/08: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
Further corrections to SpeakOut (monthly fee of $2.14 charged every month
regardless of use [thanks Analogman]
12/17/08: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
and Hybrid
Comparison Chart.
Corrected PagePlus and Verizon Inpulse info
[thanks Bob]
Updated SpeakOut monthly fee to $2.14 [thanks Analogman]
12/14/08: Just returned from 2.5 days without power thanks to the biggest ice
storm power outage in the history of NH (420K). It was a great opportunity to
see how the various providers dealt with the outage. This is a snapshot of one
location so don't look to much into this. The two longstanding providers here,
Verizon and U.S. Cellular remained on the air through the entire time. USC's
TDMA and analog systems remained up as well! AT&T was hit and miss. Hard to tell
if any towers were out. T-Mobile still has no power at my nearest tower. I had
no signal for a few hours but they managed to get some towers back up. The
nearest two Sprint towers were dark. I did eventually get a weak signal and I
got a usable signal back in 1.5 days. Nextel was completely dead for a day then
was back to normal.
12/14: Tracfone specials: now has
free ground shipping on phone orders of $19.99+
[thanks Eric]
November 2008
11/30: Tracfone specials:
(A) Refurb Moto w370 phone with double minutes for life $19.99
(B) 250 bonus minutes on the one year airtime card (total 650 minutes for
$99.99)
(c) 250 bonus minutes on the one year double minute card (total 1050 minutes for
$139.99)
(D) Get $3 off on any phone or accessory $19.99 or more with coupon code 23444
(E) Free ground shipping on phone orders of $35+
11/30: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
Corrected PagePlus rates [thanks Tom].
Corrected AT&T prepaid text/data rates.
STI Mobile activation fee is back.
11/28: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
T-Mobile prepay text rates did not change after all. The T-Mobile website
was corrected
11/23:
Updated Hybrid
Comparison Chart
Deleted Lucky Wireless. Too unreliable.
11/23: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
STI Mobile no longer has activation feee for new plans. [thanks Lawrence]
11/18:
Updated Hybrid
Comparison Chart
U.S. Cellular axes the useless $25/100 minute plan [thanks Brent]
11/18: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
T-Mobile prepay text rates changed. Sending, receiving and MMS are all 20c.
Current users are grandfathered for the time being. [thanks Eric and
James]
11/11: 3Q08 update
AT&T
- 74,900,000 total; 2,000,000 net adds
Verizon -
70,800,000 total; 2,100,000 net adds
(includes 630K customers from acquisition of Unicel)
Sprint - 50,500,000
total; -1,300,000 (net loss)
T-Mobile
- 32,100,000 total; 293,000 net adds
Alltel - 13,825,000 total;
335,000 net adds
Tracfone -
10,400,000 total; 341,000 net adds
U.S.C. - 6,200,000 total; -18,000
(net loss)
Virgin - 5,200,000 total;
-3,000 (net loss)
MetroPCS - 4,850,000 total;
249,000 net adds
Leap - 3,460,000 total;
156,000 net adds
(Ed - thanks for the tip on Trac and Virgin)
11/07: AT&T to purchase Centennial Wireless which is expected to
close 2Q09. Centennial serves portions of the Midwest, the Southeast, Puerto
Rico and the Virgin Islands
October 2008
10/25: Tracfone specials:
(A) Moto w376g phone with double minutes for life reduced to $29.99 (no
airtime card)
(B) CellGuru special: Get $3 off on any phone or accessory $19.99 or more with
coupon code 23444 (good through 10/31/2008)
(C) Free ground shipping still in effect
10/25: The Verizon version of the iPhone killer is the
Blackberry Storm which is due to be released 11/10.
10/25: The HTC
Touch Pro is slated to come out 11/2 for Sprint.
10/9: Starting 11/1 Verizon Wireless will start charging content providers (e.g.
Google, sports scores, news, stocks) 3c for every SMS they send to a Verizon
Wireless customer. This will likely shut down these alerts until the content
providers can switch to premium texting or find some other way to pass on the
cost to customers. After the expected huge backlash from content providers
Verizon is back peddling saying the 3c fee is not final and was not meant to be
released to the public. [no longer going to happen]
10/9: AT&T GoPhone "downgrades" effective 11/12. PAYG and PYP lose the unlimited
text and data $20 bundles. In addition, pay-per-use text will increase to 20c
each.
10/8: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
Boost Mobile lowers basic prepay
rate to 10c anytime [thanks Erica]
September 2008
9/28: Tracfone specials:
(A) CellGuru special: Get $3 off on any phone or accessory $19.99 or more with
coupon code 23444 (good through 10/31/2008)
(B) Free ground shipping still in effect
(C) Reconditioned Moto w370 phone with double minutes for life $19.99 (no
airtime card)
9/24: Tracfone specials:
Free 3-day ground shipping on any order of $35+.
(A) Double minute one year card includes 1000 minutes (thru 9/30 but likely
extended)
(B) One year card includes 600 minutes (thru 9/30)
(C) Moto w376g, camera phone, double minutes, $49.99
(D) LG 225, camera phone, double minutes, and 450 minutes good for one year, $99.99
9/24: T-Mobile has announced the details of the Google Android G1 Phone which
will be released in October. You can pre-order today (if eligible for an
upgrade) for $189 with two year contract. It will require a $25 data/200 text
plan or a $35 data/unlimited text plan. You will not be using your $5.99 T-Zones
plan for this phone. T-Mobile announced a 1GB/month soft cap but with the
backlash from power users they have quietly removed the limit in their wording.
9/17: Tracfone specials:
(A) Double minute one year card includes 1000 minutes (thru 9/23 but likely
extended)
(B) One year card includes 600 minutes (thru 9/23)
(C) Moto w376g, camera phone, double minutes, $49.99
(D) LG 225, camera phone, double minutes, and 450 minutes good for one year, $99.99
9/17: AT&T Push to Talk reduced to $5/month, which matches Verizon's price.
Sprint remains at $10.
9/5: Updated Newbie U
page
(Don't get too excited, baby steps!)
9/5: Updated Unicel
page and associated Northeast
map
(with divesture area)
9/1: Updated Roadrunner
page
(Coverage report Andover ME)
August 2008
8/28: Tracfone specials:
(A) Double minute one year card includes 1000 minutes
(B) One year card includes 550 minutes
(C) Moto w376g, camera phone, double minutes, $49.99
(D) LG 225, camera phone, double minutes, and 450 minutes good for one year, $99.99
8/28: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
Updated TracFone info [thanks BillD]
8/20: 2Q08 update
AT&T - 72,900,000 total; 1,300,000
net adds
Verizon - 68,700,000 total; 1,500,000 net adds
Sprint - 51,900,000 total;
-901,000 (net loss)
T-Mobile - 31,500,000 total; 668,000 net
adds
Alltel - 13,490,000 total;
320,000 net adds
U.S.C. - 6,200,000 total;
16,000 net adds
MetroPCS - 4,600,000 total; 184,000 net adds
Leap - 3,300,000 total;
171,000 net adds
Unicel
- 791,000 total;
1,000 net adds
8/15: T-Mobile to offer
first Android smartphone, with launch in the 4Q08 timeframe.
8/14: i425 giveaway! Congratulations to Chris Norton who
has won the Cellguru i425 give away with the following suggestion:
I'd like to see Newbie U updated and maybe a
Tech/Update/Mod/Tip of the week section added with hints and tips to get the
most out of whatever phone is chosen for the week
Chris, the i425 will go out early next week. Thanks
for all that participated (some suggestions were similar) and thanks to my panel
(L.Za and M.Mogul) who were unanimous with the decision. Now I have to figure
out how to actually implement this!
8/12: T-Mobile to change text rates starting 8/29/2008: It will be 20c to send
or receive. Text packages are not affected unless you exceed your package
maximum. [thanks Bill]
8/11: i425 giveaway! The deadline of 8/10 has passed and the
entries are being evaluated. It's not that easy, there are several great ideas!
I have a few other folks helping with this. Thanks for all that offered the
suggestions. The winner will be announced in the next few days.
8/11: Tracfone specials:
(A) Double minute one year card includes 1000 minutes through 8/19/2008 (has
been extended a few times already)
(B) One year card includes 550 minutes through 8/19/2008
(C) Moto w376g, camera phone, double minutes, $49.99
(D) LG 225, camera phone, double minutes, and 450 minutes good for one year, $99.99
8/7: Verizon Wireless completes the
purchase of RCC/Unicel.
8/6: Cleaned up
coverage area charts. Correct
Sprint 3G areas [thanks Jason]
8/6: Removed 7-11 SpeakOut Wireless link as there is no website
or information page any longer [thanks Gordon]
8/5: Corrected Boost text rates on prepaid charts [thanks Eric]
8/1: Verizon purchase of Unicel has been approved by the FCC so
it should happen quickly.
July 2008
7/22: Tracfone specials:
(A) Double minute one year card includes 1000 minutes through 7/22/2008 (has
been extended several times)
(B) One year card includes 600 minutes through 8/5/2008
(C) Moto w376g, bluetooth, camera phone, double minutes, $49.99
7/22:
Virgin Mobile
rolls out unlimited voice plan for $79.99/month. No contract. Does NOT include text or data.
Limited to Sprint PCS network only.
7/22:
Net10 rolls out unlimited voice plan for $79.98/month. No contract. Includes
unlimited text. It's not clear whether roaming partners are included but it
appears so.
7/20: OK, here is a CellGuru first. Brought to you by the good
people that support the site by purchasing from my links and ads. I am giving
away a Boost Mobile i425t. It was my Boost test phone for a few months and is in
good shape. There are some light scratches on the display from being bounced
around with my other test phones. Buy hey, free is free :) Anyways here is
the deal. The phone goes to whoever gives me the best suggestion for improving
this website. The decision is mine although I will consult my team of gurus. The
deadline for the suggestion is August 1st, the day the FCC rules on the Verizon
Wireless/Unicel deal. The winner will be announced within a few days after that.
SUBMIT HERE
(a couple rules: winner must reside in the US with a
US shipping address, package will contain phone, SIM starter kit and charger,
and will be sent via the ground shipping method of my choosing. If you want the
entire packaging or a specific shipping method then the winner will pay any
additional cost)
7/18: The FCC will finally
vote on the VZW buyout of Unicel on 8/1.
7/18: Cleaned up
coverage area charts.
7/17: Updated
coverage report
page.
NNY and Central Adirondack reports
7/10: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
Updated PagePlus info
7/9: I just ordered the Boost i335 so there will be a i425 available soon.
7/9: PagePlus has activated MMS, but
at the staggering cost of 40c *PLUS* data ($1.20/MB). For the max size 500KB
attachment the cost would be $1. WAP is still being worked out but it will
cost $1.20/MB. Along with this the $80 refill appears to be dropped and there
are rumors of reduced value on the larger refills. Very disappointing.
7/8:
Updated Hybrid
Comparison Chart
Updated Verizon Inpulse: $100 card good for a year; daily charge only when voice
call made or received [thanks Al]
June 2008
6/22: Tracfone specials:
(A) Double minute one year card includes 1000 minutes through 7/8/2008
(B) One year card includes 600 minutes through 6/30/2008
(C) Moto w376g, camera phone, double minutes, $49.99
6/22: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
Updated Boost info [thanks Berthold]
6/16: Apple announced the 3G iPhone last week but it will not ship until 7/11.
Phone price is reduced by $200 but the data plan increases by $10/month (for a
net cost increase of $40 over the two year mandatory contract). Many new
features, but still no MMS for some reason.
6/16: Sprint revamps plans. Many of the new family plan options are cheaper than
comparable offerings from AT&T and Verizon. Free Incoming plans were quietly
deleted. At the low end you are still better off with prepaid.
6/16: PagePlus now has on-line
account management (refills, features, call logs). Still no MMS or data
however.
6/16: Updated links page
[Added
www.prepaid-wireless-guide.com]
6/5: It's official and has been a pretty well kept secret until yesterday.
Verizon Wireless will purchase Alltel for a projected aggregate value of
$28.1B, subject to FCC and DOJ approval of course.
6/4:
Verizon Wireless in negotiations to buy Alltel for $27B
6/4: T-Mobile one ups the competition in the unlimited voice and text plan with
"Family Time Unlimited". $150 for two lines and up to 3 more lines for $50 each
6/4: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
Reworded Tmobile airtime expiration terms. [thanks Sanford]
6/1: Boost Mobile will start charging 10c to receive texts starting 7/23.
May 2008
5/21: Tracfone specials:
(A) Moto v170 $30 including 120 minutes and 90 days of service
(B) Free shipping on phone & phone bundles of $35 and above through 6/30/2008.
5/21: Net10 specials:
(A) Refurb Moto v171 $19.99 including 300 minutes and 60 days of service
(B) Refurb Nokia 1600 $30 including 60 minutes and 120 days of service
(C) Free shipping on phone & phone bundles of $35 and above through 6/30/2008.
[thanks mharris127]
5/16: Tracfone specials:
(A) 1 yr 600 min $100 promo code 50376 exp 5/19 [expired]
(B) 1 yr 950 min $140 double min promo code 57349 exp 5/19 [expired]
(C) W370, access., double minutes, $50
5/15: 1Q08 update
AT&T - 71,400,000 total;
1,300,000 net adds
Verizon - 67,200,000 total; 1,500,000 net adds
Sprint -
52,800,000 total; -1,000,000 (net loss)
T-Mobile - 30,800,000 total; 2,100,000 net adds
(total includes 1.1M from Suncom)
Alltel - 13,170,000
total; 385,000 net adds
U.S.C. - 6,200,000 total;
80,000 net adds
Unicel - 790,000 total;
-1,000 (net loss)
5/8: Virgin Mobile and Helio are in merger talks according to
several sources.
5/5: T-Mobile unleashes
3G in NYC.
5/5: Various rumors about Sprint PCS (1)
spinning off Nextel and (2) about
Deutsche Telekom making a bid (or hostile takeover)
5/5: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
Updated Hybrid
Comparison Chart
Corrected various GoPhone data [thanks raderator]
5/4: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
Tracfone 70 minute card has expiration of only 60 days, causing the chart to
change.
5/3: Tracfone specials updated.
Mother's Day Bundle: LG 225, accessory pack, double minutes, free shipping,
$49.99.
5/2: AT&T GoPhone Pay As You Go adds the $20/month unlimited data
add-on (still unadvertised)
April 2008
4/27: Updated Hybrid
Comparison Chart
T-Mobile released a new hybrid plan. $1/day (on days you make or receive a voice
call), 10c airtime, unlimited m2m, unlimited nights (7pm-7am). [corrected 4/29
thanks Steve].
4/27: May add info on Oxygen and T-Mobile FlexPay in the future
4/22: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
Updated Hybrid
Comparison Chart
AlltelU has some free roaming on USC [thanks hatman].
4/21: AMPS/TDMA Watch:
AMPS can be retired as of 2/19/2008
VZW AMPS: Shut down
2/22
most (if not all) systems are shut down
AT&T TDMA/AMPS: Shut down
3/5
most (if not all) systems are shut down
USC AMPS/TDMA:
shutdown in October 2008
according to one report
Alltel AMPS:
shutdown in 3 phases 4/16/08
(south), 6/30 (11 states), 9/31 (remaining 14 states)
Unicel AMPS:
Shutdown starts
5/20/08
4/21: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
Tracfone info updated [thanks raderator].
Boost min/month updated [thanks Don]
4/5:
Updated
My Stuff
Revised phone info
4/5: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
Corrected Tmo2Go Int'l rates [HoFo]
4/3: Tracfone specials updated.
Nothing eventful.
4/3: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
Updated Airvoice CDMA min cost [thanks Bob]
4/2: Updated 3/28: 4Q07 update
AT&T - 70,100,000 total; 2,700,000 net adds
(total includes 1.7M from Dobson)
Verizon - 65,700,000 total; 2,000,000 net adds
Sprint - 53,800,000 total; -107,000 net loss
T-Mobile - 28,700,000 total; 951,000 net adds
Alltel -
12,785,000 total; 338,000 net adds
U.S.C. - 6,100,000 total;
55,000 net adds
Unicel -
791,000 total;
0 net adds
March 2008
3/28: Updated Virgin Mobile rates [thanks Gon4Frin2 and others]
3/28: Tracfone specials updated.
One year card $10 off until 3/31. Free 3-day ship on phone orders of $35 and up
3/4: Corrected
Tmo2Go page
[thanks Ed]
3/1: Updated
T-Mo prepaid maps [thanks Tom]
February 2008
2/28: Sprint announces
Simply Everything plan for $100,
voice, data, NAV, TV, music, etc. No tethering and no discounts on this plan.
There are a couple other changes as well, but no $30 add-on lines that people
have been waiting for.
2/28: Tracfone specials updated.
Loss of a couple deals
2/28: Updated
PagePlus page [thanks Paul]
2/28: Virgin Mobile updates its plans. The traditional
prepay minute rate increases from 18 to 20c/minute. Some monthly packages are
improved. Will update the charts when I have some time [thanks Eric]
2/26: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
GoPhone PAYG Int'l text sending is now 25c. Note I am currently being charged
15c for some reason.
2/22: Updated Hybrid
Comparison Chart
Corrected PagePlus 24/7 pricing (now $75) [thanks Aleksandr]
2/20: U.S. Cellular joins the $99.99 unlimited bandwagon. Alltel? Sprint? Rumor
is that Sprint is mulling going even lower. Don't know what they are waiting
for.
2/20: Tracfone specials updated.
$50 gets you a W370 and double minutes for life.
2/19: The price war is on! Unlimited voice calling for
$99.99 on Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile. Sprint was testing this option but is now
caught playing catch up after the surprise Verizon Wireless move. This is more a
perception issue as the number of people to take advantage of it is probably
small. However I bet some take the opportunity to figure out how a way to
resell the airtime. What people really want is the unlimited family plan for
$100 and that is not happening today.
2/17:
Engadget thinks they have the scoop on the unlimited Verizon plans starting
2/19! [thanks Jason]
2/16:
Petition to deny the Verizon buyout of Unicel entered on 2/11 as expected.
The petition wants to go above and beyond the law and force divesture of any
GSM850 MHz coverage area in VT where Verizon has any current service. If
they can't have that, they demand Verizon to be forced to keep GSM going for at
least six years.
2/16: Rumors galore about something happening at VZW on 2/19. Speculation from
new phones to changes in employee compensation to an unlimited calling plan. Ad
on
USA TODAY shows unlimited calling for $99.99.
2/16: Tracfone specials updated.
2/11: Blackberry
8330 Curve (CDMA) revealed [thanks Jason]
2/11: Not a good day for T-Mobile USA.
Microsoft to acquire Danger, putting into question the future of the
Sidekick and likely ending exclusivity. Also,
Starbucks WiFi agreement being moved from T-Mo to AT&T.
2/10: Updated non-camera phone page
2/10: Updated email to cell page
Added Virgin Mobile USA SMS address
2/9 Started phone review pages.
Feel free to comment in the forum.
2/9:
Updated
My Stuff
M1000 (WildCard obtained)
2/9: Updated Hybrid
Comparison Chart
Added SpeakOut $40 night/weekend plan
Updated Inpulse Rates [thanks Ian]
2/9: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
Corrected Tmo2Go activation ($10 SIM kit) [thanks Steven]
Added disclaimer on $5 SpeakOut refill.
2/8: Tracfone specials updated.
$140 double minute one-year card now includes 1000 min
2/8: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
Corrected SpeakOut rates again [thanks analogman]
Corrected Tmo roaming rate (rate almost doubled at 99c/min in CA) [thanks Ed]
2/2: Tracfone specials updated.
$20 gets you a NEW phone plus two 60 minute cards. Free
shipping until 2/14 too! Great deal!
2/2: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
Corrected SpeakOut rates [thanks remusrm]
2/2: Updated Hybrid
Comparison Chart
Added pagePlus plans [thanks Sasha]
January 2008
1/25: Updated Hybrid
Comparison Chart
Renamed Venture Mobile to Lucky Wireless [thanks Victor]
1/22: Updated city charts with 3G info (EV/DO & HSDPA) [
NH | VT |
ME |
MA |
RI | CT | NY ]
1/22:
Verizon Wireless To Purchase SureWest Communications’ Wireless Assets In
Northern California
1/20: [unconfirmed]
Verizon purchases the 850 MHz Cellular A-Band in Litchfield Co CT from Alltel,
expected to close 2/29/2008.
1/20: Tracfone specials updated.
Just a couple adjustments for the next week.
1/19: Updated
NH coverage chart
[thanks necellularsites]
1/18: Sprint stock loses 25% of value on news of horrible 4Q07 (full results
expected 2/28)
1/16: AT&T will
raise the price of texting to 20c/SMS starting 3/30. That is just highway
robbery, but they are following Verizon who followed Sprint.
1/15: AT&T increases night & weekend minutes on the PYP $50 plan from 1000 to
3000. Updated Hybrid
Comparison Chart
[thanks Gon4Frin2, nice catch]
1/14: Native Verizon service detected in Arlington VT (at least some of the
Route 7 towers are on) [thanks Jim]. Updated
coverage report
page.
1/11: Tracfone specials updated.
Just a couple price adjustments for the next week.
1/11:
TheStreet
is reporting buzz that Sprint PCS is going to report a record loss of 500,000
customers in 4Q07. Other estimates include AT&T adding 2-4-2.7M new subscribers
and Verizon adding 1.9M.
1/7:
AT&T
revamping data plans 1/20. Soft limit on tether of 5GB/month. One warning then
data will be cancelled with ETF. Lots of people must be trying to use this as a
cable/DSL replacement. Sounds like there will be more checking on correct data
plans based on your current device.
1/7: Verizon preparing to launch 1900 MHz service in the
Bennington VT
area. This will provide continuous native service on Rt. 7 from Rutland to the
MA line [thanks Eric].
1/5: Verizon will
raise the price of texting to 20c/SMS starting 3/2. That is just highway
robbery, but they are following Sprint PCS who recently led the way back on
10/1/2007.
1/5: Verizon's Keene system on-line 1/1/2008 and is running EV/DO [thanks Mark]. Updated
coverage report
page.
1/3: Verizon has finally turned on its 1900 MHz system in the Keene area. New
native coverage along Rt 9 from Brattleboro VT to Keene NH. Not sure about the
Keene to Peterborough section. [thanks Chris]
December 2007
12/27: I am switching my host server so you may have intermittent access to the
site over the next day or two. I may have to switch to different forum software
with the host server switch [delayed indefinitely]
12/27: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
Updated providers that did not make the chart.
12/25: Tracfone specials fixed.
I had the promo codes mixed up [thanks and sorry Jules]
12/22: Sprint PCS in the process of building out North Conway, NH. This resort
area is getting native coverage from all providers (except AT&T). [thanks
offthegrid]
12/22: Tracfone specials updated.
Constant changes! Free ship until 1/2 (min $19.99), 1YR
svc/600min $99.99.
12/20: Cheap prepay phones at retail stores:
Boost i425 ($17.99 Best Buy)
TracFone c139 w/ double minutes ($12.88 WalMart)
12/20: 7-Eleven is expanding its SpeakOut program, offering a new, unlimited
nights and weekends plan.
http://www.csnews.com/csn/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003686491[thanks
Jeff]
12/20: Updated
PagePlus info [thanks Steve].
12/15:
Net10
has a refurb Nokia 1600 available with 300 bonus minutes and 60 days (in
addition to the $30 bonus airtime all Net10 phones come with). CDMA phones are
now available on Net10.
Free ground shipping until 1/2/2008 (min $19.99 order).
Most phone prices have dropped $10 recently [thanks
Eric]
12/15: Tracfone specials updated.
Free ground shipping until 1/2/2008 (min $19.99 order), one
year of service and 550 minutes for $99.99.
12/14:
Updated
My Stuff with a photo of my
Moto phones lined up, maxx v3, e815, v3xx, v635
12/14: Sprint EV/DO turned on in Keene [thanks Alex]. Now that I have a 3G GSM
phone I can look for AT&T updates. Sad to say there is nothing new to report.
The map is pretty accurate (3G stops just past exit 32N on Rt 3 in MA)
12/10: Updated PagePlus info. New Unlimited Plan to be released ($3/day, no
bonus minutes though) [thanks Chris]
12/8: T-Mobile is now selling prepaid starter kits on the
prepaid section of their website for $9.99. It only comes with 10 starter
minutes but it saves you from having to go to eBay [thanks Doug]
12/8: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
Updated T-Mobile To GO info [thanks Tim].
12/8: The special Sprint SERO
plans are still going strong. Great deal at $30 for 500 minutes, nights and
weekends starting at 7PM, unlimited text and unlimited data (Blackberry data not
included). Use the e-mail address
enternamehere@sprintemi.com to look at the plans. You probably should get a
real employee e-mail to sign up. Good for the holidays! [thanks Christopher].
12/04: Verizon and AT&T agree to swap some markets (the former Dobson and
pending Unicel markets). What this means for New England is as follows:
AT&T gets the following Unicel markets: Northeastern NY (Plattsburgh and eastern
Adirondacks) and Northern VT (Burlington and Rutland). It was a well known fact
that Verizon had to divest those areas anyways. This should help push the Unicel
sale through.
November 2007
11/28: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
Corrected TracFone's minimum monthly cost [thanks rrando].
11/25:
PagePlus
info updated as you can now purchase $80 card on PP site (with 6% tax tho)
[thanks Joseph]
11/21: Tracfone specials updated.
The refurb phone plus two 60-minute cards for $20 is back
for the holidays!
11/15:
AT&T completes acquisition of Dobson Communications. Dobson markets will
have AT&T plans and AT&T signage in place by 12/9, with complete transition by
6/30/2008. Dobson customers will be grandfathered on their existing plans.
11/13: Updated
Hybrid Comparison Chart
Verizon quietly drops the EasyPay hybrid plan.
11/11: 3Q07 update
AT&T - 65,700,000 total; 2,000,000 net adds
Verizon - 63,700,000 total; 1,600,000 net adds
Sprint - 54,000,000 total; -60,000
net loss
T-Mobile - 27,734,000 total; 857,000 net adds
Alltel - 12,447,000 total; 205,000 net
adds
U.S.C. - 6,067,000 total;
57,000 net adds
Dobson
- 1,768,000 total; 49,000 net adds
Unicel
- 791,000 total; 12,000 net adds
11/8: Following Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile, Sprint is moving to pro-rated
early termination fees sometime in 2008.
11/8: Thanks for your suggestions so far, I will be working on them, some before
others [thanks Arnold, dtraubert and Edward]
11/7: Following Verizon and AT&T, T-Mobile is moving to pro-rated early
termination fees sometime in 2008. No details are available at this time.
11/4: Two phones in review for my review page (not quite there yet). Mini
review:
Virgin Mobile Super Slice: Smallest phone I own (2.5 oz), sound quality and
volume ok on earpiece and speakerphone in quiet room. Good features. RF the
worst of any phone I own. Field test disabled.
Boost i425i. Good features. Small (3.0 oz). Ok sound/volume on earpiece and
speakerphone. Can't use your own wallpaper. RF not as good as the i95 (down 5
dBm)
11/3: CellGuru website redesign is underway. Please send any
suggestions
my way.
11/1:
MetroPCS abandons bid for Leap. The two companies were too far apart in
their valuations.
October 2007
10/28: Here's the reason
Apple is cracking down on unlocking and why they don't plan to break their
exclusive agreement with AT&T. It seems Apple receives an average of
$18/month from each iPhone! [thanks Ed]
10/27:
Apple is limiting iPhone sales for the holidays - two iPhones per person and
no cash. Apple says this is to prevent unlocking and use on other networks,
which looks to be over 25% of current sales! [thanks Ed]
10/27:
Sprint to allow customers to unlock their phones when moving to other
providers and allow non-Sprint phones on their network. I'll believe it when I
see it. Currently, data might not work properly across providers. This move
should help in the long term.
10/24: As I alluded to a couple weeks ago, Virgin Mobile has raised texting to
10c starting today. The good news is that existing customers are grandfathered
at the 5c until they change their plan or let the plan expire.
10/17: Verizon Wireless is changing some of their plans (one of the worst kept
secrets out there right now).
First change. National Plans. Starting 11/1, all
data usage will be charged at the rate of $2/MB. There will be no more minutes
of use (MOU) where data use was charged in minutes. This effectively
closes the loophole where you could use free WAP and tether during nights and
weekends. Old plans are grandfathered, but any account change will require a
switch to the new plan (no contract extension, but you will have to change
plans. One exception - you can add a line of service on an existing family share
plan and stay on MOU). Mobile web will no longer be charged a monthly fee, but
your data use for mobile web will be charged. Data will also be charged for
browsing GIN, downloading music or playing online games. What this does is make
you pay $15 for VCAST, where data is unlimited, just as it is now. Not sure
if/when they will close the VCAST tether loophole.
Second change. Inpulse prepaid has two new plans
(probably will take the place of the original one). Daily charge will now only
be charged on days of use (voice mail and text count). However, you get less for
your daily charge than you did.
99c/day gets you unlimited M2M, 10c airtime and 10c text. NO NIGHTS, NO
WEEKENDS.
$1.99/day gets you unlimited M2M, nights (9PM), 5c airtime and 5c text. NO
WEEKENDS.
$2.99/day gets you unlimited M2M, nights (9PM), 2c airtime and 2c text. NO
WEEKENDS.
10/17:
PagePlus
started a new night/weekend plan 10/8. $10 to activate the new (optional) plan.
NEW RATES: You will be charged a $0.99 fee everyday (used or not) for unlimited
nights and weekends You will be charged $0.05 per minute for calls with Page
Plus customers You will be charged $0.12 per minute for calls with non-Page Plus
customers You will be charged $0.15 per SMS sent or received You must keep at
least $0.99 in order to keep the unlimited nights and weekends then all calls
will be billed at $0.12/min except Mobile to Mobile at $0.05. You will not be
able to use the "Unlimited Nights and weekends" while roaming or for any other
purpose other than Domestic local minutes.
10/17: Following in Verizon's footsteps, AT&T is moving to pro-rated early
termination fees.
10/15: Nokia will start making CDMA phones again. They miss the 60% CDMA
penetration in the US. Duh. The last straw may be that Kyocera is buying Sanyo
(whose phones Nokia was going to rebrand).
10/15: Tracfone specials updated.
10/09: Looks like the new Virgin Wild Card (VX-9900 clone) hit the streets this
week. More at
HoFo
10/09: New Verizon Inpulse plans. Daily charge now only on days used. Rates
higher, but better overall if you don't use the phone everyday. You can see more
at
HoFo.
10/09: Rumor: Virgin Mobile raising text to 10c. No date available at this time.
10/01: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
Updated SpeakOut CDMA info. Also clarified Airvoice GSM daily fee is only
charged on days the phone is used [thanks analogman].
10/01: Updated Hybrid
Comparison Chart
[Updated GoPhone PYP plans - thanks Gon4Frin2]
September 2007
9/30: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
Speakout GSM reduced their airtime rate from 20c down to 15c as of 9/26 [thanks
Eric].
9/30: AT&T just turned up a cell site in Winthrop, Maine. They are on the same
tower as USC, Verizon and Unicel [thanks Fred].
9/28: Apple bricks hacked/unlocked iPhones with its latest software update (will
this backfire on Apple?) [RCR
Wireless News].
9/27: Another MVNO down the tubes,
Disney
Mobile announced they are shutting down as of 12/31/2007 [RCR
Wireless News].
9/26: Verizon EV/DO coverage in VT expanded. EV/DO now in Rutland, Killington
and Montpelier. Also detected intermittently along Rt. 7 (Brandon) [HoFo]
9/21: It looks like the world may converge on one wireless standard for 4G.
Verizon Wireless stated that it may consider an upgrade to Long Term Evolution (LTE)
technology for 4G. [corrected 11/16]
9/21: The Sprint PCS coverage map has not had the ability to show just native
coverage. However you can now see it on the
Virgin Mobile map. Too bad it does not show EV/DO.
9/20: Updated Hybrid
Comparison Chart
[Corrected USC Prepaid info - thanks Lance]
9/17:
T-Mobile to purchase SunCom for $2.4B.
[Thanks Ed and several others]
9/17:
Leap Wireless rejects MetroPCS merger offer, says its too low
[Thanks Ed and several others]
9/15: Cingular PAYG text prices to increase from 5c to 15c as of 10/30/2007.
This matches current PYP and plan rates. [thanks Jairzinho]. Updated appropriate
references [That leaves Virgin as the low cost per-use text leader at 5c]
9/13: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
[Deleted BeyondGSM - no longer available, seems their new name is Jolt - thanks
AG8000]
9/9: Updated links page
[Verified active links]
[Added signalmap.com - thanks Matt]
9/9: Tracfone specials updated.
Of note: Moto w370 (poor man's RAZR) now available.
9/9: Updated email to cell page
with some MVNO info [thanks Richard]
9/9:
AT&T adds 11 new cell sites in NH in 2007 - thanks Mark]
9/9: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
[added AirVoice CDMA to chart - thanks Robert]
[revised TracFone info - no card less than $20 now - thanks Ed]
[revised PagePlus info - thanks Richard]
9/4: Updated Roadrunner
page
(Coverage report Andover ME and Rt 2 WME)
9/4:
MetroPCS proposes $5.1B merger with Leap
August 2007
8/29: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart and Hybrid Comparison
Chart
[Can't port numbers into Alltel U (also in the FAQ) - thanks Bob]
8/28: Verizon EV/DO coverage in NH expanded. EV/DO extends west on Rt 101 from
Nashua to Peterborough. EV/DO covers entire stretch of I-89 in NH (Concord to
Lebanon). [thanks to Mike at
NEcellularsites]
8/27: The suite of
Locus plans has improved with lower per minute pricing on their
plans. There are still various fees and short expirations, but it is worth a
look to see if it might be a good deal for you. Not sure if/when I will put them
in the chart [thanks Ian]
8/23: Sprint raises text rates to 20c to send and receive. In the notice to
customers it says they can't consider this a material change to get out of
contract. Another fumble for Sprint. You'd think that providers would not be
trying to push the envelope because ultimately this will get them regulated.
8/22: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart and Hybrid Comparison
Chart
[PagePlus Int'l texting is 20c. PP rep said it was either 12c or 20c, but user
confirmed 20c - thanks Efraim]
[Updated AT&T and Tmo2Go info - thanks Jairzinho]
[Started text change from Cingular to AT&T - a lot more changes that I realized]
8/20:
Cabot VT is finally getting cell service for the first time!
Unicel will
place cells on a local Silo. Verizon has tried to build a tower for years but
has been shut down by the NIMBYs (the
Thistle
Hill Neighborhood Alliance ran Verizon out of town ten years ago - this
time it's in another part of town and VT is backing Unicel's effort). Now that they
are purchasing Unicel, Verizon must divest this system due to competition - it's
rather humorous [thanks FC-magnet]
8/20: Verizon adds a new tower at Stowe VT this summer (about time!) -
thanks Bruce
8/20: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
and Hybrid Comparison
Chart
[deleted Amp'd]
[adjusted Airvoice expirations - thanks nophone]
[added note about funny money to PagePlus and Tmo2Go - thanks Jeff]
[added that AlltelU deducts airtime for using the web - thanks Phillip]
8/20: Tracfone and Net10 users have indicated that GSM Canadian Roaming no
longer works. The phone gets no signal. Unsure about CDMA phones at this time.
[Thanks Ed]
8/13. Target, at least in the Boston metro, has all of the $50 prepaid
refill cards on sale for $40 this week (Tmo, Trac, etc) [thanks Ed].
8/13: 2Q07 update
AT&T - 63,700,000 total; 1,500,000 net adds
Verizon -
62,100,000 total; 1,300,000 net adds
[Total 1.6M but taking a 300K writeoff on Amp'd]
Sprint - 54,000,000 total; 373,000 net adds
T-Mobile - 26,900,000 total; 857,000 net adds
Alltel - 12,200,000 total; 181,000 net
adds
U.S.C. - 6,010,000 total; 37,000
net adds
Unicel
- 779,000 total; 63,000 net adds
July 2007
7/31: Prexar Mobile
will be taking over the Amp'd Customer base, if they want to continue with their
phones and number (other than the Hollywood/e816, which will no longer be
allowed on the Verizon network due to bugs). Amp'd customers have until tomorrow
to sign up for new service. They offer only hybrid plans and it's voice and text
only. Any previous Amp'd prepaid balance or monthly minutes are terminated
tomorrow. There will be no ETF, but Amp'd customers will have to pay their bills
or face a collections agency. I will add them to the chart if it looks like a
good reliable service. The company is owned by USA Telephone, the same company
behind Teleblend, who is taking over Sunrocket customers. Hmmm.
7/30: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
[AirVoice GSM raises fees and lowers rates. There is now a 20c daily usage fee
for any use (text or voice). The $1 e911 fee remains. The $1 service charge is
eliminated. Airtime is lowered to 10c. You'll have to figure out if this is good
or bad for you. - thanks Felix]
7/30:
Verizon to purchase RCC/Unicel for $2.75B. This gives Verizon
virtually 100% 850 coverage in New England (minus a couple areas such as
Litchfield Co CT). All Unicel customers will be moved over to CDMA, although GSM
roaming will remain [thanks Ed & many others]
7/29: Virgin Mobile has a couple of new things: a M2M minute plan (10c M2M, 20c
other), and now free M2M on their $100 monthly plan [thanks Sasha.
7/27: T-Mobile unofficially released the hybrid FlexPay Plan. The advantage of
this plan is that the value is close to regular plans. It seems to be in
pre-launch, but you can actually get the plan by calling T-Mobile. Read more about it on
HoFo
[thanks Gon4Frin2]
7/27: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
[updated PagePlus no longer waiving the 50c monthly fee - thanks Tony]
7/25: Verizon EV/DO has expanded north up I-89 to at least exit 13 (Grantham NH). Maps not updated yet
[thanks Eric].
7/24: Verizon tower turned on in Claremont NH [thanks Eric]
7/24: Amp'd Update:
Amp'd gets
another extension - through 7/31. Like we would ever get all these
extensions with our mortgage. I guess the part about Amp'd customer shutting
down is not true (even though it says that on their own site).
7/22: We have lost another great regional (Atlanta) web site as Stanley "roamer1"
Cline passed away at age 31.
7/22: Amp'd Update: Amp'd has now posted an update for subscribers warning them
that service will be suspended on July 24 and that customer service will be
available until close of business Monday to help the port their number without
an Early Termination Fee [phonescoop]
[thanks Glinkinator]
7/22: New cell tower approved for
Mt
Snow VT to include at least VZW and USC [thanks Bruce]
7/21: Amp'd is now
notifying its
customers (e-mail to be sent over the next two days) of [probable]
shutdown on 7/24. Amp'd Customer Service will not be available after 7/23. At
least that is better than Sunrocket, the VOIP company, that just closed down
without any notification on 7/16 (yes I am caught in the middle of that one).
The good news is that there are no more ETF fees! In summary, Amp'd was
one of the best values in prepay, on the Verizon network, with roaming at no
charge, the best data rates on prepay, best deals on phones, and the only
unlimited plan on the Verizon network. I always thought it was a little too good
to be true. Combine that with an unmanageable billing system, and you have a
recipe for disaster.
7/20: Looks like the end is near for Amp'd.
It did not get the financing it needed to keep going under Chapter 11, and
Verizon again asked the courts to let it pull the plug on the bleeding. Amp'd is
now asking the court to let it auction off its assets, expected by 8/1.
7/20:
Updated
My Stuff with my local
signals. New T-Mo tower just turned on this week
7/15: Verizon EV/DO has expanded up I-93 to at least the New Hampton NH area,
and Rt 104E (at least to Pemigewasset Lake). Maps not updated yet.
7/13: Updated
Hybrid Comparison Chart
[updated Xtreme details, added Virgin plans]
7/10: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
[corrected Tmo and Net10 info - thanks Darrell]
[updated AlltelU info - thanks Phillip]
7/8: Updated AT&T text/sms email addresses on the
email to cell page [thanks
Ed]
7/8: I can confirm Rogers/Kingston ON has totally shut down TDMA & AMPS service.
Bell is still running AMPS, at least in the Kingston area.
7/8: I can confirm TMo2Go roaming on Rogers ON for 69c/minute for calls to CA
and the US.
7/8: The T-Mobile system at Killington VT seems to have been taken over by
AT&T. Anyone able to give more details? - thanks AG
[upd 7/13: Tmo map is fixed, so maybe just a fluke, but not sure where the
AT&T signal came from]
7/8: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
[updated Tmo - $10 card now has 90 day expiration making the lowest monthly cost
$3.33, thanks Gon4Frin2 and many others]
7/8: Sprint has sent termination letters to about 1000-1200 of their least
valuable customers. From what I have heard, these are people on the low cost
SERO plans, and have multiple retention specials, roam a great deal, or call
customer service an average of more than once per day. Sprint admits that they
made a mistake dropping members of the military and they will reverse that for
them. A couple of the people that got dropped have gone to the press.
June 2007
6/28: Removed Simple Freedom from the charts (its been merged into Alltel U)
6/27: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
[updated AlltelU - Pay-Per-Minute now has expiration dates, thanks Lori]
6/25: Corrected Coverage Map
page (GoPhone links).
6/25: Unicel continues turning off GSM 1900 in VT: Williston is now 850-only
[thanks ].
6/24: Amp'd
has got an extension to 6/25 to keep operating. Verizon is no longer trying to
boot them off the network ... for now.
6/24: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
[updated STI info, thanks Wei]
[updated Alltel U info, thanks Vern]
6/19:
Updated
My Stuff to include the
VX-9900 (env) and RAZR maxx Ve (both have disappointing signal performance, most
likely due to the internal antenna)
6/19: Amp'd
has until 6/25 when judge rules whether Verizon can pull the plug [Forbes]
6/19: A bunch of new rural Verizon sites in the north country. Springfield
VT,
Windsor VT,
Rumford ME.
6/12: Amp'd
CEO out. Rumors that Verizon will pull the plug on 6/14 are running wild (but
I'm not sure Verizon can legally do that - they could take over I suppose)
6/10: Alltel's
Simple Freedom being discontinued, customers to be transferred to
Alltel U over the next few weeks [thanks mframe]
6/9: Corrected rate info on GoPhone
page [thanks Joseph]
6/6: Net10
offers auto-refill program (Easy Minutes) which deducts $15/month (the minimum
monthly cost) [thanks Nate]
6/4: PagePlus roaming
rates (when off the Verizon network) have been reduced from 99c to 59c [thanks
sillyphone]. Rumor says PagePlus is going to add some sort of data access this
summer. That will be one tough prepaid deal to beat!
6/3: Tracfone
offering free shipping on orders of $19.99 and up [good at least thru Father's
day]
6/3: Amp'd
files Chapter 11 bankruptcy [MocoNews].
May 2007
5/30: PagePlus new
rates effective today:
$10 = 83 Minutes (12c/min)
$25 = 300 Minutes (8.3c/min)
$50 = 700 Minutes (7c/min)
$80 = 1400 Minutes (5.7c/min)
50c monthly fee to resume in July. No plans to "pull a STI".
5/30: PagePlus rate
drop effective 5/31 (details tomorrow). Unsure if a monthly charge starts up.
5/28: Tracfone specials updated.
Double minute care for life with 800 minutes good for one year is a decent deal
at $139.99 (beats the $49.99 card with no minutes or airtime extension).
5/28 Updated Tmo text
rates as of 5/1
[thanks Doug]
5/21 Updated links page with
A/C lookup
[thanks Gowri]
5/21 Two investor groups to
purchase Alltel
5/14: Tracfone specials updated.
Moto C139 now comes with 140 minutes/270 days for $20. v170 and 250 minutes for
$50.
5/13: George gives a great summary of
Tmo2GO T-Zones.
5/10: 1Q07 update
AT&T - 62,200,000 total; 1,200,000 net adds
Verizon -
60,700,000 total; 1,700,000 net adds
Sprint
- 53,600,000 total; 600,000 net adds
T-Mobile - 26,000,000 total; 980,000 net adds
Alltel -
12,000,000 total; 237,000 net adds
U.S.C. -
Unicel - 715,632 total;
9,974 net adds
[thanks Edward]
5/8: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart [updated
STI info, thanks Andrew]
5/1: Amp'd
giving out $20 prepaid starter airtime with its phones (e816/Hollywood free
after rebates - which are sometimes difficult to get) [Thanks Marc].
5/1: Updated Roadrunner
page
(New Verizon coverage in VT/NH - thanks Eric)
April 2007
4/27: You can follow the AT&T TDMA network shutdown
here [thanks agent debit]
4/27: Tracfone specials updated.
Free shipping on orders of $19.99 and up.
4/22: Updated SpeakOut
page as well as updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart [thanks vey9]
4/21: Updated the Virgin Mobile
page with info about Sugar Mama and the frequent airtime sales at Target [thanks
Wayne]
4/21: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Added Beyond Wireless one year card(50c/min) and also updated the
Beyond Wireless Page [Thanks
Nate]
4/16: Cingular responds
to Verizon's Select AC plan by releasing an unlimited text of their own starting
4/20. $20 gets you unlimited text, $40 gets you unlimited data and text [HoFo]
4/15: With the worst kept secret in the industry,
Verizon Wireless released their AC Select Plans. Basically, unlimited text is
$20 on individual plans and $30 on family plans.
4/12: PagePlus map
updated. [thanks Chris/PagePlus]
4/10: Rumor: Several people have said
Verizon Wireless
will release their AC Select Plans on 4/17 [perhaps 4/15]. Basically, unlimited text is
$20 on individual plans and $30 on family plans.
4/7: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Effective 4/20,
Alltel U
will raise texting rates from 5c to 10c a message [Thanks Vernon]
4/6: Rumor: Verizon Wireless
to release their AC Select Plans on 4/17. for $20 (http://testman.verizonwireless.com
use zip 99999) [HoFo]
[update: leak closed]
4/3:
Updated
My Stuff
4/3: PagePlus page
updated (fixed rates) [thanks Chris]
4/3: T-Mobile raising
SMS rates to 15c starting on June 1st [thanks Doug]
March 2007
3/25:
Net10 has refurb 1100's ($20) and 1600's ($30) making Net10 a better deal! See
the
specials page.
3/25: I will be splitting this site into two: postpaid and prepaid. If you
have any suggestions please send them to me (see feedback link to the left)
3/23:
Updated
My Stuff. Added a
pic of my 8703e
3/19: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Effective 3/17, PagePlus
$50 card now comes with 500 minutes. 50c monthly service fee waived through
June.
3/17: Thanks to all of you that have purchased through my links and clicked on
some
ads, I am now able to to expand my information to cover data. I am starting out
at the top, with a Verizon Blackberry 8703e. It is going to take me some time to
learn all about data services, but I hope to have a Data/PDA/Blackberry page up
sometime this spring. If you have any questions before then feel free to ask!
3/15: Today, two weeks early, Locus shut down my
CallPlus TDMA prepay service. It's like losing an old friend (I had
it going on five years - The CallPlus FAQ is what prompted me to start this website!)
3/15: The 500 minute one-year Tracfone airtime card is back (see the
Specials
page).
3/6: With it's new 90 day expirations, TracFone
effectively lowers the minimum monthly
cost from $8.33 to $6.67 (the $20 card becomes the one to get).
Prepaid Comparison Chart
updated. [Thanks Nate]
3/6:
Net10 drops the $150 card, effectively raising the minimum monthly
cost from $12.50 to $15.00.
Prepaid Comparison Chart
updated.
3/6: Yes, Alltel *IS* For Sale: Alltel has already approached AT&T, Verizon and
Sprint [Reuters]
3/5: Previously rumored
TracFone
changes took place today. Existing 60 day airtime cards are now 90 days, as are
all new cards except the $10 card (45 days) and 1-year cards. Airtime stacking
is now unlimited. New Double minute card is a bad deal, go with
Net10 if you are going to use more than 100 minutes a month).
[the announced change of all CDMA phones to onerate was a screwup on the
TracFone site. Its not true]
3/3: PagePlus has
reduced the number of minutes provided in the starter kit from 100 down to 71
minutes starting March 1 2007. Expiration is still 120 days though.
February 2007
2/26: RUMOR: TracFone Airtime expiration to be extended from 60 to 90 minutes
starting 3/1 [It's 3/2 so the rumor turns out to be false
so far ...].
2/27:
Beyond Wireless
adds one-year airtime expiration for an extra $30 on their not-so-great phones.
Its not great, but its a step in the right direction [thanks a42887]
This was a mistake according to BW
2/27: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Rearranged some of the rows [Thanks Jon]
2/26: Sprint is offering
unlimited plans as a test in San Francisco. $120 plan includes unlimited
voice, messaging and mobile Web. $150 plan adds unlimited tethering [RCR
Wireless]
2/26: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Added STi Mobile to the chart. I have had more questions about
them than anyone else
over the past few months.
2/23: Looks like
usa1RATE
prepaid service has shut its doors. Although an email to customers say the
service is still alive, with no way to order refills on-line, and customer
service not available by phone, it makes it pretty hard to run the business!
2/23: There is a
New Verizon Wireless Map Tool
on the horizon. Hopefully a better map will be released along with it.
2/23: Updated the T-Mobile To Go
page & maps (prepaid map finally shows roaming on Unicel New England!)
2/23: Updated the Cingular GoPhone
page & maps
2/21: RUMOR: Alltel may be up for sale [Wireless
Week]
2/19: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Updated notes about voice mail deposits [Thanks Gerald]
2/18: AllFreeCalls
and FreeCallsTo
(free int'l long distance calling) are shut down, as AT&T's refusal to pay
effectively cuts off the loophole (the new numbers don't work either).
2/17:Although Beyond Wireless has discontinued their SIM starter kits on their
website, you can still order them over the phone or on eBay. [Thanks Denis]
2/14: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Corrected Page Plus and Airvoice GSM monthly fee notes
2/13: Quite a bit of new Sprint PCS coverage in ME along I-95 and I-295 just
north of Portland [Thanks Larry]
2/13: AllFreeCalls (is
one of the other very few free International calling numbers [Thanks Robert].
Added to links. It's
not going to last long,
here's why.
2/11: FreeCallsTo
free International calling (landline calls to selected countries) and
why its free for you. Enjoy while it lasts. Added to
links
2/11: RUMOR: Sprint to terminate customers that roam more than 50% [Thanks
GSMtreoUser].
Original article
2/9: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Updated Amp'd Info [Thanks mframe]
2/8: Verizon Wireless gets exclusive on Mobile ESPN content. V-CAST subscribers
will soon have access to real-time scores via ESPN. Finally, a real reason to
sign up for V-CAST?
2/8: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Corrected Page Plus footnotes [Thanks Arnold]
2/8:Beyond Wireless has discontinued their SIM starter kits. In order to obtain
service you now have to purchase one of their phones. [Thanks Bob]
Update 2/9: BW CS said you can still order a SIM over the phone
2/1: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Corrected Alltel U info [Thanks Mike]
January 2007
1/31: Cingular comes out with Pay-As-You-Go PTT at 15c/minute
1/29: 4Q06 update
Cingular - 61,000,000 total; 2,400,000 net adds
Verizon - 59,100,000 total; 2,300,000 net adds
Sprint - 51,600,000 total; 300,000 net LOSS
T-Mobile - 25,000,000 total; 900,000 net adds
Alltel -
U.S.C. -
Unicel -
[Thanks Ed]
Note that there is a discrepancy between prepaid and postpaid numbers, and I
will figure out how to deal with that in the near future.
1/28: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Various corrections and clarifications
1/28: Tracfone specials updated.
1/27: PagePlus may
discontinue the 50c monthly fee (no fee was charged in Jan 07)
1/24: TracFone Referrals seem to be totally dead. With the great Cingular
numbers last quarter, the referral program may be gone for good. One rumor of
the program being brought back in February have not been confirmed.
1/18: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
GoPhone plans incorrect in footnote [Thanks Walter].
1/16: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Deleted old Virgin Mobile footnote [Thanks Arnold]. Updated AirVoice does not
change for voicemail deposits and access from a landline [Thanks tropicalwahoo].
1/15: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Corrected Tracfone stacking out to 180 days [Thanks Ed]. Renamed WAP [thanks
Chris] and noted that AirVoice may have a $2/month fee - if true it will
be deleted from the chart (36c a minute is a poor deal).
1/14: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Corrected T-Mo hyperlinks [Thanks Spencer]
1/10: Verizon jacks up text rates to match Cingular and Sprint starting 3/1 (15c
to send and receive)
1/10: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Updated AirVoice info
1/4: TracFone Referrals are up and running again, get 'em while you can!
1/4: Updated links page. Great cell search site (must have forgotten to add it
when I found it many months ago) [Thanks GSMtreoUser]
http://www.antennasearch.com/
1/3: Expanded Verizon coverage in Northern NH. Verizon 1900Mhz coverage
has been extended up to Littleton NH. Franconia, Sugar Hill, Bethlehem, and
Littleton now have native Verizon service (and coverage is expanding into the
Twin Mtn area) [Source
http://www.necellularsites.net/News.php
1/3: Unicel re-released its press release of the
30 new
cell sites in the NH lakes region (mostly GSM1900) [Thanks Mike@necellularsites]
1/3: Updated the Coverage
Area charts. Lake Placid just got Sprint coverage according to their
map. [Thanks Yankees368]
December 2006
12/22: Updated the VT Coverage
Area chart. [Thanks Snowjimbo72]
12/22: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Corrected Virgin rates ($90 service preserver) [Thanks Ben]
12/12: Verizon EV/DO expansion in New England: Verizon Wireless rolled out
BroadbandAccess and V CAST services in several New Hampshire cities: Auburn,
Bedford, Brentwood, Chester, Concord, Derry, Goffstown, Hampstead, Hooksett,
Hudson, Kingston, Litchfield, Londonderry, Manchester, Merrimack, Nashua,
Pelham, Plaistow, Salem, Suncook and Windham (actually its been on for several
months in some areas). Verizon also launched high-speed services in parts of
southern and central Massachusetts, Cape Cod, Southeastern Maine and Rhode
Island [Thanks Mike@necellularsites].
12/12: Sprint's Employee Referral Plans are available to anyone through 12/18. 2
year contract required, single lines only (no family plans). $30 for 500
minutes, $50 for 1,250 minutes, and $100 for 2,500 minutes. Includes M2M, 7PM
nights. It appears to include Vision on the Sprint side and National DC on the
Nextel side. Go to
http://www.sprint.com/sero and use the e-mail address
savings@sprint.com for Sprint plans and
specialoffer@sprint.com for Nextel
plans.
12/10: Updated the Coverage
Area charts. Some were way out of date. Let me know if there are
still problems [Thanks Yankees368]
12/6: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Corrected Boost web charges [Thanks Brian]
12/2: Cingular announces text price increase on plan and PYP hybrid plans
starting 1/21/2007. Sending and receiving text messages will cost 15c unless you
sign up for a texting plan.
November 2006
11/25: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Added Airvoice Wireless ($3.33/mo - lowest Cingular-based MVNO monthly cost)
11/26: Updated the
Hybrid Prepaid Comparison
Chart.
Various updates.
11/25: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Updated Speakout Info [Thanks Terry]
11/24: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Corrected Amp'd airtime expiration [Thanks Bob]
11/23: Tmo2Go Roaming On Unicel Is *ON*. Tmo2Go must have finally hit the
switch, because *TODAY*, for the first time, I am able to roam on Unicel New
England. EDGE is on. Calls are deducted at the same on-network rate. Incoming
and outgoing calls work, #999# works. WAP roaming works. Dialing 611
sends me to Cingular GoPhone PYP customer service, LOL.
11/23: 3Q06 update
Cingular - 58,700,000 total; 1,400,000 net adds
Verizon - 56,700,000 total; 1,900,000 net adds
Sprint - 51,900,000 total; 233,000 net adds
T-Mobile - 24,100,000 total; 802,000 net adds
Alltel - 11,200,000 total; 101,000 net adds
U.S.C. [delayed - may get delisted from AMEX]
Unicel - 694,577 total;
4,151 net adds
11/22: Tracfone specials updated. Free
Shipping! The
*RED* Moto c261 camera phone is now
lowered to $99.99 (1-yr of service, 620 minutes, double minutes) !!!
11/22: Airvoice
Wireless has changed the expiration dates on all GSM and CDMA cards
to 90 days. That is a first! However, before you get too excited, the website
will only let you buy airtime. Good luck signing up for service. Let me know if
you do. They tell me you have to find a dealer. Also, all their plans
incur a $1/month e911 charge in all 50 states (direct from customer service).
11/22: The Big Dig Tunnels in Boston will soon get CDMA and GSM Service. The
Boston Globe reported that Cingular, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon have agreed to
split the cost of providing coverage. Let's hope that similar cooperation is planned
around the country! [RCR Wireless News]
11/20: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Clarified Cingular Prepaid expiration times [Thanks Bob]
11/19: Added Alltel U Pay-Per-Day to the
Hybrid Prepaid Comparison
Chart.
11/17: Tracfone
airtime cards can now be stacked to 180 days (used to be 120 days). [Thanks Ed].
11/17: Tracfone specials updated
Best deals are the refurb v170 and 2600 with 470 minutes and 1 year of airtime for $99.99 (thru
11/30)
11/17: Updated coverage maps
page. Can't they leave the URLs alone?
11/17: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Text rates updated/corrected. Updated
T-Mobile To Go page as
well.
11/16: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Virgin Mobile announces
international text pricing at premium rates (20c send, 10c receive) [via VM
e-mail]. Also updated Virgin maps.
11/16: Updated Roadrunner
page
(Coverage report Ormond Beach FL)
11/1: Tracfone specials updated
The refurb v170 is back with 470 minutes and 1 year of airtime for $99.99 (thru
11/30)
10/27: It appears that Cingular Free2Go and all Cingular TDMA MVNOs will
discontinue service 4/1/2007.
October 2006
10/20: Tracfone specials updated
The hot deal now includes the Moto c261 color phone!
10/20: 3Q06 numbers have started coming in. Cingular reports 1.4M net adds.
10/17: As of October 5th,
STI Mobile has
lowered their Prepaid Plan I to 10c/minute. The 10c/day fee is still in effect.
10/15: Nextel
turns on new tower in Arlington, VT (thanks Jim S)
10/11: Added a
coverage map page - it
links directly to providers maps!
10/11: Added a list of non-camera phones for those people that are not allowed to carry
cell phones with camera with them. That includes may places of business.
10/11:
Amp'd Mobile introduces hot family plans ranging from $60 for 1,000
anytime minutes to 6,000 anytime minutes for $200 for two people. Subscribers
can add up to three additional lines for $10 per line. (RCR
Wireless News).
10/11: [revised]
Verizon had
turned on several new sites in ME including 4 sites in Bangor (thanks AgentHibby)
10/9: On 9/28
BenQ-Siemens, the mobile joint venture based off of Siemens applied
for bankruptcy protection.
10/9: Sprint
raised their SMS rate to 15c/message and data usage to 3c/KB starting 10/1.
Basically you need a package if you plan to use the feature (RCR
Wireless News).
10/8 [revised]: Tracfone specials updated.
CDMA phones have special deals for the first time! $20 gets you a refurb Nokia
2126 and (2) 60 minutes cards. $99 gets you a refurb Moto c353 and 1 year of
service. Use my link on the specials
page. Note: change the URL from "GSM4" to "CO" in order to
view CDMA phones in any zipcode. (Thanks Bud)
10/5: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Pageplus allows
refills over the phone using a credit card (thanks tropicalwahoo)
10/5: Added info on free
Tracfone Int'l long distance
to several countries (thanks Matt)
10/3: T-Mobile joins Alltel in offering "My Favs", an
unlimited calling plan to five specific numbers.
10/2: T-Mobile To Go
updates: Two people have confirmed that you can now roam in Canada on Rogers.
Gold Rewards holders appear to be able to access external sites on prepaid
T-Zones (HoFo).
10/2: Tracfone specials updated. $20 gets you a refurb
Nokia 1100 and two 60 minute airtime cards (total 140 minutes) (Thanks Eric)
September 2006
9/29 Tracfone has suspended their Refer A Friend program
effective today. No further information is available at this time.
9/28:
ESPN Mobile
announced they are going out of business effective 12/31.
9/24: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Alltel U prepaid link updated (thanks GlassVial)
9/24: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
USA1rate has dropped their daily fee to 10c/day ($3.00/month). They must have
figured out that nobody was going to pay 15c/day! Page Plus is still a far
better deal.
9/23: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Boost charges you a $1/day DC fee if someone alerts you, even if your phone is
turned off (thanks to my declining balance with phone turned off - new "feature"
as of 9/2006)
9/23: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Alltel U data corrected (thanks tropicalwahoo)
9/22: Cleaned up the
forum user list
again. If you want to join, email me or put something meaningful in your
profile. Otherwise, if all you have is an advertisement in your web address, you
will be denied member status. I am getting killed by spammers.
9/22: Due to popular demand I have added
Alltel U Prepaid to
the Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Also corrected Simple Freedom
info.
9/13: For a limited time,
TúYo Mobile is
offering a free SIM (even free shipping) with $10 credit if you call them at
877-438-8896. Their new rate plan is 10c/minute with a 10c connection charge.
Not the greatest rates but free is free :) Initial airtime is good for 90
days (source: drprepaid).
9/12: Added Amp'd to the
Hybrid Prepaid Comparison
Chart. Please help me fill in
the chart (for instance, can you roam? You can on the plans, not sure on PAYG
and hybrids)
9/6: Boost Mobile
lobotomizes premium plan, NO MORE FREE NIGHTS/WEEKENDS TEXT OR WEB!!! There are
now three hybrid plans, none of which are much of a deal: $30 gets you DC and
10c airtime, $50 gets 400 minutes and DC. $70 gets you 600 minutes, DC and
N/WE). Unlimited text and web is another $10 a month for the three plans.
Hybrid Prepaid Comparison
Chart updated as well.
9/5: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
Tracfone data corrected (thanks Darrell)
9/4: Updated Roadrunner
page
(Coverage report Andover ME)
9/4: Updated the NH coverage
page (thanks Eric)
August 2006
8/27: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart
(Updated Simple Freedom rates - I may remove it since its only available in
Alltel coverage areas)
8/27: Updated Roadrunner
page
(Coverage report around Whitefield NH)
8/21: Verizon EV/DO went live in Buffalo on Monday and in Albany today.
8/21: If you need 60-minute Tracfone airtime cards, I have some available on my
Guru Sales Page.
8/21: Tracfone specials updated
The hot deal now includes the Moto c155.
8/20: Boost rates will increase on September 11. Web/data to increase
from 20c to 35c/day. DC will be $1/day regardless of whether you originate the
conversation (looks like they are closing the 6-second loophole)
8/20: T-Mo prepaid has not started charging for incoming text. Not sure if they
changed their mind or delayed it again [T-Mo started charging for incoming
text somewhere around 9/15]
8/18:
Updated My Stuff
8/18: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart.
USA1rate has increased their daily fee to 15c/day ($4.50/month (thanks steve369)
8/15: Updated logos (thanks drprepaid)
8/15: Updated new T-Mo prepaid text rates that went into effect today (thanks
Sashinator00)
8/14: Updated 2Q06 Stats:
Verizon: 54.8M customers; 1.8M net adds
Cingular: 57.3M customers; 1.5M net adds
Sprint: 51.7M customers; 708,000 net adds
T-Mobile: 23.3M customers; 613,000 net adds
U.S Cellular: 48,000 net adds
Suncom: 24,000 net adds
RCC (Unicel): 7,385 net LOSS
8/9: Corrected GoPhone
info
(Thanks Remus)
8/4: Tracfone specials updated
again. $20 gets you a refurb Nokia 2600 and 260 minutes! Using my link on the specials page, free
shipping on orders of $19.95 and up, from 8/4 to 9/30. The c261 camera phone
and v276 are finally available!
8/3: Updated 2Q06 Stats:
Cingular: 57.3M customers; 1.5M net adds
Verizon: 54.8M customers; 1.8M net adds
Sprint: 51.7M customers; 708,000 net adds
8/1: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart
(Fixed PagePlus Link - thanks Steve)
8/1: Cingular makes moves to increase profits, but they forgot to do a customer
pulsing survey first, and must have not predicted their front-line employees
would revolt and leak the whole thing to the public!
1. New agent web tool determines if customer is a "valued" customer. If not then
they can't get phone upgrades. This was met by such negative customer and agent
feedback that they had to rescind it. It such a stupid move that hopefully the
brainchild of this bonehead idea gets fired. It's probably too late, they are
probably promoted already!
2. TDMA/analog customers start paying a $5/month "penalty" fee to make them
move to GSM. My guess is more of them will walk than switch.
3. If you roam more than 40% off-network for three months in a row, you are
booted from Cingular. Cingular made this move without first reprogramming all their
phones so that you can tell when you are roaming.
8/1: Tracfone specials updated
July 2006
7/27: Unicel has launched prepaid service. I'm sorry to report that its a
horrible deal. You are better off with Tracfone roaming on Unicel.
All three of the new prepay selections have a 33c/day FEE. And we thought STI
and usa1RATE were bad at 10c/day!
Minimum monthly cost is $20/month ($10 of that is the monthly fee). They
advertise 10c airtime, but with the fee it ends up being DOUBLE their advertised
rates.
There is a $30 activation fee.
You must purchase a phone.
There are no extra roaming costs but 50% of your monthly usage must be in your
Home Unicel market.
Only U.S. Cellular, with their brand new "worst hybrid deal of the century"
$25/100 minute prepay (25c) with 50c overages, and 69c roaming is a worse deal!
7/24: 2Q06 Stats:
Cingular: 57.3M customers; 1.5M net adds
Verizon: 54.8M customers; 1.8M net adds
7/24: Updated T-Mobile To Go info on
the site to indicate there is some (but not much) free roaming.
7/24: Updated Tracfone
page with a link to the
Tracfone_Users Group. Lots of good info like current bonus codes.
7/23: U.S. Cellular released
new plans today (not on the website yet). Most plans are more in line with
Verizon. In general, minutes reduced at all levels, $50 and up plans now
have N&W included. N&W and free incoming no longer limited to USC network on
National plans. Local Plans are now network plans. Talktracker is now a just a
plan wanna be (nothing useful below $45). Updated
USC hybrid and
Hybrid Conmparison
Chart.
7/22: DealKing
is offering $30 cash-back for TMo2Go and $30 Cash-back from GoPhone. That is
basically a free phone plus initial airtime for each (actually you get a bonus
$25 from TMo2Go). It's worth checking out!
7/22:
Tracfone has changed their preferred CDMA provider in Southern NH from
U.S. Cellular to Verizon. That changes local coverage FROM SVT/NH (except
Rockingham/Strafford Co) (SIDS 445,1484,5010) TO Southern NH, MA, RI and CT
(SIDS 28,119).
7/14: Cingular is trying to boot TDMA customers from its network by imposing a
$4.99/month TDMA/Analog network charge starting in August.
7/14: Verizon turned on EV/DO in the
Nashua / Manchester / Concord area TODAY!!!
7/13: I forgot to mention earlier that on 8/15/2006
T-Mobile To Go will start
charging 5c for incoming SMS and 25c for incoming MMS. Outgoing rates remain at
10c for SMS and 25c for MMS (thanks Ed).
7/12: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart
(GoPhone PAYG charging a 50c/month e911 fee in FL - thanks Dave)
7/10: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart
(updated usa1RATE info)
7/10:
Updated My Stuff
7/10: Verizon is testing
EV/DO in the Nashua area (EV/DO light toggling for 3 seconds every 70 seconds).
7/10: Tracfone specials updated
7/10: Updated Roadrunner
page
(Unicel completes Rt 9 GSM coverage in VT; Coverage Report for Southern New
York/Catskills Region)
June 2006
6/30: Updated Sprint
Maps
(thanks Matt)
6/28: Verizon Wireless
will start prorating ETFs, allow phone upgrades every 12 month to individual
plans of $50 and up, and will replace a phone out of warranty for no more than
$50 (only warranty-type issues). Details
here.
6/27: Updated Sprint
National Map
(thanks JR 20 Speed)
6/25: Cingular offers new text plan:
Messaging Extreme $20, 3000 sms/mms, 3c over
6/24: SpeakOut Wireless giving out $5 airtime bonus if you refill your account
this weekend (ending 6/25)
6/23: Tracfone specials updated
6/23: usa1RATE raises their daily fee to 10c/day making it a very poor value
(thanks Steve).
6/21: Updated the Hybrid Comparison Chart
(Easypay n&we now limited to 3000 - thanks Matt)
6/16: Page Plus
$80 cards discontinued on the PP web. CSR said it was due to too many fraudulent
credit card transactions and the fact the $80 was not very popular)
6/15: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart
(Boost correction - thanks Isaiah)
(updated Virgin Mobile info)
6/14: Virgin
Mobile changes took place today. SMS rates now 5c to receive and 5c
to send. Minute2Minute rate dropped from 25c down to 18c anytime (you have to
sign up for it). SugarMama features where you can earn free airtime is now live.
6/13: T-Mobile 2 Go
downgrades confirmed.
Starting 7/1: SMS 10c to send, MMS 25c to send, 5c to receive. $10
refill 30 min (35 min gold rewards) (thanks Vincent)
6/12: Rumor: T-Mobile 2 Go
Prepaid, one of the last providers offering free incoming SMS, will start
charging 5c to receive text (and outgoing will stay 10c), making them one of the
more expensive in the prepaid world. The start date is approx 7/1. Its
interesting that this is just a couple of weeks after Virgin Mobile starts
charging for incoming text.
6/12: Rumor Confirmed: Virgin
Mobile minute rate to drop from 25c down to 18c. 10c rate after 10
minutes to be discontinued. SMS rates change to 5c to receive and 5c to send
starting 6/18. The rumor for the new airtime rates is 6/14, but 6/18 is more
logical.
6/11: I removed entries from the links
page if they are no longer accessible or not regularly updated. Let
me know if you have a suggestion for a link (no commercial links unless it is
very very good, please!)
6/10: T-Mo has an interesting $20 plan called
Kid Connect. 1 year contract, only 50 peak minutes but has M2M and
weekends. M2M still works after peak minutes are depleted. (thanks Ed)
6/10: Disney Mobile
has started selling service. Plans start at $40/400 minutes. One phone is
available, the Pantech DM-P100, $60 after rebate with 2-year contract. Roaming
off the Sprint network is 40c/minute.
6/10: I finally got a new battery for my Moto DPC550 AMPS phone and activated it
on Page Plus.
6/10: Updated Page Plus
info (thanks tropicalwahoo)
6/7: New Cingular Coverage Map Tool:
http://63.241.153.180/coverageviewer/B2B.html
6/6: Rumor: Virgin
Mobile minute rate to drop from 25c down to 18c. 10c rate after 10
minutes to be discontinued.
6/6: Updated Inpulse
coverage map (thanks JR20Speed)
6/5: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart
(PagePlus updates - thanks Victor)
(corrected Amp'd info - thankd Heydeno)
6/3: Tracfone incoming
SMS no longer free on new GSM models (now costs 0.3 units).
6/2: Amp'd Mobile
prepay details:
10c airtime, 60 day airtime expiration
have to use their phones (not bad)
18-25% surcharge on data usage
6/2: Tracfone specials updated
May 2006
5/31: Amp'd Mobile
prepay debuts with 10c/minute, 60 day airtime, $10/mo minimum, 10c text, 40c/MB
after fees
(thats right MB - compare that with Cingular PAYG at $10/MB). That
is the best Verizon prepay MVNO to date so it hits the
charts NOW!
5/30: Amp'd Mobile
now offering unlimited anytime minutes for $114 (plus tax and fees). I sure hope
there is a catch or else Verizon customers are going to be quite unhappy when
the network clogs up.
5/30: Amp'd Mobile
will launch a prepay service starting tomorrow. No details available yet.
5/30: Virgin Mobile
will start offering minutes for viewing and participating in advertising
starting 6/14.
5/28: Boost Mobile minimum
monthly cost drops to $5/month using on-line credit/debit card
(Auto re-boost feature is a scam though as your balance will
drop to zero at 90 days and only then does the re-boost happen)
5/27: Updated the coverage charts. Let me know if there are other changes
needed.
5/26: 2005 Total Churn
(% of subscribers leaving per month)
Verizon 1.14%
Cingular 2.18%
Sprint Nextel 2.26%
T-Mobile 2.85%
(source RCR)
5/21: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart
(Net10 expiration improvements - 1 yr card is $12.50/mo. Corrected
Cingular $100 refill expiration - thanks Steve)
5/19: Tracfone specials updated
5/18: T-Mobile To Go Prepaid now has limited roaming. No roaming available in
New England at this time.
Click here for more details.
5/14: Updated Roadrunner
page
(Verizon PCS live in Franklin Co MA; Cingular Blue prepaid users now have local
coverage on Orange throughout MA, RI, CT and Upstate NY)
5/4: Tracfone specials updated
5/1: Boost Mobile rumor
is true. Starting today Boost Premium plan gets 300 minutes and 7PM nights.
April 2006
4/30: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart
4/30: RUMOR CENTRAL: Starting 5/1
Boost Mobile will be enhancing
the $50 Boost Premium plan by bumping the anytime minutes to 300 and changing
N&WE to start at 7PM.
4/29:
Updated My Stuff
4/29: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart
(Updated SpeakOut info)
4/28: Sprint PCS Fair & Flexible plans now offer 7PM nights (family plans
excluded).
4/23: Tracfone special updated
- Reconditioned Nokia v170 and 470 minutes good for one year [100 minute bonus
code 52483 thru 4/30/2006]
4/22:
Updated My Stuff
as I started up usa1RATE again.
4/21: What is it with this "Free Boost Direct Connect (DC) Walkie-talkie thing"
being sold on eBay from between $1 and $25? Well I will tell you, it's called S
C A M. The theory is that you enter codes and then get free DC. The code
to enter is:
#*<menu><left arrow>
<scroll down>
view err log (may be phone dependant)
clear counters (may be phone dependant)
<scroll up>
turn on err/channel codes
Then you are not supposed to be charged for DC, although if you turn off the
phone you have to start over again. Several of us have proven that this does not
work.
4/18: Updated Nextel
maps
4/17: Tracfone special updated
- Reconditioned Nokia v170 and 470 minutes good for one year [thru 4/21/2006]
4/15:
Updated Roadrunner
page
(310-380 running again on at least two towers)
4/14: Updated T-Mobile
maps
4/13: Updated the
Hybrid Comparison Chart
(Corrected Verizon SMS rates)
4/12: Unicel turns on GSM-1900 *TODAY* in the Nashua/Manchester metro. Unicel TDMA-1900
has been shut down, but I am probably the only one that noticed, LOL. Updated
associated pages.
4/9: Tracfone special updated
- Reconditioned Nokia 1100 and 470 minutes good for one year [extended to 4/21/2006]
4/9: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart
(Corrected PagePlus footnotes)
4/8: Cingular will make it's on-line coverage mapping tool available to
the public "soon".
It's about time!
4/4:
Movil Mobile is not quite ready for prime time. It's confirmed that it's
a T-Mo MVNO.
4/2: Added Boost Premium
and revised the
Prepaid Hybrid Comparison Chart
4/1: Waiting to find out more about
Movil Mobile, which is being advertised on
the
Cheap Phone Card site. Currently you have to purchase a Siemens a56,
but you get a toll-free number, airtime never expires, and they have hinted at Cingular coverage
[Nope - it's T-Mo]
4/1: Added Venture Mobile
to the
Prepaid Hybrid Comparison Chart
March 2006
3/25: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart
(Dropped Oxygen&Viva & added Locus to the
plans that "didn't make it")
3/24: T-Mobile counters
Cingular's new $39.99 plan with a $39.99/1500 minute plan (no nights, weekends
or M2M). M2M can be added for $6.99.
3/22: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart
(Added prepays that did not make the chart at the bottom of the page -
Airvoice, cool.Prepaid, STI and usa1RATE for starters)
3/21: T-Mobile2Go
appears to be on the verge of enabling International roaming. There is currently
confusion within T-Mo customer service. The data so far suggests that no roaming
is active at this time.
3/15: Updated the
Prepaid Comparison Chart
(Added "Double Dialing when Roaming")
(Corrected Tracfone airtime rates)
3/15: Cingular releases
a $39.99/1000 minute plan in some markets (Boston included) to compete with
T-Mobile. However there are no rollover, night/weekend or M2M minutes included.
M2M can be added for $10.
3/15:
Tracfone one year card has 100 bonus minutes (total 350
minutes). Use Promo Code 59879 [extended to 3/31/2006]
3/14:
Updated Roadrunner
page
(new Unicel GSM 850 coverage in Troy and Walpole, NH - Thanks Mark)
3/12: My T-Mobile now available to T-Mobile2Go customers. There is not much you
can do there that you can't do some other way. Download phone numbers to the
phone could be useful once they get that working.
3/12: Corrected outdated Tracfone
special deals.
3/11: Beyond Wireless
remains the King of the Cingular MVNOs. There was a rumor of Airvoice GSM
having longer expirations (but I did not believe it, and should never have
posted it, but such is life). The rumor was false. Cingular holds a tight reign
on the short airtime expirations. [update 11/06 the longer expiration times is
true]
3/10: Updated Simple Freedom
info for those that live in a Verizon coverage area
3/10: Net10 now includes 300
minutes/60 days with their phones, making it a super deal in prepaid.
3/9:
Updated My Stuff
with the v635.
3/5:AT&T will acquire BellSouth in $67B deal to be announced tomorrow.
The Cingular brand name will be retired, with wireless being sold under the
name AT&T.
3/4:
Virgin Mobile text rates will
change on 6/18 so that its 5c to send or 5c to receive a message. There
will be monthly buckets of text available. Confirmed via Virgin Mobile text
message to my phone.
3/1: Boost Mobile
lowers the Walkie Talkie daily fee from $1.50/day down to $1.00/day.
February 2006
2/28: General clean-up of several pages. It's been a very slow past week!
2/22:
4Q2005 Net Adds (updated):
Verizon - 2 million
Sprint Nextel - 2 million
Cingular
- 1.8 million
T-Mobile - 1.4 million
2/21: Dobson Cellular One's rolls out their
Stop Counting Minutes Nationwide plan (unlimited calls throughout
the USA with no roaming or LD charges). The price was not announced.
2/21: Updated
Prepaid Comparison Chart
(Dropped STI Mobile, enough is enough with the changing fees)
2/21: STI Mobile reinstitutes the 10c daily fee AGAIN starting 3/19.
2/18:
T-Mobile To Go web account access is not live yet (planned for
today).
2/18: Corrected
Prepaid Comparison Chart
(You can port in to Beyond GSM - Thanks Alex)
2/18:
Updated Roadrunner
page
(new Nextel tower near Waterville, ME - Thanks Fred)
(new Unicel tower in Dedham, ME, Expanded T-Mobile coverage in Ellsworth, ME -
Thanks Drew)
2/17: STI Mobile rescinds the 10c daily fee on the 10c/12c plan.
2/16: Corrected
Prepaid Comparison Chart
(STI no longer has usage requirement - Thanks Terri)
(Added more detail about SpeakOut fees)
2/15: Corrected
Prepaid Comparison Chart
(Beyond Wireless text is 8c to send and 6c to receive - Thanks Jason)
2/15: Nokia and Sanyo form CDMA joint venture. This gives Nokia inroads to
Sprint and it gives Sanyo inroads to Verizon, Alltel and USC.
2/14:
Tracfone one year card has 100 bonus minutes (total 350 minutes). Use
Promo Code 59879 [expires 2/20/2006]
2/14:
T-Mobile To Go to add web account access on 2/18 [turns out to be
false, at least through 3/1].
2/10: Tracfone
has new rates on the one year card ($99.99 for 250 minutes). The refurb
v170 with 250 minutes (370 minutes good for 120 days after activation and
referral) is $50, a great deal,
click here for more
details.
2/10: Corrected
Prepaid Comparison Chart
(Page Plus and STI account info, Page Plus activation fee - Thanks Howard)
2/9: RUMOR CENTRAL: Boost Mobile
will be bringing back $1/day walkie-talkie on 3/1 [rumor ends up being true].
2/8: RUMOR CENTRAL:
Virgin Mobile
will be introducing new text rates in May. As previously mentioned, rates will
change so that its 5c to send or 5c to receive a message. There will be monthly
buckets of text available as well. Preliminary info:
$1.99 for 50 messages,
$4.99 for 200 messages,
$9.99 for 750 messages.
2/7: Some people are reporting that Cingular
GoPhone is subtracting monthly
fees.
2/5: Corrected
Prepaid Comparison Chart
(PagePlus refill amounts - Thanks Lena)
(Speakout WAP is 3c/KB - was told 1c/KB, but tested it myself...nope!)
2/5: RUMOR CENTRAL:
T-Mobile To Go to increase the minutes on $25 (166 minutes) and $50
(500 minutes) gold reward refills (I can't confirm it), increase the
free WAP deck, allow roaming, and add web account access, all without increasing costs. I have a
difficult time believing it, but if true, the prepaid price war is on! Source
(typically reliable)
HoFo [Rumor has turned out to be false, at least through 3/1]
2/4: Revised various provider info that was outdated or just wrong. If you find
incorrect info, please use the blue buttons to the left to let me know.
2/4: Removed TDMA plans from the
Prepaid Comparison Chart
since new service is no longer available. Added
Beyond Wireless GSM page.
2/3: Updated
Roadrunner page
New Nextel tower in Bangor (Fred Staples)
2/2: Beyond Wireless
GSM prices are the best of all Cingular GSM MVNOs. No fees that I can see either!
NO ROAMING THOUGH :(
$5, 36 minutes, 15 days, min $10/mo
$15, 114 minutes, 60 days, min $7.50/mo
$25, 204 minutes, 75 days, min $10/mo
$50, 450 minutes, 90 days
$100, 1000 minutes, 90 days
$10 starter kit includes SIM and 36 minutes.
2/1: STI Mobile
now charging a monthly fee.
Existing customers were not notified of the new change but are now charged the
fee.
Plan 1: $3/month fee. Same rates of $0.12/minute day, $0.10/minutes N&W
Plan 2: $11.70/month fee. $0.079/minute 24/7
Specials: 49c per day for unlimited push-to-talk.
2/1: Beyond Wireless launches a
new GSM website
2/1: Virgin Mobile
changes some plans starting today.
Inner Circle: $21/month. You get to call three number with
free nights & weekends & all other airtime is 10c/minute.
Month2Month: Increased airtime at the higher levels.
Minute2Minute: no change :(
January 2006
1/31: Updated GoPhone
maps
1/31: After a 6 month hiatus,
Tracfone is back with its 350 minute 1 year card for $90. Use
Promo Code 59647 [expired 2/8/2006]
1/30: Revised the Prepaid
Comparison Chart by adjusting Speak Out SMS and WAP rates (they were
out of date, and they actually mirror GoPhone rates).
1/28: Added email to cell page that
gives you what email address to use for different providers phones.
1/28: Alltel
U Prepaid looks promising. It has a couple of different forms, one a
traditional prepaiy (15c/min) and the others are hybrid plans. Coverage includes
the Alltel and Verizon network. You can only obtain service in an Alltel
coverage area, so the big question is whether you can get away with having
service in a Verizon-only market. Time will tell.
1/28: Revised the Prepaid
Comparison Chart by adding Locus-based VIVA CDMA and Oxygen GSM
plans. Will be removing TDMA plans soon as they will no longer be offered
1/26: Beyond Wireless expected to stop selling TDMA service on 1/31. GSM Prepaid
Service expected start date is 2/1. The GSM expiration dates are HORRIBLE! [note:
they have adjusted the rates down since then] This
is NOT an emergency phone service by any means. The minute rates are not
horrible, but Page Plus, Net 10, T-Mo all have better rates, with much better
expiration times.
Expected rates :
$5 / 30 minutes / expire 15 days
$15 / 105 minutes / expire 30 days
$25 / 180 minutes / expire 45 days
$50 / 390 minutes / expire 90 days
$100 834 minutes / expires 90 days
1/26:
4Q2005 Net Adds:
Verizon - 2 million
Cingular
- 1.8 million
T-Mobile - 1.4 million
Sprint - reports in February
1/25: Simple Freedom to stop selling service in Verizon-only
markets on 2/1. SF customers in Verizon markets will lose their numbers on
5/31.
1/24:
Added Verizon EasyPay to the
Prepaid
Hybrid Comparison Chart.
1/23: Another new MVNO:
BeyondMobile
(no relation to Beyond Wireless). They are going to run on Sprint, will offer
the LG 225 to start, and the service is aimed at current Cbeyond business
customers.
1/23:
Rumor: Verizon drops the NE2 (New Every 2) credit
from $100 down to $50 starting in February
1/23:
Updated Roadrunner page
Unicel GSM-850 is ON in Wilmington VT (Scott Shannon)
Great VT GSM report from Steve Iinuma
1/23:
Locus is no longer activating TDMA phones
(CallPlus, Locus, Oxygen). I will revise the prepaid chart once Beyond Wireless
stops selling TDMA)
Virgin Mobile SMS charges
change in May 2006
(free incoming to go away, it will be 5c to send and receive)
U. S. Cellular Improves National Plans
$40/500 w/ free incoming (no nights/weekends)
Portland gets $30/250 and $40/800
December 2005
Updated Prepaid
Comparison Chart
Deleted U.S. Cellular Prepaid as they dumped their traditional prepaid plan
Fixed Simple Freedom minimum monthly cost to $8.33
Beyond no longer has
free phones
Updated Roadrunner page
Updated Sprint PCS maps
Tracfone increases
minutes on some refill cards
($20/60 min; $30/120 min; $50/250 min)
Updated Prepaid
Comparison Chart
Updated promotions
Updated STI info
revised Simple Freedom airtime
(special Sam's Club refills no longer exist)
Updated Roadrunner page
Cingular Blue TDMA-based prepaid plans will be discontinued on 1/1/2006
... the best deal in prepaid goes down
(Inculdes Beyond Wireless, CallPlus, Locus Wireless, etc.)
(you can continue current service, but can't sign up for new service)
Cingular rolls out PTT
Cingular rolls out UMTS / HSPDA 3G data
(data cards only - GSM phones are not compatible with 3G)
November 2005
Moved Net10
from the Hybrid
Prepay Chart to the
Regular Prepay Chart
(airtime now as low as $15/month)
Updated Hybrid Prepaid Comparison Chart
Verizon Inpulse adds MMS (15c) and WAP (99c/day if used)
USC;s plans downgraded ($2 increase on n/we, no more text option)
Updated Prepaid
Comparison Chart
(USC's Talk Tracker Prepaid Plan is gone as of
11/1 - no great loss)
(STI Mobile texting is now
charged as 5c to send and receive)
(added Call Waiting feature - as Boost & STI does not support it)
(added Call Forwarding Feature)
Unicel seriously degrades plans
Off-peak minutes cut back and LD only good in-network!
The party is over in Northern New England!
Moved Xtreme Mobile to
the Hybrid Prepay Plans
as the 60c/day fee is now mandatory
Added Cellular Abroad (International
Prepaid SIMs) to the Links Page
Added info on Tracfone Canadian LD
CPS Wireless activation airtime less than expected 90 days
(active only 62 days - not recommended, there is no advantage over PagePlus)
October 2005
Viva Wireless drops 25c connection fee
(still not that attractive - 30 day airtime expiration)
I finally caved and added STI Mobile (l should never have
caved)
(they finally updated their site and local numbers are more available now)
Boost
reduces M2M rate to 10c/minute 24/7
Updated Sprint PCS maps
(EV-DO coverage for Boston & NYC)
Sprint PCS adds new plans:
Fair & Flexible $30/200 anytime minute plan
Free Incoming plans
(Free incoming plans now available from Sprint PCS, Nextel, US Cellular)
Added Xtreme Mobile to prepaid
comparison chart
(Sprint PCS MVNO that allows roaming)
(low cost leader at $20/month for nights & weekends)
Boston/New England Coverage
Map (including EV-DO coverage)
Updated Sprint PCS Boston/New England Coverage
Map (including EV-DO coverage)
Updated Cingular GSM National Map
Cingular GSM Network Integration complete in
NH Suncom System
(network now running 310-410)
Boost
$50 Premium Plan goes nationwide
September 2005
Updated Roadrunner page
Coverage Report in Twin Mountain, NH
Updated Prepaid
Comparison Chart
revised promotions
Updated Simple Freedom coverage map
Updated Simple Freedom prepaid phones
Updated Prepaid
Comparison Chart
Page Plus voicemail deposits sometimes do use airtime
(added minimum usage requirement - let me know if you have data for the
chart)
New Sprint PCS and Nextel
plans start 9/1
(better plans in most cases)
Updated Roadrunner page
New Nextel
coverage in Ellsworth and Bar Harbor ME (thanks to Fred Staples for the report)
Updated My Stuff with new RF findings
August 2005
Updated the 850 vs 1900 page
Added the Motorola e815 to My Stuff
(Also added Page Plus Wireless and CPS Wireless)
Updated Prepaid Comparison
Chart
revised Tracfone promotions
Updated Roadrunner page
Updated Links Page
Updated Reno area URL
Added Cellreception the super
cell tower mapper and user reception site
Many reports of degraded TDMA operation
AT&T MVNO local coverage area shrinking - Cincinnati Bell & Carolinas
now roaming
Some U.S. Cellular & Unicel New England sites dropped TDMA (now AMPS-only)
It looks like 850 MHz is replacing 800 MHz for most cellular discussions
(except Nextel),
so I have done a global replace. Let me know of any mistakes!
The FCC and DOJ have approved the Sprint/Nextel merger
Verizon Wireless releases EasyPay prepaid plan on 8/1
*** not yet on the website, you have to call customer service ***
($50 350 anytime/free n&we/free IN)
($70 700 anytime/free n&we/free IN)
roaming off-network 99c/min, SMS 10c send/receive
you can buy phones at the 1-yr price!
Virgin Mobile starts WAP ($1.00 for 500KB or 1 day, whichever comes first) on
8/3
This is much cheaper than Cingular, but much more expensive than Boost
WAP only works on VXL phones (K10, Flasher V7)
Access to VXL menus costs you 10c/day (not needed for general WAP tho!)
July 2005
Updated Prepaid Comparison
Chart
Added Tracfone special - Refurb phone with 60 minutes of airtime for
$19.95
Added Tracfone special - 200 bonus minutes with purchase of 1-yr card
Updated Simple Freedom refill options ($100/1 yr)
Updated phone specials
Added "Port Your Number?" to the chart
Beyond Wireless finally has a
list
of available local numbers on-line!
Cingular TDMA Blue and Orange system integration has started
(Over 11,000 TDMA cells will be decommissioned - only one network will remain by
EOY05)
The Boston systems have NOT been integrated as of 7/22/2005
Added Page Plus Cellular page
Verizon Wireless downgrades are here (or are on the way):
Entry level Family share plan increased to $69.99 ($10 increase) on 7/18
Many equipment transactions are now subject to a $15 fee (started 7/18)
Incoming text messages will cost 10c starting 8/1
Holidays no longer considered off-peak starting 9/1
Updated T-Mobile coverage maps
Updated Nextel and Boost
Mobile coverage maps
Added "what will I give up without GSM-850?" to the 850
vs 1900 page
Sprint PCS drops Free&Clear plans,
its now all Fair&Flexible
Also 6PM nights & weekends is now available for $10/month
They will purchase affiliate U.S. Unwired
Updated Roadrunner page
Virgin Mobile
adds two new prepaid plans
Day2Day (35c daily fee, 10c airtime)
Month2Month ($30/mo, 150 peak, 150 n/we, no rollover)
Boost Mobile drops airtime rates to
20c/10c starting 7/1
June 2005
Added Monthly Fees to the Prepaid Comparison
Chart
(hopefully this is not a new trend in prepaid)
Added PagePlus to the Prepaid Comparison
Chart
SpeakOut Wireless, who started charging a 99c
monthly fee last month, just jacked the rate to $1.25
Updated Links page
Amazing: Virgin Mobile now charging for
calls to customer service and for balance inquiries
(use 611 instead of *86, first two balance inquiries are free then they are
2c/each)
Cingular rates climb on 6/1, Regional plans deleted,
$30 and $50 plan deleted, familyshare add-on $15
May 2005
Updated Links page
Updated Sprint PCS coverage maps
Updated Cingular and GoPhone
coverage maps
Updated Prepaid and Hybrid
comparison charts
Cingular GoPhone reduces
MediaNet (WAP) from 3c/KB to 1c/KB
Updated the Roadrunner page for a recent
trip along I-89 in northern VT (acd483)
(Confirmed: T-Mobile and Cingular roam just fine on Unicel GSM-850)
Updated Vermont Coverage page
Rumor: Cingular rates to climb on 6/1, Regional
$30 deleted, familyshare add-on $15
Updated New Hampshire Coverage page
Updated the Roadrunner page for a recent
trip through southern VT/Western NH
(Unicel GSM-1900 has been turned OFF in many locations)
SpeakOut Wireless *HAS* started a
99c/month fee
Updated CallPlus FAQ
Verizon Wireless jacks
up 411 & International long distance rates on 7/1
(rates were not that great to start with! - use a prepaid long distance card)
Boost Mobile launches hybrid prepay plan in some markets at $50/month
(150 anytime minutes, 15c after that, unlimited DC, WAP, text)
April 2005
Updated Prepaid Comparison
Chart
Unicel now
has 6PM nights for $5 extra
SpeakOut
Wireless can now be refilled over the
phone with a credit card
Updated Nextel and
Boost Mobile coverage maps
AT&T-based e-mail (@mobile.att.net) must be changed to @mmode.com
ASAP
Virgin Mobile offers new top-up options
Cingular jacks up prepay rates in April
(data now 3c/kb, $10,$20,$30 refill card deleted, added $15,$25)
Deleted Free2Go as it is no longer available to new customers
New U.S. Cellular Plans on 4/3, big disappointment
SpeakOut Wireless may start 99c/month fee &
usage requirement
Major Cingular GSM outage across the Northeast (4-6
hrs)
Boost Mobile to launch in the NY/VT Partners market by summer
(Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Albany, Burlington & Montpelier VT)
Added Tracfone's Net10 to the Hybrid Prepaid Chart
March 2005
Updated the Roadrunner page for a recent
trip in the Greenfield MA area
Cingular Prepaid changes coming in April - looks like higher rates
Updated the Roadrunner page for a ME/NH Nextel
coverage update (Frank Toner)
Updated Sprint PCS and Virgin
national maps
Updated Nextel and Boost
national maps
T-Mobile improves prepaid plan on 3/7
(better rates, lower gold rewards level incl 1-yr airtime expiration)
Updated Prepaid Comparison
Chart
(new chart for
hybrid prepay plans)
Unicel troubled with their recently deployed GSM-850 system
(1. some towers still not running GSM (Springfield VT))
(2. some areas lost TDMA capacity, forcing customers onto AMPS without
notification (Hanover, NH)
(reports say this has improved somewhat)
(3. problems with T-Mobile and Cingular being able to roam on Unicel (Bennington
VT))
February 2005
Unicel brings up GSM in
Morrisville, VT
Updated the Roadrunner page for a
NH-93 to VT-91 Verizon report (petebostn)
Unicel deploys COWs at Sugarbush (Warren &
Fayston VT)
Updated the
Roadrunner page for
my recent trip along I-89/I-91/9/101
Verizon AC2 plans launched 2/21, with no roaming charges
(some previous roaming areas may have been dropped)
Verizon replaces prepaid with Inpulse, a GoPhone-like
plan with $30/month minimum
T-Mobile to add more minutes on family plan
Cingular plan pricing/minutes revised to be more in
line with Verizon
Verizon deploys PCS coverage in NH: Lebanon/Hanover,
Plymouth and Dover/Rochester
Cingular
GoPhone
prepaid plan replaces Cingular Take Charge and AT&T GoPhone
Updated Prepaid Comparison
Chart
Updated the Roadrunner page for a Unicel
SWNH / I-91 report (Mark Mervine)
Added Speak Out Wireless to My Stuff
Added the Nokia 6230b to My Stuff
Boost Mobile launches in several new markets on
2/1 including MA/NH/ME
January 2005
Unicel has officially launched GSM
Verizon prepaid close to launch (like GoPhone)
Updated Prepaid Comparison Chart
Updated Beyond Wireless and CallPlus
maps
Added Unicel SmartPay to the Prepaid Comparison Chart
Added Unicel to the prepaid plans
Boost to launch in new markets (including Boston) on 2/1
Rumor has it that Unicel will soft launch GSM-850
across VT/NH/ME on 1/23
(Bennington GSM-1900 reported off-line, is it related to the soft launch?).
New Verizon plans released 1/17/2005:
(50 extra minutes for $40AC; $50AC deleted; higher priced plans enhanced)
Updated the Roadrunner/service check page for
updates in NH & VT
Verizon deploys Broadband in Boston (and downtown
Manchester NH)
Added Beyond Wireless page
Pharos Int'l drops the price of CallPlus starter kit ($11/60 min), $10 refill (25c/min) and $20
refill (22c/min)
New Nextel service in Brattleboro, Manchester, and Windsor VT (thanks Mike &
Willy)
Revised Prepaid Comparison Chart (added
refill options)
Updated the Roadrunner/service check page for
a recent trip from Manchester to Keene (Mark Mervine)
Revamped Prepaid Comparison Chart
Updated USC network map
December 2004:
Updated Prepaid Comparison Chart
Sprint and Nextel announce merger (expected to close 3Q05)
Verizon to release a GoPhone-like plan (40 and $75/mo)
Restored Free2Go plan as new sign-ups still being taken
Removed AT&T & Free2Go plans as they are no longer offered for sale
Updated the Roadrunner/service check page for
a recent trip to Maine (Gram Schweikert)
November 2004:
Updated the Roadrunner/service check page for
a recent trip (Southern VT/NH)
Updated the Roadrunner/service check page for
a recent trip (Bridgeport CT to Pawlet VT - Jeff D)
Updated Coverage Maps for Verizon
Updated City Listings
Updated Ratings Page
Updated Prepaid Comparison Chart
Thanks to Island_Boy for his generous donation
Cingular completes the purchase of AT&T Wireless.
(little change in coverage; both companies have been allowing full roaming
between them for months)
October 2004:
Updated the Roadrunner/service check page
for a recent trip to Montreal (edwardp)
Updated several coverage by city charts
New Coverage Maps for Nextel
New Coverage Maps for T-Mobile
New Coverage Maps for AT&T
Boost Mobile lowers off-peak airtime to $0.15/minute starting 10/1/2004
September 2004:
Updated Prepaid
Comparison Chart
U.S. Cellular adds CDMA coverage in York Co ME
(Kittery, York areas)
Nextel adds coverage in Pittsfield and North Adams MA
Updated the Roadrunner/service check page for
a recent trip along Rt 2 in NH/ME
August 2004:
Updated the Roadrunner/service check page
for a recent trip along I-93 in NH
Cingular KIC now working on AT&T's SNH system
Updated Prepaid Comparison Chart
U.S. Cellular offering service in Portland ME on 8/25
T-Mobile Easyspeak rebranded as "T-Mobile To Go" on 8/11
Updated the Roadrunner/service check page
for a recent trip along I-89, ME, Adirondacks
GoPhone free nights/weekends on $40 plan; mMode back to KB charge
Boost Mobile fully supported on Telus (send/receive/data)
July 2004:
Free WAP on T-Mobile removed
Updated Prepaid Comparison Chart
Cingular GSM KIC (prepaid) has launched Nationwide
Cingular drops rollover minutes on Regional plans
Updated the Roadrunner/service check page for
a recent trip across southern VT/NH
June 2004:
AT&T GoPhone plans of $50 and $70 get free NIGHTS and weekends; mMode by the
minute
U.S. Cellular goes live in Portland ME (soft launch)
Updated the Roadrunner/service check page for
a recent trip to Saranac NY
Locus & CallPlus drop free roaming, now costs 4x the minute rate to roam
Verizon launches Prepay 25 cent connect/10 cents per minute on 6/10
May 2004:
Verizon turns on York County, ME coverage
Updated Prepaid Comparison Chart
Locus
& CallPlus
prepaid rate drop at Pharos International
U.S. Cellular has 1900 MHz CDMA system up and running in Rutland, VT
Verizon announces
Litchfield County CT coverage
Verizon's NH system merged with Boston system, local coverage area expanded
Sprint PCS releases new Fair & Flexible plan
AT&T GoPhone now roams for free on Cingular
April 2004:
Updated Prepaid Comparison Chart
Updated the Roadrunner/service check page for
a recent Bangor ME trip
AT&T rolls out "GSM America" local & national plans on 4/18.
(Pricing & Coverage very similar to Cingular)
Verizon to charge $0.25 for International SMS starting 5/10
Verizon will send SMS for Voicemail indication starting 5/25
Cingular closes on its purchase of NextWave spectrum; NextWave towers in NH go
dark
AT&T GoPhone 15-20% COST INCREASE (now you pay taxes)
T-Mobile Easyspeak users get free WAP
T-Mobile Easyspeak airtime has one year expiration with $25 refill (thru
6/30/04)
March 2004:
My recent trips to check out how is the VT/NH GSM
Roadrunner Project is going
AT&T GoPhone gives you one free month of service
U.S. Cellular's local plan now covers ALL of VT and ME
T-Mobile has restored the ability to receive an e-mail message on Easyspeak
Boost Mobile "soft launches" service in select cities across the
USA
Boost Mobile raises cost of Direct Connect to $1.50/day (all markets)
AT&T GoPhone drops the free night minutes
Cingular buys AT&T Wireless
Phillyprepaid discontinues prepaid refill cards (due to fraud they say)
T-Mobile Easyspeak only $0.10/minute on weekends (thru 3/31/2004)
Cingular revamps plans: increased cost and reduced coverage (see
maps)
Pharos Int'l is now offering Locus
Mobile (incl $10 recharge cards)
U.S. Cellular to offer service in Portland ME later this year
February 2004:
Cingular revamps plans and coverage: increased cost and reduced coverage (see
maps)
T-Mobile has removed the ability to receive an e-mail message on Easyspeak
January 2004:
Pharos Int'l is now offering Locus
Mobile (incl $10 recharge cards)
Cingular GSM (PCS) detected in Lebanon NH and along I-89
Unicel GSM (PCS) detected in Lebanon NH, Keene NH, Burlington VT, Bennington VT
Check out my NH/VT GSM build out progress here
U.S. Cellular to offer service in Portland ME later this year
Cingular makes a bid for AT&T Wireless
T-Mobile has removed the ability to receive an e-mail message on Easyspeak
Phillyprepaid is now offering Locus
Mobile $10 recharge cards (less than $3/mo with starter kit)
1/5/2004: Locus Telecommunications launches Oxygen (O2) Wireless:
Looks to be the same deal as CallPlus Wireless except all airtime is 19
cents a minute. No LD or roaming charges throughout the USA via the
AT&T TDMA network. Click
here for the details. Service is launched in six cities, not sure if you can
get local numbers in other places right now. Current markets are Los
Angeles, New York, Portland OR, Sacramento, and Shreveport LA
[update 1/9/2004: launch notice is premature - service launch is still pending]
December 2003:
Cingular GSM (1900 MHz) detected in Lebanon NH
Unicel GSM (1900 MHz) detected in Lebanon NH, Keene
NH, Burlington VT & Bennington VT
11/17/2003: Locus Telecommunications lowers prepaid rates:
One of the best prepaid plan values just got better. Not only can you
get a prepaid wireless plan for $3.33/month, but airtime can be as inexpensive
as $0.15/minute, with no long distance or roaming fees, and free international
calling to over 50 countries. Click
here for more info.
11/17/2003: Sprint PCS rolls out it's ReadyLINK walkie-talkie
service: Just in time for WLNP, Sprint has released it's walkie-talkie
service and two brand new phones to go with the service, the Sanyo RL2000 (ruggedized
version of the 4900) and the Sanyo RL2500 (a flip phone). The service costs
about $20/month including Vision.
11/1/2003: AT&T Changes their TDMA SID in Southern NH
again: Looks like it was meant to be this time (see 7/19/2003).
Rockingham County retains SID 4201, while Hillsborough and Merrimack Counties
switch to SID 1631. This change was probably done to support different roaming
agreements.
11/1/2003: U.S. Cellular offers free incoming minutes on some
plans: Local & regional plans of $40 and above now have free
incoming minutes while on the USC network. This replaces the free night and
weekend minute promotion which can still be added at an additional cost.
10/31/2003: Verizon PRL now allows digital roaming on U.S. Cellular's CDMA
system: Verizon customers now have full digital coverage throughout northern
New England, and it's covered in-plan on the Americas Choice plan. Digital
means longer battery life and secure communications. Of course you can
still roam in analog unless you have one of the all-digital phones.
10/26/2003: Tracfone is rolling out a GSM-only plan in select cities: Tracfone
users in NYC, LA and portions of the Carolinas can now sign up for a GSM-only
plan using a Nokia 3390. You can check out the coverage
map here.
10/17/2003: Cingular GSM to cover Northern VT by the end of 2003: According to the
Cingular web, GSM service will be extended to cover a large portion of northern
VT (Burlington/Plattsburgh will have the majority of the new coverage), and I-89
into NH along with minor coverage along I-93. Check out the latest
Cingular GSM map for details.
10/13/2003: AT&T GSM Coverage Update: According to the
AT&T web maps (which can't be saved), Syracuse & Albany NY and portions
of Watertown & Utica NY now have native AT&T GSM service. Service
has also been reported in North Conway, NH
10/13/2003: T-Mobile Coverage Update in NH: Glen NH (and probably
south to North Conway) is now covered. Gunstock Mountain NH is also
covered - a recent trip up I-93 to 3 to 11 to 11A had almost continuous
coverage. You'd never know there was coverage on their website maps.
T-Mobile is the first PCS carrier to those areas.
10/01/2003: U.S. Cellular rolls out CDMA in New England: The USC
website has replaced handsets with CDMA models. I've heard that only
current TDMA handsets are allowed on the USC system. Any new handsets must be
CDMA handsets, and they must have been sold by USC.
09/21/2003: Calm before the storm: Things have been pretty boring
the past month. I expect some good deals coming in the next month or
two. The best deals always happen at the end of the year. As the
date for number portability gets closer, I expect to see the best retention
deals we've ever seen. That assumes that LNP actually takes place on
schedule.
08/18/2003: Verizon offering push-to-talk service: As has been
expected, Verizon started offering a push-to-talk plan that works like the
Nextel walkie talkie phones. Follow
this link for more information.
08/17/2003: Partial retraction of Verizon buildout of I-89: I was up
in the Lebanon area to get more info regarding the new buildout and there was
NOTHING. Either the system was being tested last week and is now off or
the weather was causing some exceptional reception (doubtful). Too bad I
was not paying better attention last week.
08/09/2003: Verizon completes buildout of I-89: A recent trip along
I-89 shows that Verizon now has the entire route covered. The gaping hole was a
lack of licenses in Grafton and Sullivan Counties NH. Verizon recently obtained
licenses for those areas. The new towers use SID 428.
08/09/2003: Cingular purchases PCS licenses from NextWave, will offer GSM
service in Manchester NH and Portland ME: PCS licenses for Manchester
and Portland were part of a larger purchase from NextWave. Check
out the details here. [update 11/2003: shareholders approve sale,
now awaiting regulatory approval]
07/25/2003: Verizon buildout in Keene, NH: Now that Verizon has licenses
for all of NH, I'd expect Keene and the Seacoast to be priorities for new
service areas. A Verizon CDMA signal (SID 428) was detected around the
Keene Home Depot today, so the system is being put in place as we speak.
Although they may not officially offer service there for some time, this will
substantially reduce the roaming costs for Verizon.
07/24/2003: AT&T restores changed SID in Southern NH (oops): AT&T has
restored SID 4201 in the Manchester/Nashua NH area. Somebody goofed (perhaps
they installed a piece of equipment and forgot to set the SID).
07/20/2003: U.S. Cellular is broadcasting a CDMA digital
signal in Southern NH: USC's coversion to CDMA appears to be going on as planned. They recently started broadcasting a CDMA signal, although
you can't currently lock onto the signal. CDMA service to start 10/1/2003.
07/19/2003: AT&T changes SID in Southern NH, messes up Cingular
users: AT&T has just changed it's TDMA SID in Nashua/Manchester NH (perhaps
a much larger area) from 4201 to 1631 (IIRC that SID is licensed somewhere in PA). Not sure if AT&T
is now using wide-area SIDS or this is a big mistake. Cingular uses U.S. Cellular as its roaming partner in southern NH. This change
by AT&T forces Cingular phones to lock onto the AT&T signal, and they are not
able to make calls (must be no roaming agreement in place). Hopefully Cingular is aware of this and sends out an updated IRDB ASAP.
07/04/2003: Cingular adds night/weekend and rollover minutes
to Nation Plan: Cingular is getting aggressive in offering it's
no-roaming all-inclusive national plan (they did this once before in March
2002). The catch? You have to sign up for two years and MUST select the
Nokia 6340i GAIT phone. This is a very interesting strategy, and should help
them push people over to GSM (without sacrificing coverage). This is a wise move
that should not be taken lightly by AT&T.
06/26/2003: RCC/Unicel to make the plunge to GSM/GPRS: It
was inevitable. Cingular and AT&T badly need 850 MHz GSM coverage in
northern New England to have any chance of leaving TDMA behind. It is
interesting that the first press release comes from Cingular and not RCC.
Here is the relevant info from the press
release. "Under the arrangement, RCC will provide GSM/GPRS
service in Maine, New Hampshire, Upstate New York and Vermont. The four-year
agreement is effective immediately. Financial terms of the agreement were not
disclosed."
06/15/2003: Cingular allows Hillsborough and Merrimack NH Residents to sign
up for the Super Home Plan: Cingular is now allowing people outside of
their footprint to sign up for service and not be charged for roaming.
This became possible when Cingular launched their Super Home plan several weeks
ago. The Super Home plan is the first one that includes U.S. Cellular's
445 system that covers Nashua, Manchester, Concord and extends into the lakes
region to North Conway. The only place where Cingular currently provides
service in NH is in Rockingham County. Cingular does appear to have small
pockets of coverage in this new area according to their maps (update 8/9/2003:
Cingular obviously knew they would be getting NextWave licenses soon)
06/12/2003: T-Mobile offers unlimited GPRS data: T-Mobile
introduces Unlimited GPRS for $29.99 (or $19.99 as an add-on to an existing voice
plan of $29.99 or above). GPRS offers "dial-up speed" of about 56K,
which is about half the speed of Verizon's and Sprint's 1x data network (but at
less than half the cost). The service is available anywhere on the
T-Mobile network (no roaming access).
06/07/2003: T-Mobile coverage update in Southern VT/NH:
Good
west along Rt 101 from Nashua, coverage ends around Wilton (not sure, I had
eight phones going at the time). Coverage picks up for a small area around
Keene, and then there is no coverage until close to Troy NY.
06/07/2003: AT&T GSM coverage update in Southern
VT/NH: Going west along Rt 101 from Nashua, coverage ends between Milford
and Wilton NH. GSM coverage has been expanded at least one tower beyond
their TDMA system. From there, there is no coverage until Rochester, NY.
06/07/2003: AT&T TDMA coverage update in Southern
VT/NH: Going west along Rt 101 from Nashua, coverage ends approx at Rt 13 in
Milford. I'm not sure where it picks up again.
06/07/2003: Nextel coverage update in Southern VT/NH:
Going
west along Rt 101 from Nashua, coverage ends around Peterborough. From
there, no coverage until Bennington VT. Then there is solid coverage to the NY
border.
06/07/2003: Sprint PCS coverage update in Southern VT/NH:
Going
west along Rt 101 from Nashua, pretty good signal until just west of
Dublin. Then spotty coverage until Keene (still waiting for the tower in
Marlboro). Good signal from Keene to the VT border. Brattleboro has very
poor coverage (-106dBm west of Rt 91), and Sprint finally took it off their
covered city listing. No further coverage until Bennington VT, which now has a
solid signal. The signal is then ok (a little weak around the VT/NY
border), but a usable signal the rest of the way to Troy.
06/02/2003: Verizon "tweaks" some pricing plans and
improves coverage maps: The $40/400 minute AC plan is now permanent.
Some markets have dropped the $35 AC plan. Some local coverage plans now include more minutes. Coverage maps updated
and improved. Some markets (eg: LA) now have a "degraded" voice
mail system that only holds three messages (unless you pay $2/month for enhanced
voicemail).
05/01/2003: AT&T launches GoPhone, a hybrid pre-paid plan
for their GSM network: GoPhone pre-charges a monthly fee to your credit
card, but is otherwise very similar to a traditional wireless plan.
PROS: No credit check, no activation fee, no termination fee, free nights &
weekends, data usage, minutes roll-over
CONS: Limited GSM coverage area; Monthly fee, charged to go over the minute
allowance. Click
here for more info
05/01/2003: Cellular One is rebadged as Unicel:
In a further move to bring the two New England Rural Cellular Corporation (RCC)
systems together, the Cellular One name gives way to Unicel. Cellular
One operates in VT/NH/NY/MA. The expanded Unicel covers most of
northern New England. Click
here for more info
04/13/2003: Sprint PCS launches new plan, revises others:
The new "Free & Clear America" plan includes roaming
(up to 50% of total monthly usage) across the USA. Plans start at $45. Click
here for the plan preview. (thanks to Steve Crow in alt.cellular.sprintpcs).
Vision plans under $100 increase by $5/month, but now include a Vision Pack.
04/05/2003: T-Mobile plans change on 4/7:
T-Mobile made some adjustments to their rate plans as follows (thanks to cheerioboy26
in alt.cellular.gsm.voicestream):
19.99 Basic - 75 anytime/500 weekend (no change)
29.99 Basic Plus - 300 anytime/unlimited wkend (text SMS and T-Zones REMOVED)
39.99 Get More - 600 anytime/unlimted wkend (no change)
59.99 Get More Plus - 1000 anytime/unlimited wkend (was 800 anytime)
79.99 **NEW** Get More Ultra - 1500 anytime/unlimited wkend
99.99 Get More Max - 2500 anytime/unlimited wkend (was 1400 anytime)
129.99 **NEW** Get More Supra - 5000 anytime/unlimited wkend
No changes to Family Time or 3000 Regional Plans, Smart Access,
Sidekick, or Business plans.
03/12/2003: Sprint PCS tacks on fees:
Besides raising rates, Sprint PCS has followed AT&T in tacking on
additional monthly fees. In February the additional fees added 1.5% to my
monthly cost. Starting in April Sprint PCS will increase the USF fee as
well.
02/16/2003: Verizon to roll out new plans 4/1:
Expect plan cutbacks as AT&T and Sprint PCS have recently done. More info as
it becomes available. [turns out to be a false rumor]
02/16/2003: Sprint PCS raises rates, effective 2/16: Most
rates go up by $5. The free three month Vision promotion is reduced to two
months.
The lowest cost plan goes from $30 to $35, loses MTM minutes, and night/weekend
minutes are reduced to 1000.
02/10/2003: AT&T drops Regional Plan, cuts minutes and raises rates, effective 2/9: The AT&T regional plans are
gone. The only way to
cover all of New England without roaming & long distance is the One Rate
plan starting at $60. The bonus minutes on the $30 plans are also gone.
Additionally, AT&T has effectively raised the monthly rates on all their
plans by the addition of a sneeky "$1.75 Regulatory Programs
Fee". The company appears to be clueless about good basic
cellular service in New England.
02/02/2003: Northern New England will see GSM coverage in
2003: AT&T and Cingular have teamed up to share their networks in
several new areas to provide service to travelers. The following new GSM
coverage will be turned on in 2003:
NH: Cingular will add towers along Rt 93, 89, 101, 9
VT: Cingular will add towers along Rt. 89, 4, 9, 7
ME: AT&T will add towers along Rt 95
NY: AT&T will add towers along Rt 87, 90, 81 and 390.
This information comes from the AT&T Wireless 2003 Analyst Meeting. Thanks to
Chad (alt.cellular.attws) for posting the URL a couple of weeks ago. Very interesting charts and figures, and they say it will happen in 2003. However,
that is marketing and I wouldn't hold my breath :) You can download the PDF presentation here:
http://www.attws.com/wirelessir/downloads/oeIo4rsr45rrMAI_GS.pdf
01/25/2003: Sprint PCS coverage update in Keene: Sprint turned up a new site in Keene on Dec 31. Site is just southeast of
Keene off Rt 101 and Rt 12. Real world results seem to be filling in some holes
in coverage along 12 & 101, as well as parts of Keene itself. Also better
coverage in Swanzey, NH Still not complete coverage through Marlboro, although
the town has approved a site which should fill in that gap completely. I
confirmed the new coverage this week.
01/16/2003: AT&T revamps their website, nicks local
multi-band plan: The only multi-band plan remaining is the one-rate;. So the business travelers
are covered. As for everyone else, moving to GSM means giving up a huge chunk of coverage. I guess this will work for now since they are leaving the TDMA
plans alone. They may pick up some new customers on GSM. But they aren't going
to wean a huge chunk of their existing DA/RA customers off of TDMA with their current plans. I guess they are in a holding pattern for the time being.
12/20/2002: Tracfone extends local calling areas: Most
Tracfone local calling areas have been increased. In particular, customers
that reside in Cingular's East Coast network have the entire East Coast Cingular
network as their local calling area.
12/06/2002: Website changes: I have added a
links page.
12/01/2002: Sprint PCS coverage update in NH & VT:
Minimal
improvements along Route101/Route 9 since
spring. SPCS coverage in
Keene and Bennington is very poor. SPCS
has been detected in downtown Manchester.
11/23/2002: T-Mobile now covering Watertown, NY:
T-Mobile
coverage now extends from Syracuse to the Canadian border via Rt. 81. Looks like
there is not much coverage in Watertown except near the highway.
11/15/2002: Verizon drops the price of several phones: You can
now get Verizon's best phone, the Motorola V60i, for $50 (after rebate, two year
contract required). [special has been discontinued as of 12/2]
11/14/2002: Free phones with AT&T activation:
You can get any AT&T TDMA phone for free (after rebates) by
signing up for new AT&T service at Amazon.com.
That includes the Motorola V60i and the Nokia 8265, two of the most popular and
best performing phones. You can get the Siemens S46 multi-band phone for
free from AT&T (after $100 rebate).
11/14/2002: I've signed up for Callplus prepaid: Check
out my FAQ. It's the best deal for low
usage situations (as low as $3.33/month).
11/1/2002: Tracfone offering several incentives:
Tracfone
must be feeling the pressure as competition heats up in the prepaid business.
Some of the incentives include getting a free (refurbished) phone, minutes good
for 12 months, and new monthly plans (credit card billing). The incentives are
only good within a narrow range of usage, so you'll really have to analyze
whether it works for you.
10/30/2002: New AT&T plans revised:
Unlimited
Night/Weekend
minutes are added on the $30 plans.
10/30/2002: New Verizon plans revised: Night/Weekend
minutes are restored on the $35 plans. Bonus minutes and Unlimited night/weekend
minutes for $4.99.
10/20/2002: New AT&T Wireless plans released: TDMA
$30 plans get 100 bonus anytime minutes, but loose night/weekend minutes, so
this is still not competitive. Higher cost plans
get 200 bonus minutes and keep the night/weekend minutes. As far as I can tell there are no changes to the
GSM plans.
10/18/2002: New Sprint PCS plans released: The
$30/300 plan is back, first time in three years! Roaming is now a flat $0.50
plus $0.25/minute. Various other plans as well. Free Vision for high end
plans, it's $10/month on the low end plans after a three month free trial.
10/15/2002: New Verizon plans released: Not
much has changed, except Night & Weekend minutes are now an additional
$5/month in most markets.
10/1/2002: T-Mobile reduces regional coverage areas:
Regional
areas have been substantially reduced. The Boston regional area is limited to
NH, MA, ME and RI.
10/1/2002: Cingular expands rollover minutes to Nation
Preferred Plans: Cingular rollover minutes are now part of the Nation
Preferred plans. Exceptions are Tulsa, Austin, Houston, West Texas,
Upstate New York, Kauai, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. These areas will be added
later this year.
9/19/2002: T-Mobile expands into Keene NH:
I was
checking out cellular plans on amazon.com today and found a map showing Keene
covered. The T-Mobile website lists Keene but does not show it on the map.
You'd think they would try and make the public aware of this!
9/5/2002: AT&T GSM Network is on-line in Boston: AT&T
rolled out their GSM network in Boston. There are some charter packages,
but coverage is far less than the more mature CDMA and TDMA networks. I
recommend waiting until GSM matures.
9/3/2002: Voicestream rebadged as T-Mobile:
The
Voicestream name is no more, it's been replaced by T-Mobile, which is the name
used internationally.
8/18/2002: Cingular introduces rollover minutes on Local Plan:
Any minutes not used each month will automatically rollover to the next
month (max rollover of 12 months). This is probably to reduce the sting of the
National Plan cut.
8/18/2002: Cingular cuts National Plan:
The
Cingular National Plan has been cut back radically. Night and Weekend minutes
are gone and anytime minutes are substantially reduced. A new network plan is
available to compete with America's Choice. The new network plan includes most
of New England, with the notable exception being Southern NH (Nashua,
Manchester, Concord)
7/15/2002: New AT&T plans in effect:
In
general, plans have been downgraded once again. $30 plans lose night minutes.
Some markets get bonus anytime minutes on $40 plans but New England markets get
only local mobile-to-mobile minutes. AT&T is working hard to have the worst
wireless plan under $40.
7/5/2002: Sprint PCS Coverage Update:
Route 93 NH
coverage extends north to about Exit 23 (same as Verizon so perhaps they are
sharing towers). Sprint PCS signal detected in Lake Placid and Saranac
Lake NY. Lake George NY coverage limited to the village due to limited antenna.
6/15/2002: Nextel service detected in Burlington and Montpelier
VT: Nextel appears to be testing service in VT (source alt.cellular)
6/15/2002: Voicestream expanded coverage in Western NY:
Voicestream
service detected that extends from Syracuse to Buffalo (with a few holes), and
service was detected in Erie PA as well (source
alt.cellular.gsm.carriers.voicestream)
6/10/2002: AT&T regional plans lose minutes:
AT&T's
regional plan, the worst value in the industry, gets even worse! $30/100 minutes;
$40/175 minutes.
6/6/2002: NextWave now
"covering" the Nashua area: NextWave is now operating on PCS Band
C (CDMA, SID 5288). Like Unicel, I believe they are only doing this so that the FCC does not
revoke their license.
5/25/2002: U.S. Cellular enhances Regional & National
plans: USC has added off-peak minutes to the regional and national
plans. These minutes are only good in the local service area (you probably
have to be on the USC network).
5/10/2002: Unicel (dba New Hampshire Wireless) now
"covering" the Nashua area: Unicel is now operating on PCS Band F
(TDMA, SID 5964). I believe they are only doing this so that the FCC does not
revoke their license.
5/1/2002: AT&T has started testing GSM in the Boston
area.
4/26/2002: Sprint PCS Coverage Update:
Hoosick NY is ON. Detail:
Rt 7/Rt 9 from Troy NY to (almost) Bennington VT is ON (poor coverage along most of the
route). Some have said that Bennington VT is on, but it wasn't when I went
through.
4/21/2002: AT&T rolls out it's National Network plans:
Plans
start at $35/300 peak minutes (and 3000+ night/weekend minutes 9PM-6AM). This is
competitive with Sprint PCS as the coverage areas are similar (major metro
areas).
4/13/2002: Verizon America's Choice New England Coverage
Update: The AC plan now includes all of New England! (VT, NH, ME, MA, RI,
CT). That is great news for Northern New England!
4/1/2002: Voicestream Coverage Update:
Lewiston ME
is ON, Augusta ME is ON
3/26/2002: Sprint PCS Coverage Update:
Labanon NH is ON,
Burlington VT is ON, Rutland VT is ON, Plattsburgh, NY is ON. Detail: Rt. 89 from
Concord NH to the VT border is ON (some dead zones); Rt 4 from Pico Mtn VT to Rutland VT is ON.
3/4/2002: Cingular: New National One Rate plan announced
today is the best in the business! $30 will get 250 peak and
3500 night/weekend minutes with no roaming or long distance anywhere in the
US! [has been since discontinued]
3/1/2002: U.S. Cellular announces new plans:
There
are now three price plans, Local (USC areas only), Regional (9-state) and
National (Entire US). There are no off-peak minutes available with the Regional
or National plans.
3/1/2002: Sprint PCS: Price increase on the 200 peak
minute plan, it's now $35.
2/1/2002: Verizon: America's Choice (AC) plan replaces all Regional
plans. Coverage includes the Verizon network and selected Alltel and Sprint PCS
networks. Otherwise roaming is $0.65/minute including Canada. The Single
Rate National (SRN) plan is still available but the bonus weekend minutes are
gone.
1/27/2002: AT&T: New plans started. The only competitive plan
below $50 is the $40/300 Regional plan (but 2 year contract is required).
12/19/2001: U.S Cellular: Announced their conversion to CDMA. This
will give NH complete CDMA coverage. This will jeopardize AT&T's roaming
network in northern New England.
12/?/2001: Cingular: Announced their conversion to GSM.
11/1/2001: Sprint PCS: Recent expansion along Route 101 from Milford
to Dublin. Expanded coverage on Rt 89 and Rt 93. Expanded coverage in the
Nashua and Seacoast areas.
10/1/2001: AT&T:
Announced their conversion to GSM.
10/1/2001: The start of the New England Cellular Pages
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