Your phone/data bill -and what you get for it?

[trekkiedane]

^Should have read: Your mobile phone/data bill....


I recently got my first portable internet capable device (the N900) and since I was eager to start using it I didn't shop around for a decent 'plan' but merely called my phone people and asked what they could offer me.

10 GB/month at about 42 $ (PLUS the old phone plan which is about 5.50 $/month (plus maybe a buck or two worth of calls and texts)
I know this is horrendously expensive and that I should shop around for a better plan -which I think I've already found: no limit data for about 20 $/month (plus change for calls and texts)

My question is: what do you people out there in trekkie-land pay to be on-line at any and all times?

 

[GodThingFormerly]

My question is: what do you people out there in trekkie-land pay to be on-line at any and all times?

€0,00 per month for unlimited global voice and data on a Nokia N97 provided by my employer, EADS.There are absolutely no restrictions on personal usage (as the gigabytes of porn I d/l'ed on it attest), but I am obliged to keep the device charged and within reach 24/7/365(6).

SLR

 

[Sam_I_Am]

£20.00 a month for unlimited landline calls, 300 mins to mobile calls, and 300 text messages. Internet is extra but capped at £1 a day. I could go unlimited for an extra £5 a month but I never use mobile internet, so why bother?

My provider (Orange) is quite good actually. I used to pay the same amount for much fewer texts and call minutes but they let me change to their updated plan without restarting the contract term.

 

[JoeZhang]

I get unlimited internet, 500 minutes and unlimited texts for £15 a month with orange.

 

[Trippy]

Unlimited texts, internet, and voice with voice mail, call display and call waiting for $50 CAD a month including taxes with Rogers Blackberry. It is the only phone I use (no land line).

My son has a pay-as-you go with Telus. For a $20 CAD month card, he has 250 free outgoing texts, and free incoming texts, plus unlimted internet.

 

[Holdfast]

Unlimited texts, unlimited data/internet and 300 minutes voice for £15/month.

I was able to successfully refuse the free Blackberry work provided and I use my personal one at work instead. Sure, I pay for this one, but at least they can't get push their emails through to this one so I have a good excuse for not reading them frequently! I'm happy to pay for that!

 

[RoJoHen]

I don't use the internet on my phone. Never saw the point.

I do, however, have unlimited texting.

 

[trekkiedane]

^WOW, just: WOW

In all my years of carrying around a phone for that rare call or text I needed to place/send, the only thing I really wanted/needed was the internet in my pocket.

Being able to look up anything anywhere any time was a dream come-true for me! BEST.THING.EVER -even if it does make me feel like a cyborg at times

DANG! - Here I slaved on-line to find the amounts in (US) $ - and the result is that I have to look up CAD's and £

One thing I forgot to put in the OP is: can you change your provider on a whim or are you bound to them? -for how long?

 

[RoJoHen]

One thing I forgot to put in the OP is: can you change your provider on a whim or are you bound to them? -for how long?

I honestly have no idea. I've been with AT&T/Cingular since 2001, and I've always been satisfied with the service. It hasn't occurred to me to switch.

 

[Cali]

£27/month (should be £30 but I have a 10% loyalty discount), 18 month contract, 600 mins, unlimited texts and mobile internet with Orange, free phone.

 

[FordSVT]

$25 unlimited evenings and weekends, 200 daytime.
$5 call display, msg center
$12 unlimited text and internet access.
$10 unlimited data
$7 SA/911/taxes

So about $60 a month and I use my phone when and how I want to with no restrictions. I find myself using the internet a lot these days, especially when I'm waiting around for things to happen or travelling. I use internet radio a lot. I have a basic work phone to use in the day so I never go over my 200 daytime minutes on my own.

 

[Alpinemaps]

I don't use the internet on my phone. Never saw the point.

I do, however, have unlimited texting.

I honestly have no idea. I've been with AT&T/Cingular since 2001, and I've always been satisfied with the service. It hasn't occurred to me to switch.

RoJoHen, at least there's two of us!

I've been AT&T/cingular since 2002. Always been satisfied with the service. I have unlimited texts, and just don't see the point of having the Internet on my phone.

I have the Internet on my work Blackberry, and it just is always a pain to use. So for my home Blackberry, I never got it. I'm upgrading phones right now, and got a 'quick messaging phone' (which I'm taking back - I don't like, going to get something else). Because I enjoy texting. I just don't enjoy surfing the web on something so small. I don't need to be *that* connected.

 

[trekkiedane]

/.../ 18 month contract /.../

Is that even legal?

Or am I missing something? I now it is illegal to tie a customer to a plan for more than six months when they buy a new phone -and as I understand it, that is the rule in the entire EU

 

[Small White Car]

- 2 iPhones
- Unlimited Internet on both
- 700 shared minutes (way more than enough since calls to AT&T members are free)
- 200 text messages on each (would like more but it's expensive)
-> Basic cost: $139.99
- (I have a $16.45 discount because of where I work)
- ($7.69 in taxes)

Final Bill: $131.23 per month (or, $65.62 for just me, if you want to say it that way)

 

[SmoothieX]

I have some sort of Nokia. We have a plan with AT&T where we get 700 minutes per month, unlimited mobile to mobile to AT&T phones, and rollover minutes. After tax it's about $70 for a shared plan with 2 phones.

 

[Warp Coil]

iPhone w/unlimited internet, 900 anytime minutes, free "mobile to mobile" (AT&T customers only), unlimited nights and weekends, and 200 text messages. The cost is around $94.99 + taxes. With my employee discount through work, my bill ends up being $89-90.

It's really irritating that I have to pay for 900 minutes when I don't need that many. But, I need a little more than 450 so I had to go up to the next plan. The free "mobile to mobile" minutes for other AT&T customers is a joke since most of the people I talk to for extended periods of time are on other networks (like Verizon or T-Mobile).

 

[Holdfast]

/.../ 18 month contract /.../

Is that even legal?

Or am I missing something? I now it is illegal to tie a customer to a plan for more than six months when they buy a new phone -and as I understand it, that is the rule in the entire EU

Don't know what EU law is but I doubt that can be true as 12 and 18 month contracts are omnipresent across multiple networks and providers here. You generally get the phone for free with the longer contracts. Seems fair to me, though obviously you have to number crunch the sums carefully each time, to be sure. Usually it comes out a little cheaper to go for the contract and get the phone free, rather than pay for the phone and not have a contract.

Anyway, one thing this thread is showing me is that other people's rates abroad seem really high! I've always heard that the UK telecommunications market is one of the most competitive, with narrowest margins, but never really believed it. But this thread seems to bear it out. Even compared to the US (where things usually cost a fraction of what they do here), we seem to do well in the UK, based on this thread. I feel a little better about paying my monthly phone bill now!

 

[Captain Ice]

OP - I can change that thread title if you like.

I'm paying $55 a month for 450 minutes daytime and 250 texts. Thought about a Blackberry or Droid, but Verizon wants $90 a month for service for those. I have a contract until 7/2011.

Rojo and Alpine - before last July, I had been with Sprint since about 2002. The last 6 months were pretty torturous though - If I was in a car I'd drop the call about every 6-7 miles and people would call me, the call would not ring through even though I was not on it, and it would take 2 hours to 2 days to get the voicemail.

 

[Tiberius Jim]

I pay $55 a month on Sprint and get unlimited data, unlimited text, 450 minutes to landlines and unlimited minutes to any cell phone.

 

[trampledamage]

Anyway, one thing this thread is showing me is that other people's rates abroad seem really high! I've always heard that the UK telecommunications market is one of the most competitive, with narrowest margins, but never really believed it. But this thread seems to bear it out. Even compared to the US (where things usually cost a fraction of what they do here), we seem to do well in the UK, based on this thread. I feel a little better about paying my monthly phone bill now!

Yeah, cellphones are one area that the UK have always been ahead of the US/Canada. Which was a bit of a culture shock when we moved from the UK to Canada! Very few people used text-messaging here, and that was only four years ago!