Shoutbox

Menthix is right.  Majority of the cellular service is contract and fixed monthly cost based (as long as you don't exceed the plan allowances).  That is how we do it here, like it or not.

Prepaid or "pay as you go" service just hasn't caught on and the few options of that sort that exist aren't that great.  Also, while two of the main US carriers (AT&T and T-Mobile) operate GSM networks, I am not aware of either offering such services or partnering with any service reseller offering them.  If you go with Boost, for example, you will be on Sprint's iDEN network (not even CDMA), which they inherited from Nextel.  Your phone selection will be from 4-5 clunky Motorola handsets, which are completely useless outside the US.

Another thing you should know is that you will be paying, whether in terms of plan minutes or money, for incoming calls as well as outgoing calls.  This is in part a consequence of the fact that in the US, it has always cost the same to call a cell phone from a land line as it did to call another land line.

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Originally posted by Chris4

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Originally posted by toddy

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Originally posted by Chris4

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Originally posted by toddy

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Originally posted by Chris4

...which seems impossible?

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not really, it'll just be round up

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Yeah I know, but say it was rounded to £0.01, that's still 10x cheaper than the average text message in the UK.

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and? uk is a rip off!

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True. But for someone who's used to that, it seems impossible to have it 10x cheaper.

Don't tell me every country apart from UK gets this?

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Contract FTW.  Effective cost £10 a month gets me unlimited texts and 600 minutes

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Originally posted by djdannyp

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Originally posted by Chris4

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Originally posted by toddy

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Originally posted by Chris4

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Originally posted by toddy

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Originally posted by Chris4

...which seems impossible?

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not really, it'll just be round up

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Yeah I know, but say it was rounded to £0.01, that's still 10x cheaper than the average text message in the UK.

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and? uk is a rip off!

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True. But for someone who's used to that, it seems impossible to have it 10x cheaper.

Don't tell me every country apart from UK gets this?

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Contract FTW.  Effective cost £10 a month gets me unlimited texts and 600 minutes

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Wtf, what network provider is that?

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Originally posted by Adeptus
Menthix is right.  Majority of the cellular service is contract and fixed monthly cost based (as long as you don't exceed the plan allowances).  That is how we do it here, like it or not.

Prepaid or "pay as you go" service just hasn't caught on and the few options of that sort that exist aren't that great.  Also, while two of the main US carriers (AT&T and T-Mobile) operate GSM networks, I am not aware of either offering such services or partnering with any service reseller offering them.  If you go with Boost, for example, you will be on Sprint's iDEN network (not even CDMA), which they inherited from Nextel.  Your phone selection will be from 4-5 clunky Motorola handsets, which are completely useless outside the US.

Another thing you should know is that you will be paying, whether in terms of plan minutes or money, for incoming calls as well as outgoing calls.  This is in part a consequence of the fact that in the US, it has always cost the same to call a cell phone from a land line as it did to call another land line.

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Thanks for that.

Btw I found this interesting article on the subject US providers vs rest of the world: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32560401/ns/technolog...-tech_and_gadgets/

Nevermind Boost's own handset selection. I do assume I can order a SIM card and use it in my own unlocked phone of choice.

About Denmark - there are several service resellers here competing hard for a market of only 5.5 million people; this helps to drive prices down. Unlimited texting usually costs 50 DKK / ~$10 USD a month.

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Originally posted by ZrednaZ
Nevermind Boost's own handset selection. I do assume I can order a SIM card and use it in my own unlocked phone of choice.

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No, the whole point was that you can't.  The Boost iDEN SIM card will fit in your GSM phone and it may even work outside the US where Sprint/Nextel has international roaming agreements.  However, they have no such agreements here, where you are expected to be on their own iDEN network (which your GSM phone can't talk to).

The rest of the world uses one cellular network type (GSM), so this is probably quite confusing for you.  US has four different network types in use.  CDMA, also used by Sprint, and TDMA, used by Verizon, work with phones that don't even have SIM cards or a slot to put one in.

As noted before, the main US GSM network operators are AT&T and T-Mobile.  Their (or their resellers') SIM cards should work in your own phone, provided it supports the right GSM band.  Older or very basic phones might not.

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Originally posted by krissy-afc

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Originally posted by djdannyp

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Originally posted by Chris4

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Originally posted by toddy

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Originally posted by Chris4

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Originally posted by toddy

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Originally posted by Chris4

...which seems impossible?

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not really, it'll just be round up

---

Yeah I know, but say it was rounded to £0.01, that's still 10x cheaper than the average text message in the UK.

---

and? uk is a rip off!

---

True. But for someone who's used to that, it seems impossible to have it 10x cheaper.

Don't tell me every country apart from UK gets this?

---

Contract FTW.  Effective cost £10 a month gets me unlimited texts and 600 minutes

---

Wtf, what network provider is that?

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O2 via Carphone Warehouse/e2Save/OneStopPhoneShop

I'm pretty sure T-Mobile's 3g service is AWS, so don't expect any GSM phone to work with 3g speed. It will however work for gsm talk and text.

T-Mobile works for me =P

@Djdannyp: Really? Link? I only get unlimited texts for £10..

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Originally posted by Adeptus

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Originally posted by ZrednaZ
Nevermind Boost's own handset selection. I do assume I can order a SIM card and use it in my own unlocked phone of choice.

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No, the whole point was that you can't.  The Boost iDEN SIM card will fit in your GSM phone and it may even work outside the US where Sprint/Nextel has international roaming agreements.  However, they have no such agreements here, where you are expected to be on their own iDEN network (which your GSM phone can't talk to).

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Ok lol, I missed that point. I was unaware of this fact. The great thing about standards is there's so many to choose between, as they say.