[_kevin]

How much do you pay monthly for your service?

For about 7 years, we've paid Cingular/Cellular One about $90/month for two phones, only one of which has any advanced service features (SMS, wireless internet, multimedia content support).

We've always renewed our contract upon its expiration, consistently without ever inquiring about potentially better service plans.

$90/month seems like a lot for only two phones with limited features in 2006.

[Love Calm Quiet]

You gotta watch the ads all the time for what the major players are doing. I'm paying ~$90 for new plan (Sprint) - best we could do in our area: NO "advanced" service features. THREE phone. Most important for us: completely FREE calls among our cells (& with other Spring).

With a 2-year contract I got three phones (no extra cost) of the type that WE needed.

It's like any other purchase: check out all the fine print. Be ready to jump ship after the contract ends if that company no longer offers best deal.

And be aware that (like with automobiles' "packages") that it's the "extras" where they gouge... and hope to make their $

[macforray]

We have three phones on a Cingular plan and pay just under $95 per month including all taxes, surcharges, etc.... Two of the phones have voicemail activated at I believe $4 a month each. I have no roaming or out of area charges, so unless I make an overseas call or do a bunch of text messaging, the monthly bill is constant. We purchased the lowest shared minute base plan available that would give us the features we wanted. We never use all of our shared minutes. The three phones are distributed to my wife, daughter in college and myself.

I have been with Cingular (Cellular One) since cell phones weighed as much as a 12" iBook. (well almost as much). In my area they provide the most reliable coverage. (IMHO)

I think the $32 each per month cost on this plan is very reasonable. Although they have never been an actual "lifesaver", they have gotten us out of many situations.

Worth it to me. At least until something better and cheaper comes along.

[Goldfinger]

SMS an advanced feature ?
Cell phone plans in the US are incredible rip offs. I mean no SMS standard, paying for receiving SMS, no roaming, no free voicemail, wtf ?

[Dork.]

Originally Posted by Goldfinger

SMS an advanced feature ?
Cell phone plans in the US are incredible rip offs. I mean no SMS standard, paying for receiving SMS, no roaming, no free voicemail, wtf ?

Yes, cell phone plans here are incredible rip-offs. In fairness, though, The U.S. is a lot bigger than Europe or Japan, and cell towers that are outside the major cities usually have to cover more ground, and have fewer available subscribers, than their counterparts in other countries. So, I think the infrastructure costs are legitimately more expensive -- but still a rip-off.

I have a good deal with Verizon -- 2 phones for around $73, including taxes and fees. (I actually get it cheaper than that, since my company has a supplier deal with Verizon.) We do not use text messaging or internet access on our phones at all, becasue we bought them to talk to people, not to play games or sqiunt at tiny screens. Heck, most of the time I even turn the ringer off, because I have the phone so I can get in touch with people from anywhere, not so they can get in touch with me!

We only have 400 non-Verizon-network minutes to share, but we've never went over that amount. It seems like every company that offers a family share plan now offers practically unlimited minutes, but starts at $85 or so for two phones. My contract is up, but I'm not signing another one until I can get a better per-month deal. We don't need new phones, ours are working just fine. We even got two of the same model so that all of our accessories are compatible....

[The Godfather]

I am in the same boat as Dork. If you don't need any superfluous features like bluetooth, you can get a cheap phone and the unlimited in-network calls for $70, for two phones. Yes, I am talking about the U.S..

[Dork.]

Originally Posted by The Godfather

I am in the same boat as Dork. If you don't need any superfluous features like bluetooth, you can get a cheap phone and the unlimited in-network calls for $70, for two phones. Yes, I am talking about the U.S..

Not with Verizon, or at least not in my area. There are about $13 in fees associated with the two phones on my account, and when I first signed up the base price was $39.99 plus $20 for the second line = $60 for both phones. Verizon's cheapest current 2-phone plan starts at $70, so with fees it will be above $80.

The Verizon folks have called me before (the Do-Not-Call list doesn't cover companies you have an existing business relationship with), trying to get me to sign up for a new contract. When I tell them that I won't sign up for a plan that costs more per month than my current plan, they realize that they're not going to sell anything to me, thank me for my time, and say goodbye.

[ghporter]

$90 is WAY too much, unless you spend 24/7 on the phone. Cingular has a "family plan" that costs $59 for two phones and provides something like 500 shared minutes, free Cingular-to-Cingular calls and a lot of other stuff. I have THREE phones on my Cingular account and I don't pay anywhere near $90. Of course they'll let you continue to pay more than you need to unless you say "how can I spend less and keep at least this level of service."

[Salty]

Dang that's crazy, I think my mom and sister just went on a family plan for like max 45 bucks CND a month...

[Scotttheking]

4 phones, 2100 peak minutes, unlimited everything else, $160/month (I think). 1 phone has unlimited text messages. This is with Verizon. I don't think we need 2100 minutes...I personally use about 200 peak minutes per month, and a large amount of mobile to mobile and off peak.