basic cellular bill + added taxes ?

Wooly <nobody@nunya> wrote in news:47554baa$0$2365
$4c368faf@roadrunner.com:

> Larry wrote:
>
>> I justify it by not having an AT&T landline at home, which I
>> consider obsolete. I'll never figure why someone with a
>> SELLphone they're paying so much for has another drain on
their
>> funds with a useless landline with even MORE stupid addon
>> charges, like "long distance", a throwback into the 1930's.
>
> Because it's a lot easier for a child to find the phone mom
drills him
> to use in an emergency when the phone is *always* attached to
the
> kitchen wall, and because the landline will *always* accurately
report
> its number and location to the 911 center, unlike cellphones.
>

Hmm....If a child is that young, shouldn't it be with its parents
or a trusted adult? If a child is 12, these days, the child has
his/her own phone and knows much more about its use (and hacking)
than all the adults in the house, combined.

As to 911, the SELLphone in the child's pocket is accessible,
from anywhere the child is located.....not just if the child is
trapped against the kitchen wall where the wall phone is located.
The kitchen phone won't help the child on her way home from
school or at the store or at the neighbor's house locked up by
the pedophile daddy of her friend, will it?

Larry
--
Isn't it ironic that the same ISPs that are telling you
you're downloads threaten their networks......
.....are testing 100Gbps TV to sell on the SAME systems?
http://tinyurl.com/27qx3v

T-Mobile

"P.Schuman" <pschuman_NO_SPAM_ME@interserv.com> wrote in message
news:1Tb5j.75678$YL5.34158@newssvr29.news.prodigy. net...
> wonder which prepaid you are using ?
> We have our son on Virgin Mobile right now....
> but he's starting to eat up the minutes :)
> It seemed the best at 90 day interval for adding funds.
>
> "Patrick C" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
> news:gF95j.22710$4V6.8201@newssvr14.news.prodigy.n et...
>> We use prepaid, buy 1000 minutes at a time for $100 and only pay sales
>> tax
>> on that (less we find refill card on EBay). We live in Illinois and our
>> local sales taxes are 7%. The minutes last a year then are rollable if
>> you
>> don't use them. Of course we don't use that many minutes to begin with
>> and
>> the prepaid phone selection isn't that great. We have 2 non camera
>> phones
>> and a Sidekick II I only use for 10 days every 3 months ($10 a crack)
>> when
>> we go on vacation so we don't have to lug the laptop around.
>>
>> "P.Schuman" <pschuman_no_spam_me@interserv.com> wrote in message
>> news:Vz45j.2844$Vq.1321@nlpi061.nbdc.sbc.com...
>> > My son is out looking at different cell plans so he can get a
>> > smartphone..
>> > However, I've warned him - for budgeting purposes - that the real
>> > monthly
>> > cost
>> > is not just the detailed voice and/or data plan,
>> > but it also includes the local TAXES.
>> >
>> > Looking at some of my old Sprint bills,
>> > it looks like a $39 plan had about $7.50 added in taxes = 20%
>> >
>> > So - what do you see on your bill as far as actual plan cost vs added
>> > taxes ?
>> >
>>
>
>

Larry wrote:
>
> Hmm....If a child is that young, shouldn't it be with its parents
> or a trusted adult? If a child is 12, these days, the child has
> his/her own phone and knows much more about its use (and hacking)
> than all the adults in the house, combined.

A child can pick up the phone, dial 911 and say "my mom has diabetes and
I can't wake her up". That's much easier to do when the phone isn't a
moving target, and there are only three buttons to push.

Be snyde and ignorant all you want - if you had kids or medical
conditions or both you might have a little more appreciation for a
hardwired phone.

> As to 911, the SELLphone in the child's pocket is accessible,
> from anywhere the child is located.....not just if the child is
> trapped against the kitchen wall where the wall phone is located.
> The kitchen phone won't help the child on her way home from
> school or at the store or at the neighbor's house locked up by
> the pedophile daddy of her friend, will it?

You obviously don't have children. Show me one who remembers his
pencil, his homework, his lunchbox and his jacket every morning and I
might agree that's a kid who is responsible enough to own a cellphone.
Until you prove to me that you're talking about MY kid I'll continue to
be a responsible parent by knowing his friends, his friends' parents,
his hangouts, his hobbies and his habits - all of which goes a whole lot
farther toward keeping a kid safe than a gadget in his pocket.

My $39.99 monthly bill totals out at $47.79. I'm with T-Mobile in
Pennsylvania.


"P.Schuman" <pschuman_no_spam_me@interserv.com> wrote in message
news:Vz45j.2844$Vq.1321@nlpi061.nbdc.sbc.com...
> My son is out looking at different cell plans so he can get a smartphone..
> However, I've warned him - for budgeting purposes - that the real monthly
> cost
> is not just the detailed voice and/or data plan,
> but it also includes the local TAXES.
>
> Looking at some of my old Sprint bills,
> it looks like a $39 plan had about $7.50 added in taxes = 20%
>
> So - what do you see on your bill as far as actual plan cost vs added
> taxes ?
>

On Tue, 04 Dec 2007 13:07:14 +0000, Larry <noone@home.com> scribbled:

>My family is all dead. Do you think your landline can call them?

Are you always this much of an asshole or are you extra special bitter
becuase of the holidays? Don't bother letting me know, I really don't
give a shit.

On Tue, 4 Dec 2007 08:18:11 -0500, "Bill Kearney"
<wkearney-99@hot-mail-com> scribbled:

>
>> 2004, hurricane Frances (or Jeanne, your choice) makes landfall a few
>> miles south of here. My neighbors couldn't get a cell phone call out for
>> four days or more. Towers down, overloaded circuits, joy! On the other
>> hand my 'obsolete', 'useless landline' a 'throwback to the 1930's'
>> survived both hurricane strikes and we were able to make calls. Hell, I
>> called my insurance company and made our initial insurance claim during
>> the height of the storm. You go on staring dumbly at "No Signal" I'll be
>> talking to my family around the country... Anyone you want me to call
>> for you, Tech-boi?
>
>Tech-boi? What're you, a child?

Aww, cute. New to usenet or just really pathetic?

>Land lines are great, unless said hurricane topples the house, the lines or
>the central office.

Hopefully you'll be under the pile with Larry.

In article <Xns99FC5332FD91noonehomecom@208.49.80.253>,
Larry <noone@home.com> wrote:

> I justify it by not having an AT&T landline at home, which I
> consider obsolete. I'll never figure why someone with a
> SELLphone they're paying so much for has another drain on their
> funds with a useless landline with even MORE stupid addon
> charges, like "long distance", a throwback into the 1930's.

Because they do different things? Achieve different goals?

Sure, you can talk on both of them.

I guess you'd fail to understand why a contractor who has a dump truck
would bother to have a car at home. After all, they both have a
steering wheel and a gas pedal and can take you places, right?

P.Schuman wrote:
> My son is out looking at different cell plans so he can get a smartphone..
> However, I've warned him - for budgeting purposes - that the real monthly
> cost
> is not just the detailed voice and/or data plan,
> but it also includes the local TAXES.
>
> Looking at some of my old Sprint bills,
> it looks like a $39 plan had about $7.50 added in taxes = 20%
>
> So - what do you see on your bill as far as actual plan cost vs added taxes

It's not just government imposed taxes, it's the garbage fees that the
carrier adds-on to be able to appear to offer lower rates than they
actually do.

Does he want a SmartPhone to be able to use it primarily with WiFi, or
does he also want to use the 3G network where it starts to get really
expensive.

There are so many variables in choosing a "SmartPhone."

-If voice coverage is an issue then get Verizon

-If 3G coverage is an issue then get Sprint or Verizon

-If Wi-Fi is sufficient and 3G isn't needed, an unlocked iPhone used on
T-Mobile prepaid at 10¢/minute may be the best deal. The next iPhone
will have 3G, so it's worth waiting if he wants an iPhone for use with
the AT&T data network.

-Will he have a landline phone to be able to use a monthly cell plan
with less minutes? It's often amusing to see people give up their
landline which typically has a cost of under $20, and end up with an
$80/month cell phone bill, versus a $40/per month bill, plus also
spending $50/month on broadband from the cable company versus
$20-30/month for DSL.

When you look at the big picture, a low-cost cell phone plan plus a
landline with something like OneSuite or Talkloop ends up being a _lot_
less expensive if you have the discipline to minimize your cell phone
use. With PagePlus now down to 5.7¢/minute, $40 buys you more than 700
minutes.

P.Schuman wrote:
> wonder which prepaid you are using ?
> We have our son on Virgin Mobile right now....
> but he's starting to eat up the minutes :)
> It seemed the best at 90 day interval for adding funds.

Virgin is one of the worst prepaid plans in terms of cost. Also, there
is no roaming, which limits you to Sprint's native coverage which is
downright horrible in many parts of the country (including much of
California). When you have Sprint postpaid coverage you are allowed to
roam on other carriers which often makes up for Sprint's own limited
coverage, but you don't get this with Virgin.

T-Mobile is 10¢/minute with an $100 card, which gets you "Gold" status,
which means a one year expiration on air time, even on future purchases
of less than $100. The down side is that the T-Mobile network is not all
that great in many areas.

PagePlus is probably the best option with 120 day expiration and it's on
the Verizon network which has the best coverage in the U.S. by a large
margin. Roaming is extra, but in most areas of the country you won't be
roaming. AMPS roaming is also available. It does not work in Canada or
Mexico. 1400 minutes cost $80 (5.7¢/minute). 700 minutes are $50
(7.1¢/minute). 300 minutes are $25 (8.3¢/minute). These rates are
relatively new, and they have come down significantly from a few months ago.

I have my two kids on PagePlus and there are several benefits:

1) If they do get into a gabfest (which they haven't yet) it's at least
limited to whatever money they have on their account, plus unlike a
postpaid account the per minute cost doesn't sky-rocket when you go over
your monthly allocation.

2) Coverage is excellent. In my area, Sprint and T-Mobile coverage are
awful, AT&T is adequate, but Verizon is excellent. My daughter often
lets her friends use her phone to call their parents when her friend's
phones have no coverage.

3) Low per-minute cost

4) They can use my old phones from my Verizon account. Of course they
may not be too pleased about that when some kids at school have iPhones,
but tough luck. I don't want them taking a $400 piece of electronics to
school.

5) Longer expiration time than many prepaid services.

You can use any CDMA/AMPS phone that works on Verizon (I think I read
that Alltel phones also work). I know that you used to be able to use
Verizon InPulse phones on PagePlus, but I don't know if this still
works. You can buy a refurb phone from PagePlus, or find a Tri-Mode
CDMA/AMPS phone on craigslist or eBay. I recommend the Motorola V325i.

"http://www.pagepluscellular.com/"

On Dec 3, 9:28 pm, Larry <no...@home.com> wrote:

<snip>

> I justify it by not having an AT&T landline at home, which I
> consider obsolete. I'll never figure why someone with a
> SELLphone they're paying so much for has another drain on their
> funds with a useless landline with even MORE stupid addon
> charges, like "long distance", a throwback into the 1930's.
>
> People are stupid.

You need to learn to look at the big picture. There are many reasons
to retain a landline that you don't understand.

1. DSL is generally much cheaper than broadband cable, and naked DSL
is usually no cheaper than a landline plus DSL.

2. Using a landline allows you to select a lower cost cellular plan
with fewer peak minutes. Usually the savings more than offset the cost
of the landline.

3. A landline is better for 911 service. You can achieve the same
results by registering a physical address on a service like Vonage or
Voicestick (but not with Skype), but these services can cost as much
as a standard landline and they require expensive broadband service
anyway. If you have kids or elderly people in the house then you don't
want to rely on a cell phone in an emergency.

4. In natural disasters, the cell phone network is often unavailable
because towers have been knocked out, or the system is unable to cope
with the capacity demands. Even a recent minor earthquake in
California caused capacity issues with all the carriers (the trick was
to set your phone to AMPS only, but this trick won't work for much
longer).

5. If you need to do FAXing, you can't do it with Vonage unless you
pay an extra fee. Faxing doesn't work with Voicestick most of the
time. One workaround to this is to use a PC faxing service, but these
can be somewhat of a pain in the butt to use, and they are not free
for sending. I use Faxaway on the occasions that I need to send a FAX
outside my LATA.

6. With a long distance service such as OneSuite, it's cheaper to make
international calls, without using up your peak cell phone minutes for
the call. You _never_ want to call internationally on your cell phone
(you can use OneSuite from your cell phone as well, but you're paying
twice if you're using peak minutes and having to get a plan with more
minutes).

7. Alarm systems often need a landline.

8. Satellite TV boxes need a landline, and satellite TV service is
much cheaper than cable TV service.

The important thing to remember with a landline is that you don't
really need all those stupid add-ons like 3 way calling, call-waiting,
caller-ID, voice-mail, etc. You can even go to measured-rate service
and save more.