basic cellular bill + added taxes ?

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 Mon, 3 Dec 2007 22:20:02 -0600, "P.Schuman"
<pschuman_no_spam_me@interserv.com> wrote:

>
>So - what do you see on your bill as far as actual plan cost vs added taxes

It would probably help greatly if you said what state you were in, so
you would at least get a reasonable comparison of taxes.

"P.Schuman" <pschuman_no_spam_me@interserv.com> wrote in
news:Vz45j.2844$Vq.1321@nlpi061.nbdc.sbc.com:

> 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 ?
>
>
Alltel in South Carolina, here. The $39 plan is over $47 after
the bureaucrats get their cuts. Every fiefdom wants some. It's
obscene. There'll be more taxes, now with the additional $25/mo
EVDO data added to that. $64/mo will total over $75.

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.

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

NYC area:

t-mobile. Basic fee $39.99. Taxes raise it to $50.

(a couple cents up or down from that $50. I have a
couple of small periodic extra charges, so can't calculate
the exact exact amount).


--
__________________________________________________ ___
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

On Tue, 04 Dec 2007 05:28:03 +0000, Larry <noone@home.com> scribbled:

>"P.Schuman" <pschuman_no_spam_me@interserv.com> wrote in
>news:Vz45j.2844$Vq.1321@nlpi061.nbdc.sbc.com:
>
>> 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 ?
>>
>>
>Alltel in South Carolina, here. The $39 plan is over $47 after
>the bureaucrats get their cuts. Every fiefdom wants some. It's
>obscene. There'll be more taxes, now with the additional $25/mo
>EVDO data added to that. $64/mo will total over $75.
>
>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.

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?

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 ?
>

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:

> 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.

-= Hawk =- <Hawk@thispartisbogus.cfl.rr.com> wrote in
news:438al31sqhhflald6ta2ug3d3455k4mtq2@news-server:

> On Tue, 04 Dec 2007 05:28:03 +0000, Larry <noone@home.com>
scribbled:
>
>>"P.Schuman" <pschuman_no_spam_me@interserv.com> wrote in
>>news:Vz45j.2844$Vq.1321@nlpi061.nbdc.sbc.com:
>>
>>> 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 ?
>>>
>>>
>>Alltel in South Carolina, here. The $39 plan is over $47 after
>>the bureaucrats get their cuts. Every fiefdom wants some.
It's
>>obscene. There'll be more taxes, now with the additional
$25/mo
>>EVDO data added to that. $64/mo will total over $75.
>>
>>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.
>
> 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?
>
>

In 1989, around midnight, I stood in the street outside a
friend's wrecked home we were staying at, staring up at the stars
through the center of the eye, talking on AMPS with my bagphone
to my friend's family in Ohio to tell them we were ok, but the
house had moved 3" away from the garage, cracking the wall. We'd
been huddled in the bathroom for hours wondering if it would ever
be over. Whole pine trees were flying horizontally down the
street, lit up by the falling electrical power system it took
months to rebuild.

I guess I was lucky the old bagphone still worked. Of course,
that was on 800 Mhz AMPS with real transmitters and a better
system than PCS.

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

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

> 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?

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