That is an awesome point., Ruth.

For example, I have an iPhone. RedPocket says that they have a plan for $2.50/month if you purchase a prepaid card for one year. That’s $30 PER YEAR. They also have a $60/year plan ($5/month) that gives you a little more data and only 1/2 the minutes and # of texts. That seems odd, but anyway…

So last year I tried to put the $30/year plan on three of our family phones, only to find that it would only work with one phone, because it had to support a specific carrier and type of network. Then this year when I go to renew it, I’m told that they no longer support GSMA–the phone has to be compatible with the GSMT network. So I ask them, “Is my phone compatible with GSMT?” They say, “If it’s unlocked it is.” OK, well, I’ve been using it with your service for the last year, and still using it today. It must be unlocked, right? The reply, “We can’t say for sure, because you didn’t buy the phone from us. You need to go back to where you bought your phone and ask if it’s unlocked.” Really? You can’t tell me that it’s unlocked or not, based on the fact that I am using your service already? All I wanted to do was to continue using their service, but they seemed to be trying to find ways to keep me from sending them money.

It’s always something like that with MVNOs. I have tried T-Mobile, I’ve tried Tello, I’ve tried Ting, I’ve used PagePlus for years, but got tired of their poor customer service call quality and brain dead support personnel. That might be unfair to the support people, but PagePlus clearly seems to have trained their people to just “follow the on-screen script.” No thinking or common sense seems to be allowed.

So, being the frugal guy that I am, I keep looking for the perfect package. RedPocket was pretty close. I could be quite happy with $2.50/month because we use our cellphones for quick things, and rarely use even close to the 100 or 200 minutes a month. We have our cell phones for peace of mind, really, and an occasional quick call. Everything else is done on a cheap (free) VOIP phone at home. But there are so many cotton-pickin’ techno details that have to all line up, and none of them make it very easy to navigate them. RedPocket took the cake today for me. I’m so disgusted that I am looking for another MVNO again, although I think I may have to just end up having to eat crow and figure out a way to make it work at RedPocket, because that price is–so far–the lowest monthly cost I’ve found anywhere for a simple emergency plan.

But with Visible if you can get a group of 4 you only pay $25 a month and we got brand new phone just by trading up any android phone to them. They also have excellent reps to help 24 hours a day and anything you recieve through them you get within 24 hours! 5stars in my book

Additional note: If going the unlocked phone route, make sure the phone you purchase is compatible with your service provider. You need to check the fine print, but most descriptions will include that info. Make sure you’re looking at whether the phone is factory unlocked (can go with any provider) or SIM unlocked (can only go with originally intended provider).

My sons have both purchased unlocked cell phones off Amazon when they wanted/needed to upgrade their phones. Once they had the phone in hand, they went to the local AT&T store for assistance in switching the SIM card and moving data to the new phone. I’m happy with my iPhone 6 for now, but I’ll go the unlocked phone route when I’m ready for a new phone. Now that I’m learning about MVNOs, I’m going to research ways to save on the monthly bill.

Hello,

Unfortunatly,Finland is a small country with dense population. Networks in the USA are already congested. In Los Angeles, Many mobile networks are strained to meet demand, add those unlimited free for all plans to the list and data speeds are becoming to the point of 1Mbps or even less. Building mobile infrastructure is costly and difficult. As such there are no new competitors foreign or domestic want to compete in the US market. If a European company wants to compete in the USA it would cost them 40-60 billion dollars just to build,maintain and market their network. No foreign or domestic company wants to take the risk.

Your best bet is to buy/have an unlocked phone handy and a local prepaid SIM card for the country you are going to stay in. That’s the cheapest option. One option is Google Fi but that requires a Fi compatible device.