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Thanks for telling me about the sale after its over.

If you're in the USA, you can probably get a better deal on this phone through your carrier anyway.

Metro by T-Mobile - Free, if you're porting over a number (get a disposable AT&T number from eBay or something, then switch the phone to your account)
AT&T - $194.99 (Yes, it will work on postpaid AT&T, too)
Verizon - $199.99 (Not 100% sure if Verizon will let you use this on postpaid, as they're a bit anal about that sort of thing)
All of the Carlos Slim prepaid brands (America Movil) have the iPhone SE for $139.00
Cricket and Boost Mobile no longer have the iPhone SE on their websites, but local dealers might still have stock.

I just did a web search for "unlimited data plan". Let's see what we find...

http://www.t-mobile.com/cell-p...
https://www.metropcs.com/cell-...
http://www.boostmobile.com/sho...
https://www.virginmobileusa.co...

Yep, every one of them describes the plan as "UNLIMITED" in big bold letters. Of course, it you search really carefully, you'll sometimes discover some tiny text at the bottom of the page explaining that "unlimited" doesn't actually mean unlimited at all. It's just what they call "false advertising".

I too use a flip phone, mostly because smartphones still cost much more per month to operate.

$30 a month for unlimited everything is too much?

https://www.metropcs.com/30-ph...

The ZTE Open is $69 - $79 unsubsidized.

Huawei has three unsubsidized phones for $79 before rebates.

http://www.metropcs.com/metro/...

What's the advantage of the FFOS phone over the cheap Android phones?

Help! Does anyone know if the Samsung Galaxy S Lightray 4G from MetroPCS covered in the preliminary injunction request????

You can also file a complaint against At&t here here, and here. I heard there are some other places too but I'd suggest one of these guys first.

Android phones can be had brand new for as little as $59 USD unsubsidized (no contracts etc). That's not a one-off, either. Of course there is going to be a slightly higher rate of failure when compared to $500+ devices.
There are expensive android devices out there as well but the article does not differentiate.

you could buy a phone on metro PCS, then sell it on ebay when you are done with your vacation. Metro PCS has unlimited everything plans for $45/month http://www.metropcs.com/plans/default.aspx?tab=family

But with the least of four evils (T-Mobile USA) soon to be bought by arguably the greatest of them (AT&T), what do you recommend that smartphone customers who value their freedom do?

What? Four evils? There are other (uhmm) evils out there!

If price is your gig, consider MetroPCS, which happily supports Android phones for just $45/month. Data network is pretty slow, so don't use it for loads of youtube, it's not going to happen. But it's great for email, messaging, iTune remote radio, and navigation.

Metro not available in your area? Well, consider Cricket Wireless. Sporting somewhat better coverage than Metro PCS and somewhat higher prices, they too happily support Android, showing a popular LG Optimus on the home page. (The same phone my wife has; she loves it!)

I switched my family, kids and all, to MetroPCS. My monthly phone costs have dropped by more than half, and I'm not inundated with "phantom charges" which were sprouting like malignant cancers on my monthly cell bills with Verizon Wireless.

Giving dollars to the smaller carriers is a vote for consumer choice, a decision I made recently and I regret it for not a minute.

I recently looked into my Tmobile account to find that i have my upgrade available and to my surprise they offer a low-end android based phone. Granted, it's no Droid or Galaxy S model, but the barrier for entry has been broken. MetroPCS, a popular prepaid carrier in the area, rolled out a few Android-powered smartphones for the $100-200 price point. You can consider that to be a "free, with contract" phone on any other carrier.

Tmobile Comet(manufactured by Hauwei) -- http://mobile.engadget.com/2010/11/04/t-mobile-comet-review/
Huawei Acend -- http://www.metropcs.com/shop/PhoneDetails.aspx?ProductId=HW-M860(Phones)

I think it's the same phone rebranded, but the Tmobile review doesnt show a model number

Browsing the web on a geostationary satellite connection is OK. A phone call on one is pretty crappy.

I called my daughter who was a foreign exchange student in Germany. We talked for several hours. I did my research, I was signed up for a plan at $0.05/minute. AT&T (with whom I now refuse to transact) charged me almost $4.00 per minute. I spent hours going through their "customer support" speaking to numerous people with names like "Michael" and "Robert" who had strangely Indian accents. See, it turns out that it's CHEAPER to route my call to INDIA and save perhaps $3 of the $6 PER HOUR to have an Indian take that call than an American. Which means that, at maximum, the cost of getting my call to India is actually costing them, at most, $3 per hour. This number matches quite closely to the $0.05 per minute I expected to pay, which works out to $3/hour. This seems to support your point,doesn't it?

But on the flip side, after getting the almost $1,000 phone bill, I went to my cell phone provider (much love for Metro PCS!) and got an unlimited international calling (to most first world countries) for just $5/month! We spent the rest of the year my daughter was in Germany blabbing away monthly on my wife's cell phone, with decent call quality and NO HIDDEN COSTS for just $5.

So what's the actual cost of an International call? Certainly, AT&T has a very expensive way to do it, Metro-PCS can do a good job of it for prices too cheap to meter!

PS: I have no affiliation with MetroPCS other than being a satisfied customer. Don't expect super-friendly, great tech support from them, they are a discount cellular service provider. But their stuff works, it's cheap, and I'm happy. =)

Browsing the web on a geostationary satellite connection is OK. A phone call on one is pretty crappy.

I called my daughter who was a foreign exchange student in Germany. We talked for several hours. I did my research, I was signed up for a plan at $0.05/minute. AT&T (with whom I now refuse to transact) charged me almost $4.00 per minute. I spent hours going through their "customer support" speaking to numerous people with names like "Michael" and "Robert" who had strangely Indian accents. See, it turns out that it's CHEAPER to route my call to INDIA and save perhaps $3 of the $6 PER HOUR to have an Indian take that call than an American. Which means that, at maximum, the cost of getting my call to India is actually costing them, at most, $3 per hour. This number matches quite closely to the $0.05 per minute I expected to pay, which works out to $3/hour. This seems to support your point,doesn't it?

But on the flip side, after getting the almost $1,000 phone bill, I went to my cell phone provider (much love for Metro PCS!) and got an unlimited international calling (to most first world countries) for just $5/month! We spent the rest of the year my daughter was in Germany blabbing away monthly on my wife's cell phone, with decent call quality and NO HIDDEN COSTS for just $5.

So what's the actual cost of an International call? Certainly, AT&T has a very expensive way to do it, Metro-PCS can do a good job of it for prices too cheap to meter!

PS: I have no affiliation with MetroPCS other than being a satisfied customer. Don't expect super-friendly, great tech support from them, they are a discount cellular service provider. But their stuff works, it's cheap, and I'm happy. =)

I'm pretty amazed nobody seems to have mentioned Metro PCS as a real option. If you happen to live and move in areas that they support, it's by far the cheapest alternative out there.

Let us interested Americans pool resources and start a nation wide non-profit cellphone company where we can all do as we please or where we can all utilize resources according to predetermined policies.

It would not be that hard.

Or, we could take over an existing company like Metro then do as we please. We surely can raise a few billion dollars, can't we?

MetroPCS has an even better deal. For $30 a month, you get unlimited incoming and outgoing local calls. That is almost competitive with landlines.

That's almost competitive with landlines? So US landlines are overpriced, too!

My landline is £20 a month. That includes free UK calls (60M people, how many people does the MetroPCS "local" cover?), and free calls to landlines in 10 other countries (FR, DE, US, AU, NZ etc). Oh, and 8Mbit/s broadband.

(It doesn't include free calls to UK mobile phones, however.)

MetroPCS has an even better deal. For $30 a month, you get unlimited incoming and outgoing local calls. That is almost competitive with landlines. For $35 you get unlimited nationwide calling, and for $40, your local area becomes nationwide and you get unlimited texting. Now, the down side is that if you are in South Dakota, you are not going to get coverage at all, but if you live in a heavily populated area, and you want city use of your phone, MetroPCS is hard to beat price wise.

So, the option is there for a good portion of the country to get much lower rates than they are currently paying. You just have to be willing to have smaller coverage areas.

MetroPCS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MetroPCS / http://www.metropcs.com/
Cricket: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket_Communications / http://www.mycricket.com/

You won't get free nationwide roaming with these providers, but for the vast majority of people, this isn't a deal-breaker.

Well I have MetroPCS as my carrier and they unlimited texting so I pay about $50 a month of my mobile phone bill.

It's funny that you say "green" because that is actually the corporate color of the company that has been providing me with cell phone service for the past 3 years: Cricket.

Unlimited airtime and unlimited text messaging for $52.50 including tax. That's been my price the entire time. Awesome, awesome company and service.

So there is competition, but it is tough to convince people to become a customer of your scrappy young upstart when "coverage" and "bars" are so important. People seem to worry that the service will be terrible. The reality of it is that I get great reception everywhere that I go and when I travel I get to Roam on Verizon's network for a really reasonable rate (I have thirty minutes of roaming airtime included with my plan and I can still send unlimited text messages!).

MetroPCS is another company who, like Cricket, also provides unlimited plans. If you have the means, and live within an area where they offer service, I cannot recommend them enough. It is so nice to not have to worry about overages or petty fees.

It's just an economic reality that if you want any sort of service, you're going to pay something for it. How much you pay is decided by two factors: (1) how valuable the market thinks the service is, and (2) how heavily/often you want to use the service. If a person wants to pay less, they either opt for a lower level of service (think basic el cheapo home phone land-line service) which includes fewer features/benefits, or they opt for a more expensive category of service and simply use it less.

The market is constantly changing, though. In various American metropolitan markets (including Atlanta) you can purchase a phone from MetroPCS and pay ~$35 per month for unlimited local and long distance service, with no contract. Additional features are a few bucks more per month, but still relatively cheap. Flat rate, no contract. I expect to see a lot more of this sort of service in the near future. For my part, I'm on "the new AT&T" in Connecticut.

From the tone of your post, I'd almost think you were advocating increased government regulation of telecommunications markets, instead of allowing new business models and technology decide the way of things. Please correct me if I'm mistaken.

Disclaimer: This info is from their ads. I am neither affiliated with, nor a customer of MetroPCS.

http://www.metropcs.com/
http://www.mycricket.com/
http://www.xphilez.com/
http://www.moddz.com/

Enjoy,

FifthE1ement

http://www.metropcs.com/phones.php

Cricket or MetroPCS seem like they might be decent alternatives if they offer service in your area.

"In the US, when mobile phones were first implemented, one of two choices could be made: either mobiles could be given a distinctive prefix (area code) of their own, or they could be integrated into the local phone systems. "

You're forgetting option #3, allow people to chose for themselves, and allow for both schemes to be implemented. That's what the UK did actually, not all mobile phones in the UK have a special prefix and a surcharge when you call them. And here in the US, we already have area codes with surcharges on them for sex hot-lines and astrology hot-lines -- so it's not like this would have been a novel concept for us.

"Americans were Not Into the idea of paying to call someone locally."

Actually, I don't remember anyone having asked our opinions. This was a decision made by politicians, for the good of the people. Politicians like to do that, they like to take away our individual choices -- in order to protect us from ourselves. Personally, I would have loved to have access to both kinds of cell plans. I could have had one cheap cell phone number with a 900 area code, that I could given out to anybody, and that number I would have kept turned on all the time. And I could have had a second cell phone number, that wouldn't cost anything to call, that I'd give out only to the people I really wanted to talk to, but I'd have kept turned off when I went to sleep.

"With any major carrier, virtually all plans provide no-roaming service across the country."

And with minor low-cost cell carriers (like http://metropcs.com), assuming you're lucky enough to have them in your area, they give you (truly) unlimited phone calls (both in-network and outside of the network), unlimited web access, and unlimited texting -- for something like $64 a month (but you have third party roaming charges once you get out of their area).

"This is in large measure what makes the system so palatable to Americans"

Palatable? We were five to ten years behind our European counterparts in terms of cell phones becoming palatable for us American. Granted there are other factors that may have affected this late adoption, but whatever this may have cost us in terms of late adoption and loss of flexibility -- I don't think it was worth it.

Cool. I just heard that MetroPCS has all the mentioned features for a flat $60/month. And from the looks of plans page, that includes taxes.

Cool. I just heard that MetroPCS has all the mentioned features for a flat $60/month. And from the looks of plans page, that includes taxes.

I've seen this and the MetroPCS service, and the one thing I've noticed about both is the limited coverage area. They only seem to have service in the big cities, and nothing even just outside. For example, here's MetroPCS' coverage for Detroit. Look in the northwest part of the coverage area and note that if you go out to Howell, you're covered, but not in Pinckney, which is just as populated as Howell. Now compare the coverage map for Sprint. Notice that just about the entire freakin' state of Michigan is covered. The MetroPCS map looks like Sprint's coverage map ca. 1992. Ditto for Cricket in its coverage areas.

MetroPCS already offers this in several cities in the US.

MetroPCS now has TravelTalk. It is fairly decent Nationwide Digital Coverage. Unless you are in Eastern Oregon, Kentucky, W Virginia, and Northern Maine.

MetroPCS now has TravelTalk. It is fairly decent Nationwide Digital Coverage. Unless you are in Eastern Oregon, Kentucky, W Virginia, and Northern Maine.

"This means that chances are highest, than with any other cell provider, that when you call someone's cell they will be on network which doesn't eat minutes since on network minutes are free. "

Minutes? That reminds me of the AOL days when they still charged by the minute. I got hit with huge $300 bills a couple of times.

Now I use Sprint which gives me unlimited EV-DO mobile broadband for $60 a month (unlimited time -- with a two year contract -- which works 98% of the time). And I use MetroPCS for normal cell phone service which gives me unlimited time - unlimited texting (7 days a week, 24 hours a day, with no contract) for something like $52 a month (including taxes).

I believe the low cost local carriers like MetroPCS are the wave of the future. They're local so they give excellent local coverage (better than my friends on Verizon for example) -- without trying to nickel and dime you. The only drawback is that again -- they're only local, geographically I mean (you can make long distance calls just fine), but if you go on an extended vacation or take a business trip -- you're pretty much SOL.

What is wrong with Cingular? I've always been with Sprint...been happy with them, but, I've been asking friends that have Cingular, and they've been quite happy with it. So far, most all I've asked only use it for voice...I use my Sprint phone as a modem for occasional laptop usage...or for sending pics, picture mail/txt (free vs pay for SMS), or some web browsing when bored in the bar waiting for friends...and the internet connectivity is great. But, I've not met anyone that is sour on Cingular...can you or anyone else tell me what is worst on their system than say..SprintPCS?

Well, there's their pricing.

Compared to a provider with a sub-$50 all-you-can-eat no-lockin month-to-month plan such as Cricket or MetroPCS, Cricket's pricing is bloody awful: The risk of breaching a usage cap and needing to pay per text message is enough to stop me from using the feature altogether. A similar deal goes for data plans, and Cingular's unlimited data plans are considerably more expensive than Sprint's.

Also, this multi-year contract BS is... well, BS. Forcing people to sign onto a long-term contract to buy a phone locked to the vendor's service (or extend said contract in order to change plan options) is absolutely not condusive to consumer choice. That said, I think many of my criticisms (save the data plan pricing) probably apply to Sprint as well.

Saying there's real competition in the wireless industry is like saying that because Sony, BMG, and Warner all make CDs, there's "real competition" in that industry.

I guess you don't live in Northern California, then. Here there's Metro PCS which offers unlimited plans starting at just $30/month. (and often cheaper, if you call when they're running ads)

They started in Sacramento, CA and the San Fransisco Bay Area, and quickly moved into my area. (Chico, CA) Just checked their coverage, and they've got areas all over the country. Not "full nationwide", yet, but certainly on their way...

Yeah, competition exists.

oh, and http://www.metropcs.com/promo/multimetro/multimetr o.php (that wasn't exactly easy to find, but everything else has been in your face so far.

granted, $25 per additional line isn't THAT great of a deal, but it's still a deal.

hey troll, go read http://www.metropcs.com/plans.php
$45/month gets:
unlimited local
unlimited long distance to the lower 48
the contents of the freedom package ( voicemail , caller id , call waiting)
the contents of the freedom package plus (3 way calling - who the hell uses that?!)
unlimited text messaging that works for shit (i can text to and from phones on other networks... most of the time... no google or other short number texting, nor aim)
unlimited picture messaging (mms?)
and no freaking contract!

i pay an extra $5 for unlimited data (but my phone is locked into a shitty web browser :( )

no idea, but according to this Orlando is now it's own state. must have something to do with all the resorts in the area... O_o

but I'm hoping that service-discounted business model will succeed and move to other offerings, so we finally can get affordable no-frills phone and basic service for cheap.

and that my friend is why i use MetroPCS

MetroPCS provides me with unlimited local, unlimited domestic long distance, resonable (prepaid) international rates, unlimited texting, and unlimited data. $55/month ($less if you drop some of the above features)

and best of all... NO CONTRACTS! sadly, this means that the phone is not subsidized either (although prepaid phones tend to not be anyway) so you're looking at $300 for a razr.

MetroPCS is the way I'd like to see Cell Phones done everywhere in the future.

The most you'll pay is $45 (plus taxes) a month, and it's the only plan I've seen where you're not paying for minutes in your own area.

With one caveat though, you go out of your area, and you're paying $0.45 a minute, and their coverage area isn't that big.

Alternatively there's a Skype wifi phone now, which connects to your account online. The downside to that is that if you expect to phone people, and not just computers, you have to buy their service, which I believe is about $35 a month.

costs more than either. First cell company to unlimited minutes for $50 a month wins my cash vote.

They win. Coverage areas are limited, as they are a new launch and they are apparently building out their network. Even so, in the limited places where they offer service, this price point -- unlimited airtime for $45/mo -- has arrived.

Even more fun, there's no contract and no activation fee. While the phones aren't portable to other carriers (CDMA) and the selection of handsets is limited, that will change in time and you can, of course, port your old number.

1) Cellular coverage is complete and solid. There are still large chunks of rural areas with no service at all.

Rural areas? I just moved from Fort Worth, TX to Mercer Island, WA. My cell provider (Cingular) worked well in Texas, but the coverage in the Seattle area sucks.

2) Cellular service becomes reliable. I run into "network busy" at least once a month; I've never had such a problem with my land line.

Continuing with the "my cellphone provider sucks" theme, I run into "network busy" at least once a day.

3) cellular service becomes truly affordable. I can get a land line with unlimited long distance for somewhere around $60-70. If I go with the most basic service, I can get it unlimited local for under $40. My cell phone plan with 600 "any time" minutes costs more than either. First cell company to unlimited minutes for $50 a month wins my cash vote.

MetroPCS offers a plan with unlimited local and long-distance calling, unlimited text and picture messages, etc, for $45/month. Unfortunately (for me) it's not yet available in Washington state.

4) DSL is available without telephone service. That's where the phone companies like AT&T are already going: they see a severe decline in landline subscriptions coming and are trying to dig into the cable market. "Fiber to the home" is becoming quite the popular phrase.

Or cable modem service without a cable TV subscription, something the local provider here seems unwilling to do.

I live in Miami, and there's a company offering true unlimited for around 35 bucks.

http://www.metropcs.com/

No, not free including international. But good enough for most people concerned about phone minutes that live in MetroPCS's extremely limited coverage area.

MetroPCS is not designed with globetrotters in mind.

No, not free including international. But good enough for most people concerned about phone minutes that live in MetroPCS's extremely limited coverage area.

MetroPCS is not designed with globetrotters in mind.

There are already companies that offer this. For example, metroPCS which offers unlimited calls. No minute counting.
For $40 a month, you get unlimited local and long distance calls.

There are already companies that offer this. For example, metroPCS which offers unlimited calls. No minute counting.
For $40 a month, you get unlimited local and long distance calls.

Unlimited local, $30; unlimited LD, $50; feature packages available

Unlimited cellular minutes, $100

Yes, to use your OWN telephone. But if you want to telecommute and be on the corporate PBX, VoIP is the ultimate solution. You can have the same number for days when you are in the office, at home, or on travel. All calls you make come out of your office PBX and not your home phone.

You can get (pretty much) all of these advantages with a cell phone, starting at around $35/month.

Oh, wait a minute. Aren't we talking about wifi VOIP? Isn't a cellular network just another wireless network?

Here, in Chico, CA (Near Sacramento) we can get a cell phone with a company called Metro PCS and you get unlimited calling, though your coverage area is somewhat limited.