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I recently moved to the United States from New Zealand, and given the amount of carriers in comparison, was wondering if anyone knows of a webpage that compares cellphone plans/pay-as-you-go options.

Alternatively, can anyone list any carriers that provide all/most of the following?

  • Pay-as-you / prepaid

  • Payments for connection/airtime that do not expire after as short as a month (Something like 3-6 months, or even a year, like in NZ)

  • Allow connection of an existing cellphone, rather than requiring purchase of one of theirs.

  • No contract

Alternatively still, if anyone has some knowledge about "data only" plans, that are mentioned here, that would be appreciated.

I have done some research (Without much success in satisfying many of the above conditions), so if anyone would like to see this data listed in this question, please let me know.

Community
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user66001
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2 Answers2

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Our Pay as you go phones tend do go on a basis of how much money you give them upfront. It varies from plan to plan. There are a few annual options available. [PagePlus and TMobile both do that]

  • PagePlus [You can activate a third party CDMA phone]
  • TMobile [GSM]
  • Simple Mobile
  • Virgin Mobile [Sprint]
  • H20 - Mobile [Mostly for Data usage]
  • Net10/Trakphone [has multimonth options]
  • FreedomPhone [This is a new venture.. not so sure about them]
  • Cricket Wireless [MetroPCS/Sprint network]
  • Straight Talk [this is the walmart phone, its connected to the TMobile, AT&T, and Sprint networks] The phone you get depends on which network you'll be connected to.
  • PTel - These guys are a SIM only option. You've got to bring the GSM device. This may be what you're looking for.

Nearly every carrier [with a few exemptions... i.e. Iphones] will accept an unlocked phone that will work on their network. You just need to verify that it will before you bring it to the network. It may require an ESN change or a new SIM card/regisitration. [The SIM card is binded to the IMEI in the US]

monksy
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Walmart sells several brands of prepay/pay-as-you-go cellphone plans and has stores just about everywhere; I suggest walking into a Walmart and asking one of the electronics employees about the plans they sell. That will give you some idea of the range of service plans out there.

Their website for service plans is here, but you'll probably end up doing a lot of clicking. You'll want ones that will sell you a sim card (like this) to put into your current phone, and most of the re-up packs mention how long they're good for on the package.

littleadv
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Yamikuronue
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