Reason for chosing contract?

[malik007]

Hi

We are looking at buying 3 plans.  Ideally with 'unlimited' so we don't get any surprise bills. 

2 YEAR CONTRACT PLAN

voice unlimited - $69.99
300mb data - $20
unlimited text messaging - $20
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Monthly Total - $109.99


PREPAID PLAN

unlimited voice, text and data -  $50
-------------------------------
Monthly Total - $50

Prepaid is half the cost of contract and with more data.  Is there a advantage we are not aware of paying the higher cost of contract?.

TIA

[youngjm ACE - Professor]

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malik007 wrote:

Hi

We are looking at buying 3 plans.  Ideally with 'unlimited' so we don't get any surprise bills. 

2 YEAR CONTRACT PLAN

voice unlimited - $69.99
300mb data - $20
unlimited text messaging - $20
------------------------------
Monthly Total - $109.99


PREPAID PLAN

unlimited voice, text and data -  $50
-------------------------------
Monthly Total - $50

Prepaid is half the cost of contract and with more data.  Is there a advantage we are not aware of paying the higher cost of contract?.

TIA

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When you sign up for a contract plan, the hardware is discounted.  Depending upon the phone, it may make a big difference.

[malik007]

They would have to be nice phones for $4319

[youngjm ACE - Professor]

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malik007 wrote:

They would have to be nice phones for $4319

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Just look at the whole picture. If it works for you then great!

[21stNow]

What prepaid plans are you getting those numbers from?  Your contract plan is for smartphone data from AT&T and your prepaid plan may be for a feature phone if you are looking at GoPhone from AT&T, but it's not for a smartphone.

The other thing to consider is the possibility of doing a family plan with the contract lines, which would lower the cost from what you have shown.  There are no family plans that I know of on most prepaid services.  It would help if you mentioned which prepaid service you were referring to.

Edited to add:  you were asking why contract vs. prepaid.  Youngjm already mentioned the "advantage" of subsidized phones on contract plans.  There is also the availability of LTE on postpaid; it is not available on GoPhone service, or most other prepaid services.  Customer service tends to be US-based for postpaid vs. overseas for prepaid.  Finally, I have heard that postpaid customers receive first priority on crowded towers, while prepaid customers would be bumped (i.e. calls dropped or no data connectivity).

These things may or may not matter to you.  Many people are finding that prepaid service suits their needs just fine.  I use a mix of prepaid and postpaid services myself.

[malik007]

Thanks youre right the prepaid cost would actually be $55 pm  not $50pm as you have to add data seperately.

50Mb should surfice

>Finally, I have heard that postpaid customers receive first priority on crowded towers, while prepaid customers would be bumped (i.e. calls dropped or no data connectivity).

Is this a rumor or fact?.  This would be a big consideration/concern since these phones are for business.

[21stNow]

I would have to classify it as rumor for now. I'll keep my eyes open for it in writing, but I don't know where something like that would be written.

AFAIK, I've never had a prepaid call not go through due to being bumped. However, I make very few calls on my prepaid plans and probably only one on my GoPhone account when I had it.

[ilikewireless ACE - Czar]

The coverage map may correlate with the number of towers available to GoPhones. You may want to compare the coverage for contract phone versus GoPhones. If you find your areas covered, you should be alright with a GoPhone.

[JFizDaWiz]

Gophone users don't get to roam on non att towers when not in an att coverage area. No 4g either.