Cell phone contracts

You probably have a cell phone with a contract.  You pay a set amount each month and if you go over in minutes or text messages you pay through nose.

Here, virtually everyone uses pay-as-you-go.  You buy a phone and a sim card(what gives you a phone number and connects you to the network).  You'll pay more for the phone.  There are no "free" phones like you can get with contracts in the US.  But we Americans know there is nothing really free.  We pay for that phone over and over during our two year contracts.  

When you get a new phone in the US you have to contact the service and they set it up for you.  Here you simply take out your sim card and put it in your new phone.  

In talking to colleauges it appears the US is the anamoly in how cell phones are used.  Most countries have pay-as-you-go and sim cards that can be transferred from one phone to another. 

And nobody can believe that US companies charge for incoming calls or incoming text messages.  More than once I've heard, "Let me get this straight.  The person making the call gets charged AND the person receiving the call gets charged?"  It's astonishment and disbelief that we let them get away with that.

Why don't we use pay-as-you-go?   I think there are two reasons:  1.  The pay-go phones suck.  I've looked at getting one for Ann while she was back and the phones are vintage 2001.  2.  The price per minute is outrageous.  I saw phones with 10 cent per minute fees.  This isn't the 1990's.  Noboby pays 10 cents per minute anymore.

I am glad to read that the times are changing.  Pay-go phones have improved and apparently they now have some reasonably priced plans.   I will probably switch to this when I return.  Right now I'm paying Sprint $30/month for a phone I'm not using and a contract that is up in July.

How much cheaper is pay-as-you-go here?  I use the phone only slightly less here and I've spent $80 over six months.  Yep, it's a lot cheaper.