I don't know if this illegal, but at best, it's unethical.

[dchawk81]

You just have to know how to work the system. I get Verizon unlimited unthrottled 4glte(i have used over 60gb a month before), and my share of family plan is just under $45(including taxes and discount) . Yes, I only have 550 minutes and no texting, but with unlimited unthrottled 4glte, this is not an issue as I can make calls and over my data connection, although I have never even gone close to my cap. Obviously, i have to lose some convenience, but to me, it is worth it. I just text with Google voice.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note II

I've tried workarounds like that and ultimately they're rubbish in one way or another.

I'm not even technologically illiterate...I just get tired of hackery or other weird catches that make things more annoying than they need to be or confusing to others who need to contact me.

For example, you can text and call via Skype but it drains your battery like crazy. Apps like GrooveIP don't connect properly and have echo and lag.

At the end of the day, when you just want your stuff to work, you find that you bite the bullet and pay up.

 

[dchawk81]

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, right? If it costs $120/mo + a $36 activation fee to get unlimited voice & text + 3GB of unthrottled data from AT&T directly AND you have to sign a 2 year contract, what is the likelihood that there isn't some catch when ST offers an even better deal (because it includes "unlimited" data and you don't have to sign a contract) at $45/mo + a $15 SIM card on the same AT&T network? Zero.

So there probably is a catch with Net10, too and it is not because it is run by the same people so much as it would make no sense for AT&T to price their network so much lower when they sell it wholesale to the MNVOs that it undercuts their retail sales directly to subscribers.

Well, carriers like Verizon and AT&T are wallet rapists. MVNOs cut costs by having no infrastructure overhead and terrible ie cheap customer service (most likely people working from home, so no overhead in leasing call center space).

I'm guessing it's not a matter of ST not being able to afford the offer, but rather AT&T seeing the trend and getting pissed off.

In other words, this little MVNO is piggy backing on their expenses and taking all their customers.

I don't think AT&T ever saw this coming when they signed the deal originally.

 

[androidluvr2]

At the end of the day, when you just want your stuff to work, you find that you bite the bullet and pay up.

This is especially true if you need your phone for business purposes.

 

[androidluvr2]

I don't think AT&T ever saw this coming when they signed the deal originally.

The thing that keeps people with the carriers rather than the MVNOs is the subsidized phones and the resulting contracts. Once Google offered a no-contract, unlocked, subsidized phone, it changed the game. I wouldn't be surprised if the carriers put pressure on Google not to do this and if the phone manufacturers do the same.

Whether or not they will succeed is another thing, but if they don't succeed, I am sure AT&T will just raise the rates they charge the MVNOs and be even more restrictive in their terms. And this will cause the MVNOs to not be able to make a profit at the new prices unless they raise their rates and it will also force them to be even more restrictive in the terms of their service.

I am sure VZW is very happy that it uses CDMA and so Google can't do the same thing to them.

 

[androidluvr2]

You just have to know how to work the system. I get Verizon unlimited unthrottled 4glte(i have used over 60gb a month before), and my share of family plan is just under $45(including taxes and discount) . Yes, I only have 550 minutes and no texting, but with unlimited unthrottled 4glte, this is not an issue as I can make calls and over my data connection, although I have never even gone close to my cap. Obviously, i have to lose some convenience, but to me, it is worth it. I just text with Google voice.

What plan do you have and how many people share how many minutes?

 

[dchawk81]

The thing that keeps people with the carriers rather than the MVNOs is the subsidized phones and the resulting contracts. Once Google offered a no-contract, unlocked, subsidized phone, it changed the game. I wouldn't be surprised if the carriers put pressure on Google not to do this and if the phone manufacturers do the same.

Whether or not they will succeed is another thing, but if they don't succeed, I am sure AT&T will just raise the rates they charge the MVNOs and be even more restrictive in their terms. And this will cause the MVNOs to not be able to make a profit at the new prices unless they raise their rates and it will also force them to be even more restrictive in the terms of their service.

I am sure VZW is very happy that it uses CDMA and so Google can't do the same thing to them.

Yeah I think AT&T and ST are negotiating, and it's up to ST to either stop offering it or raise their plan rate. AT&T isn't going to let them keep offering what they're offering at the rate they're offering it.

 

[skyrockett]

$15 for a sim card is total BS! They cost cents to make and yet they charge $15 for it,, i am pretty sure ST makes a decent profit out of it. Sims used to be free!!!

 

[Unicorn Rancher]

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, right? If it costs $120/mo + a $36 activation fee to get unlimited voice & text + 3GB of unthrottled data from AT&T directly AND you have to sign a 2 year contract, what is the likelihood that there isn't some catch when ST offers an even better deal (because it includes "unlimited" data and you don't have to sign a contract) at $45/mo + a $15 SIM card on the same AT&T network? Zero.

One of the big catches is subsidized phones. Many people are willing to budget $100 each month, but not willing to pay $400 or $500 up front to cut their monthly costs in half. It's the same mentality that keeps high-interest credit card and payday loan companies in business.

Another factor is the Amazon Effect. How can Amazon sell books for less than Barnes & Noble? By lowering costs. Depending on traffic and my route, I drive past two or three AT&T stores on my way to work. Those brick and mortar shops cost money, and that means higher prices for consumers.

Also, some people are willing to pay a premium for a name, and the trademark holders are smart to collect that premium. A great example in the United States is the huge price difference between name brand drugs and generics.

 

[androidluvr2]

One of the big catches is subsidized phones. Many people are willing to budget $100 each month, but not willing to pay $400 or $500 up front to cut their monthly costs in half.

Yes, I agree, that is the only difference. Which is why when Google subsidized an unlocked phone and didn't require a carrier contract, it changed the game for ST. Now there was no benefit in going to AT&T directly to get on the AT&T network.

AT&T soon realized this and pulled the plug on it.

 

[androidluvr2]

$15 for a sim card is total BS! They cost cents to make and yet they charge $15 for it,, i am pretty sure ST makes a decent profit out of it. Sims used to be free!!!

$15 for an ST SIM card is cheaper than the $36 activation fee AT&T charges new subscribers.

 

[llamainmypocket]

Now, as far as monopoly and oligopoly are concerned, let's consider that the cellular industry started out as a fairly capitalist "invisible hand" style marketplace, and it's still somewhat like that. However, there are far fewer national carriers today, and so it is much closer to being an oligopoly. Typically your physical utility services -- telco, power, cable -- are geographical monopolies. In many cases there is nothing devious behind it; it simply is what it is. However, in other cases (and I'm thinking telco and cable) it is no longer a completely legitimate geog. monopoly. Rather, it is a contractual monopoly; that is, other providers could come into an area, but existing ones have signed exclusive-deal type contracts with counties / cities to be the only one available. This is part of the reason that, traditionally, satellite t.v. providers have been so popular.

The cellular industry started out in no such way. The beginning of the telecom industry started when Alexander Graham bell got congressional approval to have rights to control the single telephone company for the whole country. Much later Bell telephone company was fractured into 5-6 pieces in attempt to create competition in the market. Now some 50-60 years later we have three companies that control 90% of the market share.

There are some industries which are prone to becoming monopolies, such as Electricity, cable, operating systems, but telecommunications has never been free. Its a government created monopoly.

Also, let's not kid ourselves. The phone companies are malicious. If Comcast suddenly sent software over the air to update your TV, locked it to their service so it couldn't be used elsewhere, refused to allow you to use it as the manufacturer intended, stealth charged you for using features that have nothing to do with their service then you'd be screaming bloody murder.

Don't worry! You can sign a contract for a new 2,600$ TV and it comes with anytime minutes! Just don't plug it into your computer because using it as a monitor is a payed feature.

 

[Aquila]

4. Now those power users control the value of said SIM cards
.

Like every other market, buyers set the price. If they don't all at 90, the sellers will keep dropping price, competing with each other in a race to the price people are willing to pay.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

 

[Aquila]

This is 1000000% legal, actually encouraged by our system and 98% ethical. The 2% is for things necessary for survival, but we technically encourage that too with medical supply price gouging.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

 

[skyrockett]

$36 activation is also bs.. i waived activation fees all my life.. at first nobody from att couldn't explain where and for what those activation money go to! So they waived them. Then a few years later they found some sort of explanation and gave out to representatives and employes to feed us. I just told them i'm not going to Join!!! they waived them again!

Same goes here $15 is bit high for something that worth cents.

 

[Unicorn Rancher]

$36 activation is also bs.. i waived activation fees all my life.. at first nobody from att couldn't explain where and for what those activation money go to! So they waived them. Then a few years later they found some sort of explanation and gave out to representatives and employes to feed us. I just told them i'm not going to Join!!! they waived them again!

Same goes here $15 is bit high for something that worth cents.

I encourage everyone to refuse to pay more than they're willing to pay. If you would rather have the $ in your pocket than the product, keep your money and BE HAPPY! I have done exactly that with Cable TV all my life and never paid a penny for it.

 

[llamainmypocket]

I encourage everyone to refuse to pay more than they're willing to pay. If you would rather have the $ in your pocket than the product, keep your money and BE HAPPY! I have done exactly that with Cable TV all my life and never paid a penny for it.

I'm trying. Currently I pay 50$ for 5GB of data between two devices but I could be paying 30$ for 3GB. No voice. No text.

I need to figure out a way to get 25mbps on home broadband for less than 50$. It seems as though as soon as you get over 10mbps you're paying the same as you would for tv and internet combined.k

 

[dpham00]

I've tried workarounds like that and ultimately they're rubbish in one way or another.

I'm not even technologically illiterate...I just get tired of hackery or other weird catches that make things more annoying than they need to be or confusing to others who need to contact me.

For example, you can text and call via Skype but it drains your battery like crazy. Apps like GrooveIP don't connect properly and have echo and lag.

At the end of the day, when you just want your stuff to work, you find that you bite the bullet and pay up.

For me, Verizon is a must because it provides the best total network coverage and unlimited unthrottled 4glte.


Everyone has different priorities, I am on a tight budget, and try to make due while still enjoying myself. If you can afford unlimited everything, of course that is the easiest to use, no need to worry and try to find work around.

My comment was intended for those on a budget. Find what you can and can't live without. You will have to make sacrifices, but you might be able to save quite a bit of money, even when not using mvno.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note II

 

[dpham00]

What plan do you have and how many people share how many minutes?

I have the Verizon family share plan with 550 anytime minutes and 5 lines of service. It might not be enough for some, but honestly, I usually use about half of it. Just have to prioritize calling in network, and night and weekend. I use a obihai at home for home phone service. No monthly charge on it and unlimited minutes. For my family this solution works great and we save a lot of money.

For me, I would rather watch my minutes usage a bit and enjoy unlimited unthrottled 4glte, i think networks are making a killing off of minutes a nd especially texts which really do not use much bandwidth.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note II

 

[dchawk81]

The more lines you add to a family plan, the more affordable each person's stake is - presuming you divide the cost equally. That is, after all, the whole point of them.

 

[dchawk81]

I decided to sell my spare SIM on eBay today. I hadn't thought of doing so before, but I know I won't go back. I must have underpriced it, because at $57.99 it sold within 12 hours.