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#4012661 - 09/21/14 06:52 PM I Remember When Our House Phone (land-line) Bill Was $20-30/Month ....Now Its $177.00/Month  
Joined: Oct 1999
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Haggart Offline
I Fought Diablo
Haggart  Offline
I Fought Diablo
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The Lone Star State
Family of four in U.S. cell phone bill of $150-$200/month is not uncommon. And that may be higher if all the cell phones are "smartphones".

called AT&T today .... was told each additional internet capable phone would add about $25.00 to our bill of $177.00. So family of four could easily have cell phone bills of $250 to $275.00/month

Outrageous & no thanks

checked with Walmart online
only $550.00 -
that's pretty hefty
like a large bovine
will have to apply for loan
to get that phone

...end of rap


"everything lives by a law, a central balance sustains all"
Inline advert (2nd and 3rd post)

#4012669 - 09/21/14 07:17 PM Re: I Remember When Our House Phone (land-line) Bill Was $20-30/Month ....Now Its $177.00/Month [Re: Haggart]  
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Charlie_SB Offline
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Charlie_SB  Offline
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Wow, that's a lot. Get the kids pre-paid with a small data plan and train them in finding free wifi. Get second hand iphone 4S, must be heaps of those available for nothing now that the 6 is out.

I pay 50 for my plan. That includes unlimited calls, unlimited texts, unlimited picture messaging and 10GB of data at full tilt and the iphone. It's not in the US.

-C-

#4012675 - 09/21/14 07:36 PM Re: I Remember When Our House Phone (land-line) Bill Was $20-30/Month ....Now Its $177.00/Month [Re: Haggart]  
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Murphy Offline
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Murphy  Offline
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Northern Michigan, USA
Amazing Hag.
Mine is still about $44.00 for a landline, and it comes with DSL.
My cell phone is $37.00 a month, from Verizon.
Maybe your getting too many 'extras'... wink

Or get rid of some kids...lol.....


"Murphy's Law"
#4012677 - 09/21/14 07:44 PM Re: I Remember When Our House Phone (land-line) Bill Was $20-30/Month ....Now Its $177.00/Month [Re: Haggart]  
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 15,786
Haggart Offline
I Fought Diablo
Haggart  Offline
I Fought Diablo
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The Lone Star State
we have now 5 phones .... only 1 is a smartphone. Monthly bill is $200.00 I checked with others who live in the Houston area - same thing - they're paying about the same for a family of 4-5 in the U.S.

Our plan has only 10 gig of data.

Murphy you also use your Verizon phone to access the internet ?

"Oct 2012...The average individuals cell phone bill was $71 per month last year, a 31% increase since 2009, according to J.D. Power & Associates"


"everything lives by a law, a central balance sustains all"
#4012712 - 09/21/14 09:36 PM Re: I Remember When Our House Phone (land-line) Bill Was $20-30/Month ....Now Its $177.00/Month [Re: Haggart]  
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Raw Kryptonite Offline
Beat the Kobayashi Maru
Raw Kryptonite  Offline
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MS
We put my son on a no-contract plan for $38/mo. 300 talk minutes but unlimited data. He uses about 1 minute of talk a month, if that, since they all text at his age.


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#4012718 - 09/21/14 09:50 PM Re: I Remember When Our House Phone (land-line) Bill Was $20-30/Month ....Now Its $177.00/Month [Re: Haggart]  
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Ssnake Offline
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Germoney
I pay about half of my telephone bill for calling people abroad who no longer have a land line (and yes, it's way more than it used to be). This sucks.

#4012738 - 09/21/14 10:49 PM Re: I Remember When Our House Phone (land-line) Bill Was $20-30/Month ....Now Its $177.00/Month [Re: Ssnake]  
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Lieste Offline
Senior Member
Lieste  Offline
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Originally Posted By: Ssnake
I pay about half of my telephone bill for calling people abroad who no longer have a land line (and yes, it's way more than it used to be). This sucks.


Does Skype* help with minimising call costs in that marginal case? AFAICT it seems to make local-local calls (skype-phone, not pure VOIP), so the massive international hikes for mobile calls might not be such a huge problem??

*or a similar technology provided elsewhere.

#4012749 - 09/21/14 11:37 PM Re: I Remember When Our House Phone (land-line) Bill Was $20-30/Month ....Now Its $177.00/Month [Re: Haggart]  
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David Kennard Offline
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David Kennard  Offline
Member

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Posts: 1,735
Northern Virginia, USA
been seeing these commercials like crazy, 4 phones $100 bucks and they buy out your contract at t-mobile and sprint


http://www.t-mobile.com/offer/simple-choice-family-plans-4-for-100.html

https://www.metropcs.com/4lines.html?intl_camp=home-aspot-1-4lines

http://www.sprint.com/landings/datashare/index.html?INTNAV=ATG:HE:DataShare

Last edited by David Kennard; 09/21/14 11:54 PM.

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#4012760 - 09/22/14 12:44 AM Re: I Remember When Our House Phone (land-line) Bill Was $20-30/Month ....Now Its $177.00/Month [Re: Haggart]  
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Haggart Offline
I Fought Diablo
Haggart  Offline
I Fought Diablo
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The Lone Star State
thanks David will have to check that out more closely


"everything lives by a law, a central balance sustains all"
#4012781 - 09/22/14 01:52 AM Re: I Remember When Our House Phone (land-line) Bill Was $20-30/Month ....Now Its $177.00/Month [Re: Haggart]  
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Cold_Flying Offline
6079 Smith
Cold_Flying  Offline
6079 Smith
Member

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Posts: 2,413
Quebec, Canada
We just hooked up a VOIP box to a second phone and we pay $1 a month plus .5 cents a minute to call anywhere. Better sound quality, which I think we'll get, is $5 a month and .5 cents a minute to call anywhere.

We cancelled the TV ($45+ for 100% crap) and were going to cancel our main house phone ($40 + LD charges)- both from the same provider as our net - but the person on the phone said if we kept the phone she'd lower it to $9.95 a month, which is the promo price new customers get. We also doubled our net package and we're going to get Netflix.

All things factored in, we're going to save at least $75 a month and get more of what we want. thumbsup


Question everything!
#4012820 - 09/22/14 06:01 AM Re: I Remember When Our House Phone (land-line) Bill Was $20-30/Month ....Now Its $177.00/Month [Re: Lieste]  
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Ssnake Offline
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Germoney
Originally Posted By: Lieste
Originally Posted By: Ssnake
I pay about half of my telephone bill for calling people abroad who no longer have a land line (and yes, it's way more than it used to be). This sucks.


Does Skype* help with minimising call costs in that marginal case? AFAICT it seems to make local-local calls (skype-phone, not pure VOIP), so the massive international hikes for mobile calls might not be such a huge problem??

*or a similar technology provided elsewhere.

It might help, I guess, but the issue here simply is that the phone company are tearing us all a new one for doing essentially the same as they always did, routing an incoming call to a phone. There is not reason why this should cost more to someone from a different network than they charge for "network internal" connections ... other than that they do it because they can. It's a rip-off, plain and simple.

#4012897 - 09/22/14 12:59 PM Re: I Remember When Our House Phone (land-line) Bill Was $20-30/Month ....Now Its $177.00/Month [Re: Haggart]  
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Dart Offline
Measured in Llamathrusts
Dart  Offline
Measured in Llamathrusts
Lifer

Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,712
Alabaster, AL USA
Actually it's dirt cheap when one considers just what a cell phone - let alone a smart phone - is and can do. Instant worldwide communications in your pocket. In your pocket.

Personally, I really don't have the sort of responsibilities or missions that require that I need to give or receive instructions in real time no matter where I am (including while in moving vehicles), but some people do, I guess.

I do own a cell phone but rarely (maybe once every couple of months) carry it and even turn it on to passive mode to where it will alert me if there's an incoming message.


The opinions of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

More dumb stuff at http://www.darts-page.com

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#4012924 - 09/22/14 01:42 PM Re: I Remember When Our House Phone (land-line) Bill Was $20-30/Month ....Now Its $177.00/Month [Re: Haggart]  
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Jedi Master Offline
Entil'zha
Jedi Master  Offline
Entil'zha
Sierra Hotel

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Space Coast, USA
Originally Posted By: Haggart
we have now 5 phones .... only 1 is a smartphone. Monthly bill is $200.00 I checked with others who live in the Houston area - same thing - they're paying about the same for a family of 4-5 in the U.S.

Our plan has only 10 gig of data.

Murphy you also use your Verizon phone to access the internet ?

"Oct 2012...The average individual’s cell phone bill was $71 per month last year, a 31% increase since 2009, according to J.D. Power & Associates"



Seeing as the iPhone came out in 2010 that makes sense, data plans were quite rare before smartphones and are required with them, so...



The Jedi Master


The anteater is wearing the bagel because he's a reindeer princess. -- my 4 yr old daughter
#4012956 - 09/22/14 02:11 PM Re: I Remember When Our House Phone (land-line) Bill Was $20-30/Month ....Now Its $177.00/Month [Re: Haggart]  
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Haggart Offline
I Fought Diablo
Haggart  Offline
I Fought Diablo
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The Lone Star State
best hope is that they graduate and find jobs


"everything lives by a law, a central balance sustains all"
#4012966 - 09/22/14 02:27 PM Re: I Remember When Our House Phone (land-line) Bill Was $20-30/Month ....Now Its $177.00/Month [Re: Haggart]  
Joined: Apr 2001
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PanzerMeyer Online centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
PanzerMeyer  Online Centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
King Crimson - SimHQ's Top Poster

Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,384
Miami, FL USA
Originally Posted By: Haggart
best hope is that they graduate and find jobs
Hopefully they aren't majoring in art history, Latin, sociology or some other non-marketable field.


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4012976 - 09/22/14 02:35 PM Re: I Remember When Our House Phone (land-line) Bill Was $20-30/Month ....Now Its $177.00/Month [Re: Haggart]  
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mynameismatt Offline
Turn Dinosaurs into Noise
mynameismatt  Offline
Turn Dinosaurs into Noise
Member

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Hudsonville, Michigan
My wife and I switched to republic wireless this year- I'll never look back.
It's a great solution: Republic asks you to unload data onto wifi when possible. Otherwise it uses Sprint towers. With prevalent wifi all around (including our home) - it was a no brainer for us.
We get unlimited talk, txt, & Data for $25 month/line. No contract. I actually get better service - as I always had a dead spot in my basement - but with the phone automatically running off wi-fi at my house - no dead spot anymore. score.

No "Free" phones though - but at this cost it takes very little time to pay off the phone cost when your saving that much $$$ monthly.


"For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries." - Robert Jastrow
-----------------
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#4013242 - 09/23/14 03:13 AM Re: I Remember When Our House Phone (land-line) Bill Was $20-30/Month ....Now Its $177.00/Month [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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Haggart Offline
I Fought Diablo
Haggart  Offline
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The Lone Star State
Originally Posted By: PanzerMeyer
Originally Posted By: Haggart
best hope is that they graduate and find jobs
Hopefully they aren't majoring in art history, Latin, sociology or some other non-marketable field.


Global Studies then military

younger brother is tutoring a college level class until he figures out his direction


"everything lives by a law, a central balance sustains all"

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