Ever hear of a wireless company called H2O Wireless? Neither have we, but you might start seeing them more often now that they’ve announced a new pricing plan. For just $60 per month they’ll give you a SIM card that connects to AT&T’s network (H20 Wireless is a mobile virtual network operator) and gives you unlimited talk, text, and data. That’s right, even data. AT&T doesn’t even offer unlimited data, and if you get their largest data bucket, plus unlimited talking and texting, you’re looking at spending well over $100 per month. We’ve been recommending Simple Mobile forever now, their service uses T-Mobile’s network, but even today it’s kind of difficult to find devices that use T-Mobile’s funky 3G/4G spectrum bands. That isn’t going to be the case with H2O Wireless. There are plenty of smartphones, dongles, whatever, that connect to AT&T’s 3G/4G network, which makes you wonder why anyone in their right mind would sign a 2 year contract just so that they can pay more the for exact same service?
Yes, you’ll have to pay more for your smartphone since you’re not going to get it subsidized, but pull out a calculator and do some simple math. Would you rather walk out of an AT&T store after spending $200 on a smartphone and agreeing to pay $100 per month for 24 months for a grand total of $2,600 over the next 2 years, or would you rather pay $600 for a top of line smartphone and $60 per month for 24 months, which comes out to just $2040? That’s a difference of $560, money you can put towards your next smartphone!
For some odd reason, prepaid gets a bad reputation in the United States. Is it because drug dealers and illegal immigrants use it to escape the long arm of the law? Possibly, but those folks are smarter than you if you’re a slave to AT&T’s ridiculous prices. Go switch. Now.