Hey guys.
Me: Has never owned a cell phone. Knows next to nothing about cell phones.
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
My Story: I have a wonderful girlfriend in South Dakota (U.S.) whom I dearly love. As you can imagine, long distance communication isn't always easy, nor inexpensive. Fortunately, when we're both at home, we have AIM and Skype. When she's away from home, she can call me from her Verizon cell phone, or send text messages to my e-mail account from the same. And, I can e-mail her back. When I'm away from home, however, I have no way whatsoever to contact her unless I'm near a payphone.
I've never had the need for a cell phone. Prior to meeting my girlfriend, it was extremely rare that I'd need to be able to contact anyone with regularity while out of the house. The thing is, I still don't really need (or can afford) a pricey minutes plan, because of the cost of calling South Dakota from Ontario. It's just not feasible--outside of using calling cards, or VOIP call forwarding, or something. But even then, I'm not away from home enough to make paying for an extensive monthly plan practical.
What I'm Looking For: What I've realized is... text messaging doesn't know the difference between your nextdoor neighbour and Ho Chi Minh City. And the cost of large or unlimited text messaging plans are cheap enough to be practical in comparison with large minutes plans I may not use, or prepaid minutes which are ridiculously expensive. While it lacks the intimacy of voice communication, text messaging seems to be a great way to stay connected while on the go.
So what are my options? I've looked at some of the major carriers, but I just don't need/want/or can afford the multi-year minutes plans that are usually required as a base for texting plans. "MVNO" providers have been suggested to me, but I know absolutely nothing about them. What I want is to devote as little money as possible (or none at all) to minutes, and to put it all into text messaging. How many outgoing text messages do I need per month? I don't know, but I'd like to investigate options for 100-200-500-unlimited.
Your advice would be most appreciated. Thank you so much.
Me: Has never owned a cell phone. Knows next to nothing about cell phones.
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
My Story: I have a wonderful girlfriend in South Dakota (U.S.) whom I dearly love. As you can imagine, long distance communication isn't always easy, nor inexpensive. Fortunately, when we're both at home, we have AIM and Skype. When she's away from home, she can call me from her Verizon cell phone, or send text messages to my e-mail account from the same. And, I can e-mail her back. When I'm away from home, however, I have no way whatsoever to contact her unless I'm near a payphone.
I've never had the need for a cell phone. Prior to meeting my girlfriend, it was extremely rare that I'd need to be able to contact anyone with regularity while out of the house. The thing is, I still don't really need (or can afford) a pricey minutes plan, because of the cost of calling South Dakota from Ontario. It's just not feasible--outside of using calling cards, or VOIP call forwarding, or something. But even then, I'm not away from home enough to make paying for an extensive monthly plan practical.
What I'm Looking For: What I've realized is... text messaging doesn't know the difference between your nextdoor neighbour and Ho Chi Minh City. And the cost of large or unlimited text messaging plans are cheap enough to be practical in comparison with large minutes plans I may not use, or prepaid minutes which are ridiculously expensive. While it lacks the intimacy of voice communication, text messaging seems to be a great way to stay connected while on the go.
So what are my options? I've looked at some of the major carriers, but I just don't need/want/or can afford the multi-year minutes plans that are usually required as a base for texting plans. "MVNO" providers have been suggested to me, but I know absolutely nothing about them. What I want is to devote as little money as possible (or none at all) to minutes, and to put it all into text messaging. How many outgoing text messages do I need per month? I don't know, but I'd like to investigate options for 100-200-500-unlimited.
Your advice would be most appreciated. Thank you so much.