Need a Prepaid Phone and Plan in Western NC

K

Katy at Star City.

New member
I want to bring my mom and dad into the 21st Century and get them a cell phone and plan for Christmas this year. I don't see them using this alot, so I would like to start out with a pre-paid/pay-as-you-go plan. The problem is, they are in the Asheville, NC area, and I am in VA, so I am not sure what pre-paid providers are in the area there. Can anyone provide some guidence? I would like to buy a plan with the lowest per minute rates, and the one with the lowest daily/usage fees. Right now, that is looking like a Cingular "GoPhone". I am not opposed to getting them on Cingular, but what are my other options in that area?
 
It has been a while since I was in Asheville, 3 months probably but I will throw out 3 options. Verizon is the big provider there. They do well there but their prices are the highest and probably not what you're looking for. USCC is also popular there but I don't know much about them or if they even have pre-paid. I'm not sure about the Go-Phone rates because Cingular has never been a good option for me but I doubt they would be more expensive than Verizon. You might want to look at AlltelU. They have some very good pre-pay plans by the minute (15 cents), by the day (75 cents), or by the month (?). I'm not sure about Go-Phones but those are about the best pre-paid rates I have found and probably the cheapest option for Asheville. The only problem with AlltelU is that sometimes they might have to double-dial while roaming on Verizon or Sprint (which costs no extra, it's just a hassle). I have Alltel postpaid and service was good in Asheville but that's another option that's not Cingular if you're trying to avoid them. Alltel also have very good coverage throughout Virginia, much better than GSM overall.
 
I broke down and bought a prepaid Cingular GoPhone kit from Radio Shack on Black Friday. $30 with $10 instant savings and a $20 mail in rebate from Radio Shack. That coupled with Cingular prepaid per minute rates, I figured I couldn't beat it, at least in that area. Let's hope this doesn't come back to bite me, or mom and dad in the ***. I sure wish T-Mobile was in the Asheville area.

I did look at Alltel, but from what I saw on their website, they didn't have home coverage in the Asheville area.

Where abouts are you in VA ghost? Are you from the Asheville area?
 
HI, I live near Asheville myself..... my Mom bought a Tracfone from Wal Mart with a prepaid year long activation and 400 minutes to start (every card bought after is double minutes, so if it says 60, you get 120, ect.) costs we figure about 10.00 per month just to hang on to. Works pretty good too.....

Oooops,
Forgot to mention phone itself was about 30.00 and prepaid card is 129.00
 
The only thing about Tracfone is that they're just so expensive in comparison to other pre-paids if you think about how much you're having to pay per minute, but yes, Tracfone generally does very well no matter where you are.

I'm not from Asheville but I do have some family that lives south of there off of 26. Whenever we visit we try to stay in Asheville a night or two because most places out of the city can become so rural. But right now I'm living in Norfolk but originally from Southwestern Virginia so I travel across the state frequently either on 58 through Southside or on the interstates 81-64.

I do think that USCC and Verizon are the 850 MHz band providers there but Alltel does hold a PCS license. I've never checked the SID there so I'm not sure if Alltel built out in the area or uses Verizon, that's why I mentioned that double-dialing might be something they would have to do because I'm just not sure if they're native. But I suppose they are an option because the Alltel website will sell service to the area so I would think that they must have a few towers in the area. I've noticed several people with Cingular phones there, most people seem happy with it, a couple wish coverage could be better so I guess there are a couple trouble spots outside the city, but since you got the phone for a good deal it would probably be worth a shot. Good luck with it and I'm sure they'll love it!
 
Well hello there neighbor. It seems like there are a few people on HoFo from the area here but not that many. So how's coverage that-a-way? I would actually like to move closer to VA Beach because to me it seems like a much more spread-out, scenic, even a safer city which would suit me a lot better.

When we're in the area we usually try to stay a little closer to Asheville around the Biltmore area. There are some really nice areas around there. We've debated staying in Hendersonville because it's a lot closer to family because they live a little ways East off of 64. But it seems like a really nice area also.
 
Cool. TMobile has been good in both VB and Norfolk. I used to live up in Oceanview.

I am heading back to Hendersonville sometime around XMas.
 
Va Beach here too. Just figured I'd pop in ahaha. I really hope T-Mobile buys Suncom to streghten NC coverage. I also hope they keep the phone selection people from Suncom as they're getting some nice GSM phones there way
 
There was a time that I thought T-Mobile would buy Suncom but now I'm not so sure with the spectrum T-Mobile bought in the Carolinas and Suncom selling their towers. I'm starting to think it's looking like SunCom is going to run straight into the ground.

I actually did start carrying a T-Mobile pre-paid phone around about 3 weeks ago at this point for comparison purposes and would agree that T-Mobile is very good around here. I would say, from talking to others that they definitely have better coverage than Cingular and Verizon which it seems like most people have. It has been a little spotty in a couple areas, indoors especially in some areas. Since it's my main line I will also say that Alltel coverage around here is excellent and doesn't drop off near as bad indoors. Not been a single place I've been below 3 bars in all of Hampton Roads. It's funny how Alltel and T-Mobile, to me seem to be the best but don't have near as large of stores (North Military Hwy. for example) or #s of customers sampling from my friends. But enough about that. JeffreyVB, have a safe trip on X-Mas, I might pass you (or be passed by you ) on the interstate or in Hendersonville at some point.
 
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