How do you get your cellphone service? (Post-paid v prepaid)

[greenforest32]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prepaid_mobile_phone

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http://arstechnica.com/business/2012/06/prepaid-mobile-phone-users-in-america-hit-record-high/

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[Adam Griffin]

Postpaid since 2004. Prepaid is becoming a very attractive option, though I'm still grandfathered in for unlimited everything.

[Tender Branson]

Post-paid (with a 2-year contract because I wanted to get my phone cheap).

But many people here are now taking the post-paid option where you can get out of the contract by the end of every month, so there's no 24-month contract anymore.

Which is esentially pre-paid, because you can cancel every month and it's still deducted from your bank account.

[Tender Branson]

Western Europe is about 70 percent prepaid.

What ?

That can't be true.

In Austria, virtually everyone has a contract and only small children between 8 and 12 and some olds have prepaid phones. So, I'd say 90% postpaid and 10% prepaid.

[Tender Branson]

Western Europe is about 70 percent prepaid.

What ?

That can't be true.

In Austria, virtually everyone has a contract and only small children between 8 and 12 and some olds have prepaid phones. So, I'd say 90% postpaid and 10% prepaid.

Ok, I did some research:

T-Mobile Austria for example has 4.1 million active SIM-cards, of which 1.5 million are pre-paid cards (ca. 35%).

But you have to take into account that a lot of people, especially tourists, buy prepaid Internet sticks for their vacation here, so the share is by far smaller when it comes to mobile phones.

http://wirtschaftsblatt.at/home/nachrichten/oesterreich/1350151/TMobile-Austria-rechnet-mit-massivem-Umsatzverfall

[politicallefty]

Post-paid through Verizon. It's a family share plan with five lines and heavily discounted unlimited data (i.e. under $250/month total for all lines). I am considering dropping unlimited data to get a subsidized upgrade for the next iPhone in the fall. I don't like the idea of going down to 2GB/month, but I've never exceeded that on my iPhone 4 since I'm virtually always using WiFi. That's not to mention that 3G speeds aren't impressive at all and can't lay a finger on my home WiFi.

[The Simpsons Cinematic Universe]

I've been without a cell phone for at least a year now. It's made no difference in my life whatsoever. Pre-paid > post-paid though.