Cell phone provider in N.E. Iowa

Seems like everybody but me has a cell phone these days. I went shopping this afternoon, all wanted me to buy a plan with 700 min. per month. I would not use 70 min per month.

Does anybody know of a provider for emergency and low usage customers?

Probably can get a "throw-away" form your local Wallyland. There are prepaid plans where you buy a bunch of minutes, talk until they are all used up. (Which occurs at the most inconvenient time.)

What I'm concerned about is coverage. When we first started, we went with Centennial. Come to find out they were simply renting services on other carrier's towers. But offered fairly economical service, and pretty good coverage . They got bought out by AT&T and their service and coverage isn't as great. Son bought a new home in an area where our cells are completely dead. He had to change to Verizon to get service. I may well follow. Ask everyone you know about how happy they are with their service, put that one on the top of your list.

I use Tracfone. A year of service with a 10 dollar phone and several hundred minutes for about $100. It's fine if you are not one to have it glued to your head. I have good coverage. TDF

We have straight talk from Walmart. Phones cost about $40 and $30 for 1000 minutes and 1000 texts. Had them 3 years now, never any problem. Every 30 days buy another $30 card and that's all it costs. No contract, just the $30 a month.

(quoted from post at 16:43:14 01/09/14)
Does anybody know of a provider for emergency and low usage customers?

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911 will work on any silly phone, even if it hasn't been activated.

I don't know exactly where you live in N.E.Iowa, so I used Dubuque for a zip code. Looking at USCC, Verizon, ATT, TMoblie, and Sprint's coverage maps it looks like Verizon has the best coverage in your area. Companies like Straighttalk, Tracfone, Net10, and Ting are a MVNO "Mobile virtual network operator", which means they purchase tower access from one of the afore mentioned companies. Straighttalk will use either Verizon or AT&T network. It cost $45/mo for unlimited talk, text, and data. You have to buy your phone. Usually these prepaid plans don't allow roaming from your 'home' area'.

I've used Tracfones for several years. They're the prepay ones, you buy more minutes every three months, and they give you plenty of alerts if you're running low on time or minutes.

I just got a new one from Walmart, on sale for $14.88 a few days ago. All the usual features, voice mail, texting, camera, etc. I transferred about 600 minutes and 90 days use from my old phone, plus the same number, to the new one.

I average maybe 40-60 minutes use a month, and I figure these Tracfones cost me less than $10 per month. Here in Eastern Nebraska, I've had no problems with coverage. The few places I've have a problem with coverage, everyone else does, too.

Even though I need to be available on a cell phone for business purposes, I'm not one of these people who can't function without a cell phone glued to their ear.

Check out the tracfone website.
You can get double triple minutes and a $20.00 phone . Pay close attention when you do the activation.

I am a tacfone user also. I can call out and get calls and a few text messages that is all i need and want.

Is it really 30 dollars a month? I ask..because it seems there are always taxes, surcharges, and misc fees attached to any phone. I am interested if thats the case. US cellular is charging me 160/ month for 4 phones with no internet usage at all.

I got a tracfone a couple of years ago. I pay around $80 for a 400 minute 365 day card every year and because my phone has double minutes I always have way more minutes than I need. It is handy in the summer, at this time of year not so much because it does not work well inside any of the buildings here and when it is 0 outside it is not fun to stand in the driveway and talk. I mostly use it for business as I don't have any friends to speak of and the folks I do stay in touch with are okay with email, which works much better for me since I can do it when I have time and not have to worry about whether I am missing calls while working.
Zach

You buy a card each 30 day period. Comes to $32.40 with sales tax. 1000 minutes or 1000 texts per phone. Or unlimited minutes and unlimited texts for $45 plus sales tax.

U.S. Cellular will fix you up 55 or so a month 1000 min a month

i use T mobile, i buy 25.00 per year and if you dont use the minuits they roll over but you must remember to buy more before the year is up or you lose them. James

consumer cellular 37.95 for 2 phones me and wife no contract and you can go lower any time

I have a trac phone from Wally World. It is 49. something for unlimited everything. Smart phone was 150 dollars could have got one for less than a hundred. Works off Verizon towers. Wife has the 30 dollar deal 1000 minutes but no data.

Check into a track phone. Ours use the ATT network. You only pay for the minutes you actually use. Not the best selection of phones. 400 minutes just cost me $30.

As most have advised, under your conditions, I would look into Tracfone. Thats what my mother and brother use. No contracts, although do have to purchase more minutes every month, but they have different plans for minutes. Can get setup at Walmart or lots of places.

In my case where my cell phone IS my phone, I just went back to Verizon after U.S. Cellular dropped me. They just sold part of their midwest region off to Sprint, the region that I'm in, that was their infrastructure, not customer base. I paid my bill on the 20th of December when was due, went to call my family and friends on New Years Day, no service. Talked to U.S. Cellular, they reminded me that my area had been sold off to Sprint, but my service wasn't part of the deal, so my contract with U.S. Cellular just kind of vanished. If I wanted service from Sprint, I would need to go to them and purchase a new phone to work with their network, and of course, a new contract. As of last week, I'm back with Verizon with a new number because my old one got lost in the process, so I can't get it ported over to Verizon. On the bright side, I'm part of that big red map of the USA shown in the commercials.

Mark