What alternative do we have to the Verizon monopoly?

There are lots of alternatives, among them ATT, Credo, Sprint/TMobile. Need to look around a bit.

Walmart has a pretty low priced option with uimited. I forget the exact name but it’s easy to find.

which area?

Not sure if your Q is to me or the OP.

But AFAIK Walmart’s service is available in every state in the US because they lease from another co. and offer it at much reduced rates.

I use Republic Wireless. This is what I pay.

Paid 109 to buy a Moto E outright. Unlimited calls and texts for 11 bucks a month. It does text and calls over wifi and if there is no wifi it falls back to T-Mobile’s cellular network. And the cool thing is that I can turn on data if I know I am going to be in a place that doesn’t have wifi. I went down to my mom’s house a few weeks ago so I turned on data for a week. I was charged fifty cents a day for it. I think they let you turn it on and off twice a month.

This is my first cell phone. There is no way I would ever pay 100 bucks a month for calls/text/data.

It depends on your location. Here in Massachusetts, unless you are in the middle of a city (or lucky enough to find decent service for AT&T, TMobile, etc) you’re stuck with Verizon. In the suburbs of Boston, and much of the extended, rural areas, Verizon is your only choice.

But I think your quote of $200 for 3 phones is still high. I have 3 smartphones on my plan (10GB data, unlimited talk & text) for $153 including taxes and fees. I don’t buy phones through Verizon, so I get a discount. I use Swappa and buy used.

Anyway, if you do live in an area that has a strong AT&T/TMobile presence, you can do some of those other pre-pay plans like straighttalk.

My phone is now provided by my job but I used to have Verizon when I had my own phone. I didn’t like their policies. To increase service you had to sign up for two year contract. Everything was you had to do the two year contract, every change you made. Not sure if they’re still that way but it was like a never ending leash.

I know someone who has the Walmart cell phone thing. He is very happy with it – with the price and service. If I needed my own phone again I’d check out Walmart.

I use Tracphone and I’ve been happy with that, but I don’t use my cell phone a lot.

Verizon is offering 10 GB of data per month for $80 and for three phone ($15 for each smartphone) that comes to $125 plus taxes and tariffs. Mileage may vary.

We’ve been very satisfied with our plan from T-Mobile for about 10 years now. No contract, North America toll-free, Unlimited talk and text. On one phone we have the standard 1MB data, no extra charge, one phone upgrade to 3MB data. Our monthly rate is $80, plus $20 for data upgrade. Data usage does not count data over wifi.

@Adirondackwannabe Aw, ya beat me to it.

Tracfone is the best way to go for those looking to get free of long-term contracts, hidden fees, and the other hassles that Verison, Sprint, etc dream up. With Tracfone’s pre-paid option, there is no monthly contract payment. Instead you buy airtime cards only when your remaining airtime runs low. Plus they do now offer smartphones as well.

I have been a customer of Tracfone since late 2006, and I see no reason to switch to anybody else.

Our dilemma is that my husband and I each have a Galaxy s4 that work fine, but we can’t find a company that will let us use these phones with their network. They are forcing us to buy new phones from them. We won’t do that.

Thanks everyone! We’re in the rural Midwest.

If you use your cell phones a lot tracfone might get a little pricey.

Verizon and at&t don’t require you to buy their phones. If the s4 is GSM, it will work with at&t, if CDMA it will work with Verizon. But it appears to support both. This means you can check out either of these or straight talk.

Depending on where you are exactly, try freedompop or ting.