Last updated April 12, 2019
Cell phone customers are mad as hell and they are not going to take it anymore, or at least, that is the implication of recent subscriber numbers that have been released by carriers in the United States.
In the past, signing a long-term contract with a cell phone provider was not too big a deal as little changed from month to month and one model was pretty much the same as any other. Now, however, cell phones are email machines, music players, video phones, handheld computers, texting terminals, cameras, and portals to the internet into the bargain. Better models are being released almost by the week, resulting in upgrade envy among other phone users.
Because of this, cell phone users are concluding that they no longer want to be locked in to just the one single plan and thus miss the next, snazzier, thinner, faster smart-phone. During the first three months of this year, the seven major wireless carriers in the United States lost more than 50,000 contract subscribers.
The good news is that there are other options. For parents who just want to give their kids basic models with no frills, Virgin Mobile is offering the LG 101 feature phone for just $14.99, with a payLo monthly plan of just $40 that includes unlimited talking and texting. Users that are more social can use the same plan with the $49.99 Samsung M575 and T-Mobile has started offering no-contract plans for high-speed data for tablets as well as other devices.