STi Mobile PrepaidYou could get an STi Mobile prepaid cell phone, if you hate needlessly complicated plans, as I do. As another mobile virtual network operator, it does have a few things going for it. For one, it uses Sprint’s PCS network which is pretty good. For another, they have good rates and a limited, but fairly attractive set of phone choices. The best (or worst) thing about it is that it’s focused on talking (and texting) as opposed to downloading ringtones, music or games. This is not a phone for entertaining yourself. Where to get them?Sti Mobile phones are not exactly available everywhere like some of the bigger brands, but you still have quite a few choices.OnlineYou can purchase phones and airtime online. I would recommend doing that because it’s then easy to take advantage of their best phone offer, where you can get a “free” phone if you buy $80 worth of airtime.RetailBut you may prefer the convenience of picking them up from a nearby "big box" location.Staples and CompUSATheir phones are available at both these major retailers.You can also get them from some pharmacies such as . . . RiteAidRiteAid pharmacies carry a whole slew of prepaid phones and airtime cards, including these phones.In some places you can pick them up from a convenience store. Cumberland FarmsIn the northeast and Florida, you can go to a Cumberland Farms convenience store or gas stations to purchase one of these phones.CoverageSTi Mobile's coverage is based on the Sprint PCS network. Therefore, coverage should be okay, but you have to check out your own area for yourself.PhonesYou can choose between five STi Mobile handsets: Samsung A660, LG LG 225, or a Sanyo 200. A couple of other phones are currently sold out.LG 225The LG 225 is the only camera phone available. The LG 125 (sold out) is "free" when you buy $80 of airtime.I will use that offer to compare how much you would spend with the rate plans. Other phones are also reduced for there official price as they are sold as phone/airtime packages. Samsung A660This is a basic, but attractive flip phone with . . .Walkie-Talkie"Press and Talk" walki-talkie capability is available with this model. You can also apparently browse the web.Sanyo 200This still attractive phone seems to have the least features among the three.RatesThere are three STi Mobile rate plans. Two of the plan have a daily charge and a per-minute charge. You can pay a lower daily charge for a higher per-minute rate or vice versa. The third plan has a fixed monthly rate. There is also a $4.95 activation fee (see complaint below).Plan 110 cents a minute plus a 10 cents a day charge. Text messages cost 5 cents. Thus, the minimum yearly cost is $36.50 plus airtime. If you take them up on the free phone with $80 of airtime offer, then you would over a year spend $36.50 plus $4.95 (activation) on administrative costs. Leaving you with $38.50 worth of airtime. That’s 385 minutes. Not bad. If you rarely use the phone, this is a good deal.Plan 225 cents per day and 7.9 cents per minute of airtime for plan # 2 (they don’t have very imaginative names for their plans do they?). The minimum yearly cost is 91.25 plus 4.95 (activation).So brushing off my high school algebra, I found you would need to talk for a little over 2600 minutes a year to justify Plan #2 over Plan #1. That’s about 217 minutes a month or about 7 minutes a day. A pretty reasonable scenario. Plan 3$49.99 a month for 100 minutes a month and unlimited nights and weekends. Additional minutes cost 10 cents a minute. This is more like a standard cell phone plan, without the 2-year contract. Still, you're talking about spending at least $600 a year. Since you only get 100 minutes a month during the day, you can’t really use it for business purposes unless all your calls are extremely profitable!The unlimited nights and weekends sounds good if you don’t have a land line. We do, so it’s cheaper to have a cheap long distance plan for the land line rather than going for cell phone plan offering unlimited nights and weekends. Data (Text messages etc.)All the STi Mobile plans have the same rates for "data". Text messages cost 5 cents each. Web browsing costs 19 cents per day extra. Picture messages and/or web browsing costs an extra 29 cents a day. And finally, using the Walkie Talkie feature costs an extra 49 cents per day.AirtimeADVERTISEMENTYou can buy STi Mobile airtime cards for $10, $25, $50 or $100. It’s only when you first buy a phone and airtime that you can buy it in slightly different quantities such as in the now infamous $80 offer. You refill your phone by dialing *555 and entering the PIN code of the airtime card. If your airtime balance goes to zero, you have 14 days to add airtime or else you may lose your number. Activation Fee$4.95 – you won’t be too happy about the $4.95 activation fee. I think these activation fees are the worst and make you have a negative attitude toward the company. Contrast it with other prepaid cell phone providers who offer varying amounts of free airtime when you activate. You get a brief feeling when you see your complimentary airtime that the company values your business. With an activation fee, it’s the opposite. Upon activation, it’s like having a chunk of your minutes whisked away from in front of you. That said, other carriers also have activation fees, sometimes much higher fees as with Alltel’s $30 fee.ActivationYou can activate your STi Mobile phone online or by calling their 800 number. I recommend activating online because you have to enter all these activation codes, and this is usually easier when you’re staring at them on a screen rather than listening to an “activation specialist” reading them out to you on the phone. One exception is when you’re porting your number from another provider. Then you do have to go the 800 number route.International Calls (cheap)You make international calls using your STi Mobile phone to many countries for no additional charges. For the countries where there is an additional charges, the rates are not too bad.So . . . .All in all, STi Mobile is an attractive option for prepaid cell phone service.
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