• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Am I getting hoodwinked by.....?

R

RickyDavis1051

Well-Known Member
Paying $157.00 a month for 2 smartphones ( A Iphone 4s and My galaxy s3). We get 3gb each of data (6 total), unlimited text, and 550 calling minutes a month. I have AT&T. Input please
 
Actually, I think that is right on par for what either VZW or AT&T is charging these days. It is actually a few dollars cheaper than the AT&T Mobile Share Plans that are being introduced in a few weeks with 6G of data, unlimited text and talk. It is also a bit cheaper than the VZW Share Everything plans with 6G of data, unlimited texts and talk, that are currently offered at VZW. As long as the 550 minutes of talk is enough, I would stick with it until you have to switch.
 
RickyDavis1051 said:
Paying $157.00 a month for 2 smartphones ( A Iphone 4s and My galaxy s3). We get 3gb each of data (6 total), unlimited text, and 550 calling minutes a month. I have AT&T. Input please
Click to expand...


Wow you guys get ripped off in the US...

In the UK, I have an S3 and a 4S, paying no more than
 
I pay about $190 total (taxes, federal fees, etc) for 4 phones -- 2 smartphones and 2 dumb ones on a legacy family plan with Verizon. The two dumb phones are about $17 each with taxes and fees. Freaking crazy that a $9.99 monthly cost has $7 in additional fees associated with it. This means the the two smartphones comes to about $146 per month, not far off from what you pay for two phones. The plan has 700 total peak minutes, unlimited text and data on one line, 500 texts and 2GB of data per month on another.

The sad thing is, I'm actually getting a deal. If I move to the new family shared plan my bill would go up to $225 per month BEFORE taxes and fees. I agree that this really is more than we should pay. There's a reason why Verizon and AT&T's stock prices have soared this year.
 
How does the UK tax cell phone usage?
Click to expand...

We pay 20% Value Added Tax (VAT) on everything we purchase apart from the bare essentials. This includes almost EVERYTHING in the UK apart from food, childrens clothing, books etc.

There isn't a "cell/mobile phone usage" tax per se as the mobile masts are installed, operated and maintained by their respective networks and they only need to buy a license from the government to install them in specific places really...
 
robhs said:
Then, there are the taxes....the government gets more creative in finding ways to bleed money from it's citizens. Telecom is a prime example of how we get hit with taxes (Fed, state, and local). Everybody has to dig in our pockets.
Click to expand...

Most of the taxes and fees on cell service in the US are carrier-specific and not related to the federal government. On my Sprint bill, for example, only half of the fees are government fees and they're all state or city taxes. The federal taxes are paid by Sprint and they elect to "recover" them from me (even then, the only federal tax passed on amounts to less than a third of the total carrier fee). I'm sure AT&T is similar (if not worse).

That said, there's a significant chunk of change devoted to fees and taxes on the bill, on top of an already-high service bill. I really envy our European cousins in this regard. We can only dream of the types of cell service you have available.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom