<p>I know this is a stupid question, but how do cellphones work in the states? In my country, you buy a phone and a sim card, and you get to use it by using either a plan or a prepaid card.</p>
<p>How does it work there? And how much does it cost? Are the messages and calls counted?</p>
<p>A few providers (T-Mobile, AT&T) use SIM cards; most other providers (Verizon, Sprint, all ‘bargain’ carriers that I know) have all of the information programed right onto the phone, so you have to buy your phone from that provider in order to use their service.</p>
<p>There are 3 common types of service plans. </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Pre-paid pay-as-you-go plans that charge you for every minute of call and every text. (Note that you have to pay for incoming calls and texts as well as outgoing ones.) This tends to be the cheapest for people who don’t have a smartphone and don’t call/text very much.</p></li>
<li><p>Pre-paid monthly plans that give you a certain number of minutes, texts and data as part of your monthly fee. You are not bound by a contract and can cancel at any point in time. This tends to be the cheapest option for medium-intensity users with or without smartphones. Since you don’t sign a contract, you have to pay for your own phone.</p></li>
<li><p>Monthly contracts, usually for 2 years at a time. Those usually come with unlimited calls and texts, and some amount of data. (Your monthly data allowance essentially determines the cost of the plan.) You get your phone at a discount, since the cost of the phone is absorbed into higher monthly charges. I’d only recommend this to high-volume users. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Cost-wise. The two cheapest monthly pre-paid plans I know are offered by T-Mobile ($30 for 100 call minutes, unlimited texts, 5GB of data per month) and Virgin Mobile ($35 for 400 call minutes, unlimited texts, 2.5GB of data).</p>
<p>Contracts are a fair bit more expensive. Verizon’s contracts start at $80 per month (for unlimited calls, unlimited texts, 500MB of data), Sprint’s at $70 (unlimited calls, unlimited text, 1GB of data).</p>
<p>When you choose a provider, make sure that your provider has good coverage in the area you intend to use the phone. Not all providers have good (or any) coverage everywhere.</p>
<p>Thank you for the very helpful and informative response, B@r!um!</p>