<p>I'm off to college in the fall in the US but as an international I also have to think about what cell phone service type is the best. I live in the UK and would talk to family and friends here mostly on Skype/IM. Still, I anticipate having a phone to talk to college friends (not too much though) and of course, texting! I don't do that much of it but that might increase in college.</p>
<p>Can anyone tell me what the best option is? I was thinking pay-as-you-go but I'm not sure about texting policies and whether that gets too expensive if you start calling a lot.</p>
<p>I suggest you estimate how much you would be using your cell phone, and then compare pay-as-you-go costs to contract fees. Just FYI:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Many companies will only give you a service plan if you have a Social Security Number (because they want to check your credit history first), or they will ask for a security deposit of several hundred dollars. You can get a Social Security Number as an international student if you have a job offer (on campus), but the SSN application takes a few weeks to be processed.</p></li>
<li><p>In the US, you have to pay for <em>incoming</em> as well as outgoing texts and messages. Many service plans will give you free incoming calls, but with a pay-as-you-go phone you will most definitely have to pay for incoming calls.</p></li>
<li><p>I don’t know how pay-as-you-go plans work in your country, but back in Germany I only had to recharge my phone once a year with the minimum amount possible to keep it active. In the US, you have to recharge much more frequently with much higher denominations to keep your phone active (e.g. $40 every 60 days).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>No doubt the SSN rule is ridiculous. My parent’s did not want to sign a contract for me to have a cell phone when I am out of state since the company they are with has cheaper local plans and I would have long distance charges. I had no credit so I couldnt get a contract either without a big deposit We looked at prepaid and I would hardly get any minutes with those plans and no extras without paying really high charges. A friend told me about wirelesswithout.com and I checked them out. They had good plans with extras like nights and weekends and texting too. When my dad compared their plans to the regular Verizon plans on the Verizon site, they were the same. I got a plan without a contract and when I graduate and move back home I can cancel it and not get charged anything. I been happy so far with them, you might want to check them out. Peace</p>
<p>It really depends. If there is no SSN # required than Verizon provides the best network coverage everywhere but its not GSM. If you have an unlocked phone coverage wise Cingular (AT&T) is better than T-Mobile.</p>
We looked at prepaid and I would hardly get any minutes with those plans and no extras without paying really high charges. A friend told me about