how does pre paid cell phone work? do i have to pay for activation? I only need it for emergency proposes.?

Question

How much does the minutes costs etc?

Answer 1

Unlike a postpaid plan, prepaid requires that you pay for your usage before you use it hence the name. There is no activation fee. For really low usage (I'm assuming you're in the US), I'd recommend T-Mobile. The $100 refill buys you 1000 minutes ($0.10/min) which last for a year and gets you Gold Rewards status. Subsequent refills will extend your expiration to one year from the refill date regardless of the dollar amount. You could conceivably roll over those minutes every year for as little as $10/year.

Cingular has a similar plan ($0.10/min) but charges $1 per day on any day that you make or receive a call. Other providers will usually charge considerably more on a per-minute basis.

Answer 2

You can buy a prepaid cell phone at any local convenience store now (try a Wal-Mart or Target). You buy the phone initially (Unsure of exactly how much they run but I believe you can one for as cheap as $20). Depending on what carrier you get for a prepaid phone (Verizon, Cingular, Boost Mobile, Track Phone, etc.) depends on how much you will pay for minutes. Most of them you buy a card ($10,$20, etc.) and that includes so many minutes on the card. When you run out of minutes, you buy more minutes. Be careful with prepaid, some people say "just for emergency" and then start using it all the time and it ends up costing more money than if you just got a plan with a carrier. Also, a second = a minute. So if you make a wrong call, that uses your minutes. Same as checking voicemail or anything. Hope this helped a little!

Answer 3

By law, all cellphone companies have to let 911 calls be processed. You can use any cell phone, used or new to make the 911 call. The only cost to you would be for the phone.