In article , on Tue, 06
Dec 2005 14:15:13 GMT, Joseph Meehan wrote:

Yea, that's an answer, but I doubt if I would average even one call a
year, and that would still mean I would be paying about $100 a year for the
service and at my rate of calls that would be $50 or more a call. Now if I
could buy the card, keep the minutes and only pay say $20.00 per year, I
think I would go for that.


There are several prepaid carriers that would fit your requirements.
STI Mobile and Beyond Wireless, for example, let you keep your minutes
forever, and only require you to make a one minute call every 60 days to
keep your service. STI mobile charges 12 cents a minute peak, 10 cents
a minute off-peak and weekends, so you only have to spend a minimum 60
cents a year. I believe beyond wireless is similar. Beyond Wireless is a
little more expensive (about 16 cents a minute, or so, IIRC), but has
better coverage.

STI Mobile is reselling Sprint PCS, and Beyond Wireless is reselling
Cingular (formerly AT&T) TDMA.

I noticed in Staples' flyer this week that they are selling an STI
Mobile phone for free after rebate ($100), so all you need for over
eight years of service (if you never use it, except for the requisite
calls) is your local sales tax on the phone, a $5 activation fee, and a
$5 prepaid card.

www.stimobile.com
www.gobeyondwireless.com

I think there's a third carrier that does this, too, but I can't
remember their name.

I've never used these people, so it's conceivable there are problems I
don't know about. And, of course, you risk them going out of business,
since they seem to be small companies working on small margins.

--
Seth Goodman