Modern Telephony
Since getting the 3G iPad it has occurred to my just how off-kilter the costs I pay for communications are. Specifically:
- $15/month for 250MB of 3G data on the pad
- $80/month for 1400 “anytime” minutes on an iPhone 3G
- $30/month for unlimited data on an iPhone 3G
- $10/month for a second iPhone for my wife
- $30/month for unlimited data on her iPhone 3G
- $5/month for 200 text messages per month
- $25/month in taxes in fees
… for a grand total of $195/month in wireless costs to AT&T, and that’s before any shyster charges. This is more expensive than a reasonably decent high-deductible health plan. Clearly, change needs to come to my wireless bill. We don’t have a landline and so we both use the iPhones as home phones as well. But what does this practice really mean?
The plan, effected mostly in this month:
- at home or anywhere with broadband, I use a VoIP client on the iPad. Whistle is a bare-bones VoIP client that allows free domestic calls of any length provided you listen to a 15-second ad before the call connects.
- I got a cheap Virgin Mobile prepaid phone with a 200 minute credit @ $20
- Google Voice is the new primary contact number, that I can route to either the cheap cell phone or the VoIP line as needed. I can also use it for unlimited free SMSing from a web interface that archives and threads all of my SMS conversations. This is awesome.
- the wife still has a normal iPhone and uses it as normal
SInce switching to use VoIP, I have racked up a total of 27 minutes on my iPhone’s bill. That’s right: only 27 minutes of my wireless calling truly needed to be wireless. Last month, by comparison, I used 218 minutes. At this rate, my cheap prepaid phone will last about 5-9 months on $20. My wife has used about 300 billable minutes on her phone, which means we can clearly step down from the 1400 plan:
- $15/month for iPad 3G data (of which I’ve used just 40MB (!) of the 250MB)
- $60/month for 1 iPhone @ 700 minutes
- $30/month for 1 iPhone unlimited data
- $4/month for cheap prepaid wireless (assuming conservatively @ 40 minutes/month)
So, iPad + cheap phone == $20-25/month in recurring charges. iPhone 3G == $90/month in recurring charges. There is a great economic reason why the iPad and devices like it are the future (although it is probably bad news for carriers). At this rate, the iPad pays for itself in a year.
Granted, I am not the type of person who likes to yak on the phone all day and especially not when waiting for the bus (if I took the bus). Some people are. But I imagine that there are a lot of nerds and early adopters who are looking to consolidate realize some savings on what are truly outrageous recurring expenditures, most of which I bet go unused.
