TracFone

In the last several years pre-paid telephone cards have become very popular. Take that concept one step further and you have the TracFone, a cellular phone that lets you pay as you go. TracFones eliminate the complex service contract, which often binds you to long-term payments.

Here's how it works. You purchase a TracFone mobile telephone. The Motorola 120 TracFone that I reviewed retails for $59.99. A Nokia 5100 series TracFone is $49.99. It includes 60 days of wireless service (starts at activation) and 10 minutes of starter airtime. Then you purchase wireless prepaid airtime cards. These are sold in increments of 40, 100, 200 and 400 units for $19.99, $29.99, $49.99, and $79.99 respectively. One nice feature is that the number of minutes you have remaining appears right on the screen of your mobile phone. When you are running low you simply purchase another card. It is easy because the cards are sold in many locations including Eckerd Drug, Kmart, Lowes, RadioShack, Office Depot, Safeway, Staples, Target, Wal-Mart, Western Union, and 7-Eleven. The most difficult part is that after you purchase a card, you must call an 800 number or visit the TracFone Web site to activate your minutes. The process is a little cumbersome because you must enter the serial number of your telephone, which is under the battery. Note to TracFone: if the phone could simply swipe the air time card this process would be wonderful.

My experience using the TracFone was very good. Coverage and connections were not a problem. TracFone has established reseller agreements with the nation's leading network carriers giving it the nation's largest digital coverage area in the prepaid industry with a local phone number in every county in the U.S.

The only thing that I didn't like about the service was that to keep your service active you must purchase and redeem an airtime card every 60 days. If you do this your minutes will roll over, if you don't, they will be lost. At the cheapest level, this will mean that you must buy a $19.99 time card every other month. Although TracFone eliminates monthly bills, you must remember to purchase cards and activate them within a certain time period. For some users, this will not be a problem. Others might find it an irritation. One way around this is to purchase a one-year prepaid wireless card every 365 days. These cards come with 150 minutes of airtime for $94.99. One other way to jog you memory about purchasing a card at the right time is to register at the TracFone Web site to be sent an e-mail notification when your minutes are due.

The TracFone service is a boon to those who want the convenience of wireless service but want to stay within a budget or who want a phone for the kids but would like to control their wireless usage. It can also offer peace of mind for those who want have a cell phone for emergencies.

The Motorola 120 telephone has no camera, color screen, or other cutting edge technology, but it has a nice small footprint, readable number pad, and easy to use menu. It also includes many cell phone niceties like an address book, voice mail, caller ID, text messaging, and call waiting. You can also save voice recordings, set reminders, play blackjack and video poker, and use the currency converter and calculator. It comes with a charger and battery life seems quite good. If only the screen were a little larger....

This pre-paid phone is not for everyone, but many are finding it to their liking. As of January 2004 TracFone had over 3 million subscribers. You will need to add up the costs and the benefits to see if you want to be one of them.