How does the US cell phone/carrier system work?

[EBUK]

To give a simplified view of the way things work here In the UK... there are Pay as You Go (PAYG), Contract, and SIM-only offerings.

With PAYG, you pay up front for airtime credit. You may buy a PAYG handset, which will usually be locked to a network.
Contracts generally last for 24 months and you get a free or discounted handset, usually locked to the networks.
SIM-only deals are like contracts, except you don't get a handset; there are monthly contracts, or 12-monthly versions available.

We are allowed to unlock our handsets; those bought from Carphone Warehouse are all unlocked, as are handsets sold by Three. Providers will supply an unlocking code, sometime free of charge, but often not until a minimum period has elapsed.

How does it work in the US?

 

[Laura Knotek]

That's a good question. I've moved the thread to the Carrier Discussion forum.

Typically we get our devices from carriers, and they are locked. The traditional plan was the 2-year contract, but now carriers are offering plans that allow one to pay full retail price, either all at once or in installments.
Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920 via Tapatalk

 

[ashram]

Laura pretty much nailed it. Most GSM carriers, to my knowledge, will allow you to bring your own device.

Problems we have involve:
unlocking.... some carriers have stupid rules regarding this, giving them an easy way to refuse to unlock your device.
tethering... sure, if you still have unlimited data, you can't tether... well, not supposed to tether
unlimited data... pretty much going away, but for those of us that still have it, on some carriers, unlimited DOES NOT mean unlimited.
NFC tap to pay- Sprint, Verizon and AT&T tried to block it in favor of softcard, a company backed by those 3. google and apple managed to get around that. waiting for MS to do the same.


that's all i can think of for now...

 

[eusty]

There are also SIM only deals in the US (Net10). When I go there, from the UK, I get a monthly SIM deal and take my phone with me.

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