SIM only kit for $10!
http://beyondwirelessgsm.com/product...products_id=70

That's interesting but.... where are the rates?

There's a button marked "rates". :D

Like most US prepaids (except 7-11, which I have) it's got very short expiry times so there are monthly running costs. Cheapest is the $15 card online every 60 days, $7.50/month (similar to Virgin Mobile), 13c/min.

But there are no international rates shown (or even mentioned as being possible) which makes it less useful for visitors.

Note the coverage on the map. Seems to be generally a little better (more complete) than T-Mobile prepay. Still somewhat spotty in the wild west, however.

Stan

Wow, it seems I'm getting blind! :D

About the coverage, I think it roams on Cingular/AT&T, so it's surely better than T-Mobile, it's also dual band 850/1900.

Yes, correct. However......

There are RUMORS that T-MO prepaid will also have roaming and possibly also on 850. The postpay service coverage area has recently been expanded quite dramatically by some roaming agreements. Also T-MO is building towers like crazy.

Stan

The coverage is based on Cingular (on one of the pages, they mention a phone locked to Cingular will work). The coverage should be similar to 7-11/Circle-K, but the map seems a little worse than those (less coverage in the AZ/NV/CA area near Bullhead City, I-80 missing in northern Nevada, etc). Could just be an older map.

The really good point about the offer is the sim-only deal, normally hard to get, but the short expiry (and lack of published international rates so far) makes it less interesting.

They do mention roaming rates (4 x normal rate!) but don't show anywhere off-network that it will roam.

Hmmmm. I have not heard that rumor but I guess we could always start one. Perhaps that would lead to T-Mo prepaid roaming outside the US?

Perhaps RUMOR was the wrong word. In any event, postpaid T-MO US is expanding its coverage by:

1. Builiding new towers (native coverage applies to prepay also)
2. Roaming agreements (applies to postpay only AT THIS TIME), including 850.
3. Phones they sell on prepay often include the 850 band.

TRUE, I have read or seen nothing official, but one might read between the lines or connect the dots. One way to attract customers is to expand service. T-MO prepaid coverage is not what one might call extensive. Overall T-MO US is growing in terms of customers. They are the low price leader for one and have a good reputation as far as service. At one time not so long ago the T-MO website did not even MENTION the prepay option. It now does. It would be logical to attract prepay customers by expanding coverage. Certainly point 1 applies to prepay. Whether the other points will ever apply to prepay is an open question.

AFAIK T-Mo does not have any licenses for 850 spectrum. Then why the devil are they offering phones with the 850 band if they are not intending to use that feature?

One explanation might be that the manufactures (Nokia, Moto, Samsung) are providing 850 on these phones for Cingular anyway.

I doubt T-MO are thinking of allowing prepay to roam internationally and how much market appeal that would have. First and foremost would be IMHO the improvement of coverage nationally. My impression is that, given US prepay population, not many of those would travel abroad or even to MEX or CAN.

Stan

Along the Mexican border, the prepay market (in fact the entire economy!) is heavily Hispanic. The first US prepay to allow roaming in Mexico will do very well, there are hundreds of thousands of people who cross back and forth frequently or even daily (including many Americans who live in Mexico south of San Diego).

The Mexican prepaids have some limited roaming in the US, and even provide a list of places in the US where you can buy recharge cards, so the cross-border demand is there.