I was just reading this AP news story. Is this you, Martin? Certainly sounds like it from the little details in the story. Heh-heh, it's your 15 minutes of fame!

Yep, I am 99 & 44/100 % sure it is...

Yes it sure does sound like somebody we know.

Lee

Yes, that's me. Hi!

"Holy crap"

You gave yourself away mate.


For what its worth, the U.S. seems to be someway behind the U.K. when it comes to mobile phone's and calling plans. Looks to be about 5 years.

A pre-paid phone is worth having any way. As a back up. Just make certain that the minuites don't expire after, oh say, a month. As used to be the case in the UK.

I've become something of an expert on the prepaid market. The minutes on my Tracfone don't expire until 2011, and every time I reload the minutes, it pushes the expiry out further. It's really exactly the benefits mentioned in the article.

What I REALLY want is a USB G3 dongle with X gigabytes of transfer that I can top off as needed, on a prepaid plan. I have a few applications where I have no data use at all for 8 weeks at a time, and then I'll need 200 MB a day for 4 days in a row.

Like you, I'm a low-volume minutes user (typically 100-200 minutes a month), so I get screwed on a typical monthly plan. I've looked at prepaid plans for just that reason. The problem? No suitable data.

While I'm a low volume caller, I'm a high volume data user. My blackberry sees a lot of email, and I tether it and use it as a modem for my laptop. I have the unlimited data plan from T-Mobile which is the cheapest I can find at $19.99/month, but toss the minimum shared-minutes family calling plan and my wife's line on top of that, and we're over $110/month.

Ugh.

I am essentially a cell phone non-user. I went the TracPhone route based on some discussion here a couple of years ago. I use about 1 minute a week.....total.

TracPhone has saved me hundreds. I have my phone service loaded for 2 years at a time and the minutes that come with that are more than enough for the rest of my life. These minutes don't expire and I don't get nailed for any charges other than my calls.

I cannot believe how much my co-workers fancy pants phones are costing them per month. Hell I could buy a custom knife a month for what they are wasting on blabbing.

So, tell us, how did you end up getting interviewed for the story? Or are you THAT much of a pre-paid phone service expert in those parts?!

I'm fairly active in some personal finance sites where folks discuss how to manage their spending and debt loads, and I've written a few how-to posts here and there that have been used by a lot of people to help cut their wasteful spending, especially in matters related to technology. In this case, a Chicago-based reporter had seen a rather long post I'd made with regard to the economics of mobile communications, stuff I've discussed here as well, and he contacted me via that other site. A phone interview ensued and then they sent a photographer over, a nice guy, and then it hit the newswires. I've had a good relationship with the media over the years, for the most part, if you're willing to help them, they will help you. I actually turn down or ignore the majority of media requests I see, I get an surprising number of requests on a seemingly random range of topics from personal finance to relationships. I pick the ones I think can help other people the most.