I know we're all well aware that the cell phone network falls apart in emergencies...

HOWEVER

A few months ago, I picked up - for TEN CENTS on clearance at the local Staples - a Tracfone - a Nokia Model 1100 - for my wife. It came with 20 minutes of air time, I figured it was cheaper than a 4 minute call, so we'd try it.

Well, suffice it to say we were VERY happy. You see, out here, cell phone service is spotty, at best. I carry the Verizon LG6000 phone, and I find that there are MANY places where I can't get a call out - while my wife's little Nokia did just fine.

Some investigation into WHY ensued.

As it turns out, Tracfone does not own or operate a cell phone network. It buys and brokers minutes on a number of carriers, including T-Mobile and Cingular.

The interesting thing about this is, unlike a phone from, say Verizon, which will "prefer" a verizon cell site over an AT&T cell site (because when Verizon "roams" onto an AT&T cell, that costs them money), even if the Verizon cell signal isn't as strong.

The Tracfone just looks for the best signal, and cares little about the network used.

For us the implications have been profound. Here on my desk, I have "No Service" on the Verizon phone. The Tracfone, sitting right next to it, has three bars. Empirical evidence that there IS decent cell service from SOMEONE here, but my Verizon phone won't use it.

Now, with a Tracfone, like many prepaid plans, you buy your minutes up front and use them up as needed. There's no monthly fee. For me, this was a matter of economics.

My cell phone usage is erratic, some months I'd use 30 minutes and other months I'd use 400. My average cell bill was $96 a month (all the taxes and stuff really add up) - so in a 30 minute month, that was $3.20 a MINUTE. Yikes! A sattelit phone is cheaper!

So I got a tracfone and while I miss some of the fancy features of the old verizon phone (I can't email this phone, and it can't send email, it's got no camera).

But I began to ponder what this phone means in an emergency. It's a phone that will seek out the cell network that's working. Hmm...that's useful. Imagine a situation where there are SOME cell towers working...but on different carriers.

Also, Tracfones are cheap. Really cheap. You won't find them for 10 cents like I did, you will find them for $20 at Wal-Mart and K-Mart.

Now an extra phone you throw in your gear bag, charged up with a year's worth of minutes (you have to use up your minutes on some time shedule - varies from 60 days from purchase to a year), you now have a phone that's going to be a great backup and is small and light and has good battery life - and won't drain your pocketbook. Oh and the Nokia 1100 has a flashlight built in. Really.

I threw an extra one in my kit tonight, it's good for 90 days for the minutes I've put on it, and my calendar is marked for a kit checkout and use up the minutes and recharge the phone (both battery and minutes) in 88 days from today.

it's working out great for us. I don't get anythign from Tracfone for this, it's just my own observations.

I dont know your phone systems/networks but is verizon a GSM network?
If so you can manually roam by going throught the roaming menu options in the phone.
Also GSM networks have an emergency number built into the phone and networks which is 112
This number will contact the emergency number through the strongest signal cell available. The phone doesn't even have to be connected to any network, it just needs power.

You can also have a selection of GSM prepaid SIM cards handy to slip into the phone to connect through which ever network is available in an emergency, but use the cheapest SIM card for day to day use.

I am not sure what systems are available to you but that is some info on the GSM system available in Australia, Europe & the US (at least in some areas of the US)

Now that is some useful info. I have avoided cell phones totally due to their high prices, unreliability, and confusing services. I recently looked at some of the selections of prepaid phone types at Target and would not have even considered the auto-roaming aspect of the Tracphone service. This is very useful and just may push me into one of those type phones. The fact that the loaded minutes expire in 90 days to a year is a pain but workable.

Excellent info, thanks.

Verizon is CDMA. You can set it to prefer Verizon but still use other towers IIRC. It is supposed to have the best total coverage. There are several factors which can influence this.

Phone set to exclusively use Verizon?

Does it have analog capability or is it digital only?
Analog phones can get good signals off of old towers where digtal phones can't.

Are you in a dead zone where most people don't get service?
(What technology are the local towers on?)

There are probably several other factors.

GSM coverage isn't very wide spread here based on the local coverage maps.

Good info, as usual; thanks Martin.

Unlike Europe, and I assume Oz, American GSM phones are network specific so you can't swap out SIM cards to switch carriers. Bummer, huh?

But then again, the US wireless companies heavily subsidize their phones so that they are much less than the actual price. It's shocking how expensive "unlocked" phones cost sometimes. Do overseas carriers subsidize phones when their phones could end up being used on another carrier?

Wow, that's a STEAL at 10 cents. Well worth it for a backup phone at that price.

As someone else mentioned, I'm wondering if your TracPhone is analog-only. When TracPhones first came out something like 10 years ago, they were solely analog, but that might have changed since then. You'll generally get analog cell reception at greater distances than digital signals.

The bummer--if you're going to make regular calls--is that the minutes expire. But actually, if you're ONLY going to make 911 calls, then I assume that the phone will work even with no active minutes available.

Eventually analog signals will be phased out completely but I've thought something like this Magnavox emergency phone makes sense as an emergency-only backup phone. It's analog-only and runs off AAA batteries. You don't even need to keep the batteries in the phone until you need it and they're dirt cheap to replace, unlike cell phone batteries. No need to buy minutes. I don't know if it can handle lithiums, but that would make a nice emergency phone. On the other hand, compared to having $20,000 worth of comm gear in your SUV...
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Yikes! I just took a closer look at that Magnavox emergency phone--$200 from the link I proved! That's pretty steep for an analog phone that only calls 911. Hmmm, 10 cents? Or $200? You be the judge. It's cheaper on Ebay--$140--but still...

The LG6000 - the phone I used to carry - whas a multimode (tri mode or quad mode, don't recall).

To our freinds over the pond...mobile phone service in the USA is very, very different. Aside from the fact that phones are "locked" to only work on the network of the seller, and SIM cards are NOT interchangeable, you also pay for incoming calls.
As far as emergency calls - any cell phone, activated or not, can and will sucessfully dial "911" (our emergency number) if there's ANY cell service at all. As far as "roaming" goes, if you "force" your phone to roam (which is a big pain in the buttocks) you end up paying MUCH more for your calls, because automatic roaming programming is the only way they allow roaming for "free".
Another big problem in the USA is that the cell network isn't very good. Even the so-called "best" network (Verizon) has major gaps in coverage, and in areas where you supposedly DO have covereage, calls dropping or failing to connect are common.
I was in Grand Central Terminal, New York City, last week. Not a country backwater, this is the largest (in terms of tracks and platforms) passenger railway facility in the world.
I went downstairs to the food court to grab a cup of coffee. And there was no cell service. Here I am in the largest railway station ON EARTH in one of the largest cities in the world, where the corporate headquarters of Verizon is located, and my phone has NO SERVICE.
I know this was a "pro cell phone" article, and I still think they are handy, but in the USA at least, they can be maddening.

Thanks, Martin. Your post explains the experiences I've had.

I had trac phone and had nearly no signal problems anywhere.

Long story short, the plain-jane Nokia phone eventually wore out (wouldn't hold a charge; turned self off whenever it felt like it, etc) and I grabbed a pay-as-you go from Virgin, which I believe is part of the Sprint network.

And, guess what ... trac phone indeed was far more impressive for better signals in more places. now I know why.


So, when the minutes I now have on Virgin are used up, I'm going back to a trac phone. my cell use is pretty minimal, and I see no reason to pay some company $20 or $30 a month for minutes I'll never need, so I'm staying with pay-as-you-go.

Martin,

What are the details regarding going over the minutes or adding new minutes? Costs?

Where have you seen these with 1yr expirations? (90day just doesn't cut it for me.)

For now I keep my wife's old cell phone in the truck for 911 service. The battery is probably shot, but I keep the cig lighter power cord handy to run the phone off the truck battery.

Thanks for the tip,

TR