>> >Tom, in DC "Economy 1" service costs $6.00 a month. No bells and
>> >whistles and you pay 6 cents a call. Local calling only. With
taxes and
>> >surcharges that's no more than $12.00 a month.
>
> Thanks Eric. My Mom is in New York and we have spent many hours talking
> to Verizon/MCI trying to get her a service plan that is appropriate to
> her needs. The best we could find was MCI's "Neighborhood Talk" plan for
> $25 plus $17 in "taxes and surcharges" for a total of $42 a month
just to
> have a phone in the house for emergencies and us calling her.
>
> I could get her a pay-go cell phone for a lot less than that, but a cell
> phone takes too much care to maintain and is too tiny for an old lady to
> use. I also don't want to change her phone number at this late stage of
> life.
>
> Has anyone ever seen a large cell phone?
Cell phone doesn't have to be large, just simple to use and easy to read.
My dad got his first cell phone a couple of years ago. He's 88, but he's
also an engineer. He went to K-Mart and picked up a PAYGO phone by
Tracfone--Nokia candy bar phone, very loud but not a speaker phone. I
added the numbers he needs to his phone book. He uses it a few times a
month, likes the convenience, and can read both numbers and screen. My
husband has a 7-11 SpeakOut Nokia 1100 that I set up for him. Screen is
small, keys are white and easy to read, but screen isn't. He likes my
old Nokia 6010 better and uses that now.
Compare PAYGO plans: http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm and
http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/usa.html. Find accounts with 90-365 day
expiration. Consider phone plus network for the area before buying; I
like 7-11 SpeakOut, T-Mobile prepaid, Virgin Mobile, Alltel U, but
coverage is most important.
Be sure to add an ICE [in case of emergency] number to the phone book.
Read the fine print. Verizon prepaid has good coverage but TCO of
prepaid is more expensive than some monthly plans--find other prepaid
using their network. Jitterbug is expensive. There are better phones
that people with limited vision can use. What network does Jitterbug use?
For landline, we also have Economy service with Verizon, but our local
calls are 9 cents each.
Betty
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