George wrote:

> But frankly I find the business model of raping customers when they go
> over just plain wrong. Just imagine if other services operated in a
> similar fashion. Say you needed to cross a bridge every day and you
> could buy a monthly pass that cost say $50 that entitled to cross once
> each day. You are a loyal customer and have been using the bridge for
> years. Some event happens where you need to cross more often and they
> charge you $7 for each additional crossing. I doubt anyone would put up
> with it.
>
> Cell phones are no longer something magical. The days of having to
> accept whatever is offered are winding down..

Well I hope that the winding down doesn't mean moving to an unlimited
model at $99 from a metered use at various tiers. I don't like the model
of high overage charges either, but the alternative may be worse for
relatively low-usage users.

If I were a new low-usage user then I wouldn't be a postpaid customer.
T-Mobile and PagePlus offer reasonable per-minute rates (5.3-8.8¢). The
downside is no free nights and weekends, but in reality the only reason
people talk so much on their cell phones on N&W is because it's free.
They could get a 2¢/minute long distance service and still be better off
in most cases.