My mother is interested in joining the 21st century and getting a mobile phone. The problem is that her needs are minimal as is her budget... The cheapest monthly plans seem to be $30/mo and up (before taxes) which is way too high. So I started looking into prepaid. Executive summary: prepaid from the major carriers is a shitty deal. Many complicated rules about minute expiration, minimum usage, and refilling... They intentionally make it hard to even figure out how much you are getting screwed. But thanks to this handy chart it's pretty clear: http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm Looks like STI Mobile is the way to go. The phone is free after rebate, with $5 activation fee. No monthly fees, and the minutes never expire ($0.12/min.)