Cellphone Plan

because they don't have the mark-up that AT&T has.

They bargain the same satellites that AT&T and Verizon use...and offer you the lower rate.

There could be a lot of reasons.
Here's one I can immediately think of:

It could be that it's with a cell phone provide with very limited towers, and so it will only work in your local area. Or, even if it's nationwide, some providers only cover the major cities across the country and if you go to a smaller town or rural area, there is no service.

There are a lot of providers like this. If you don't travel a lot, you live in a major metropolitan area, and you don't need to use your phone outside of your city, this might be great for you. But if you need to have really good coverage because you travel or because you drive to places outside of your local city/town, then it could end up being useless.

If you decide to try it, check the coverage map very closely before you sign the contract, and make sure there is a return period, in case you find out that there is no service in an important place for you. I had this problem once, I live in a suburb of my city - less than 5 miles from city center - and when I got home, I found that there was no service at my house! It was a dead spot for that company (which was a national company, but with many fewer towers than the big 2).

Extreme worldwide volume to the point of near monopoly?

Just a guess.

To add to Wild Woman, Walmart does not have the same advertising expense that AT&T has.

Walmart has everything cheaper. Why are you surprised?

I've been using Walmart Family Mobile for a few years now. They are owned by both Walmart and TMobile. We have two smartphones with unlimited everything (talk, text, pics, web). Our bill is $82 every month. We're not "contracted", so if we ever want to switch we just don't pay the next month's bill. You pay full price for the phones, but in the long run it is worth it.

I use Walmart's Straighttalk plan (unlimited talk, text, and internet) for $45 a month. I have for over a year now and have not had an issue,

What you need to know is whose towers have the best coverage in your area and buy your phone accordingly. Straighttalk runs off of AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint towers. If you want a specific carrier, you can contact Straighttalk and ask them which phones are supported by that carrier.

You will need to purchase your phone outright. They have a range of price points but I would recommend that you look at the phone's specs. My first cheap model would run low on memory because I had it set to sync my ENTIRE inbox. My new one has never given that message.

When we first switched I figured I'd give it a one month trial. I have been on the plan for almost 18 months now.

We picked U S Cellular out of all of them. We've never regretted it. We get all incoming calls free and so much more. We earn Believe points each month and use them to purchase new phones and accessories.

I just "bought" a new Samsung G-4 and it cost me $0.98. I used 10K Believe points and then paid the 98 cents.

We have awesome insurance on our phones too. If we only have a tiny bit of it we can get a replacement phone free. Their insurance plan is NOT handled by the store though. You have to call them and arrange the claim with the insurance department.

I broke my phone, called and asked for a replacement, same phone, and it was delivered by UPS the next day. Seriously, the next day.

I love U S Cellular. We won't go with anyone else.

Even though those other programs might seem less expensive it all comes down to the perks and things you get.

We pay $149 for 2 lines.

My sister is a Walmart employee and she uses their family plan. She pays for the 2 kids and my mom on her plan and it is less than $100 a month and it is all the talk/text/data they want for free. I think its about $25 per phone, but she is an employee, so I know she gets a discount, but I don't know what. They have great service, little to issues, and she doesn't have to worry about them going "over" and costing a lot more money.

I hope that helps. I know they are all really happy with it.

you will have options to get at& t or t-mobile, verizon is NOT part of that plan and will not use verizon towers. We travel and like excellent coverage so we didn't go thru the walmart plan. If you aren't a heavy cell user, go with walmart.

They can offer it because you are on an old plan. I would bet if you called AT&T you can do better. I am on Tmobile and it is fifty for unlimited everything.

We have used TRacfone for more than 15 years. We recently bought new smart phones. You get triple minutes when put minutes on the phone. You can purchase data cards also. You can one for 300 mb for $10.00. They have other data cards you can buy also. You can go to their website and see what you can in your area.