1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,320 Speaker 1: Three new mobile phone plans that might just save you money. 2 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:10,360 Speaker 2: What's going on. I'm Rich Demiro. This is Rich on Tech. 3 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:13,080 Speaker 2: There are lots of mobile phone plan options out there, 4 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:15,480 Speaker 2: but in reality, many people don't want to switch for 5 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:17,760 Speaker 2: a better deal because they're tied up in device payments 6 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:20,680 Speaker 2: or your phone is tied to a particular carrier. But 7 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:23,000 Speaker 2: there are some new and compelling options out there in 8 00:00:23,040 --> 00:00:25,000 Speaker 2: the wireless world, and I'm going to go over three 9 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:28,200 Speaker 2: of them that I'm getting lots of questions about. Spectrum Mobile, 10 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:32,159 Speaker 2: Metro by T Mobile, and Verizons Visible. All three services 11 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:35,200 Speaker 2: have compelling prices that could save you almost fifty percent 12 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:38,159 Speaker 2: on a typical unlimited plan and offer many of the 13 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 2: same features and the network quality that you're used to. 14 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:43,960 Speaker 2: Let's start with spectrom Mobile, because this one is all 15 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:46,880 Speaker 2: over the airwaves. This is a pretty compelling new offering 16 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:49,120 Speaker 2: and wireless and if you're in a Spectrum area, you 17 00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:52,600 Speaker 2: see the commercials all day. They're advertising an unlimited plan 18 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 2: for forty five dollars a month, or you can pay 19 00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:58,040 Speaker 2: by the gigabyte at just fourteen dollars a month. Spectrum 20 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:00,320 Speaker 2: Mobile runs on a combination of the Verizon Now Work 21 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:03,840 Speaker 2: and Spectrum's Wi Fi hotspots. Basically, if they can route 22 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:06,120 Speaker 2: your call over their own Wi Fi hotspot, they will 23 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:09,040 Speaker 2: do this. Otherwise it just goes over the Verizon network 24 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:11,440 Speaker 2: and all of this is invisible to you, the end user. 25 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:14,440 Speaker 2: You just dial your numbers the way you always do. Also, 26 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:17,200 Speaker 2: Spectrum doesn't say that their service runs on Verizon. They 27 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:20,160 Speaker 2: just say it's on America's largest LTE network, and the 28 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:22,040 Speaker 2: map is in Verizon's signature red. 29 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:23,360 Speaker 1: So you get the idea. 30 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 2: Now, for the average user, the fine print on Spectrum 31 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:28,319 Speaker 2: mobile plans isn't actually that bad. You do have to 32 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:30,319 Speaker 2: pay taxes and fees on top of the forty five 33 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:33,840 Speaker 2: dollars plan price, and although the plan is unlimited, they 34 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:36,880 Speaker 2: might slow you down after twenty gigabytes of use. In 35 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:39,280 Speaker 2: any given cycle, you even get to use your phone 36 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:42,680 Speaker 2: as a mobile hotspot, but after five gigabytes of hotspot 37 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:45,640 Speaker 2: data use, this feature is slowed down to a turtle 38 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:49,160 Speaker 2: speed of six hundred kilobytes per second, which is almost 39 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:50,600 Speaker 2: fast enough to check your email. 40 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:52,120 Speaker 1: Also, video streams at. 41 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:55,560 Speaker 2: DVD quality or four ADP not a deal breaker, as 42 00:01:55,640 --> 00:01:59,160 Speaker 2: many of the other popular unlimited plans have similar limitations, 43 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 2: but there are two main sticking points to know about. First, 44 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:05,000 Speaker 2: you must keep your Spectrum Home Internet to get the 45 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:08,080 Speaker 2: forty five dollars a month plan. Otherwise, if you cancel 46 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:10,840 Speaker 2: your home internet service, they will charge you an extra 47 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:14,640 Speaker 2: twenty dollars a month that instantly negates any savings that 48 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:17,000 Speaker 2: you might realize on this plan. The other thing is 49 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 2: that right now you must purchase your phone through Spectrum. 50 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:22,520 Speaker 2: This means you cannot bring your current device, which might 51 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:25,919 Speaker 2: be paid off from another carrier. Spectrum offers a selection 52 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 2: of current devices, including the iPhone tens and Tens Max, 53 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:32,160 Speaker 2: as well as Samsung devices like the Note nine and 54 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:34,800 Speaker 2: the S nine. They also give you twenty four hours 55 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 2: to pay with no interest, as other cell phone carriers do, 56 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:39,880 Speaker 2: and the company says the ability to bring your own 57 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:43,560 Speaker 2: device is coming later this year. So is Spectrum Mobile 58 00:02:43,639 --> 00:02:45,640 Speaker 2: a good deal right now only if you're in the 59 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:47,840 Speaker 2: market for a new phone and have no intention of 60 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:50,680 Speaker 2: giving up your home internet service through the company. But 61 00:02:50,919 --> 00:02:53,200 Speaker 2: if you plan to stick with Spectrum Home Internet for 62 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 2: two years and you need a new phone that you 63 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:58,200 Speaker 2: would be buying from another mobile carrier over twenty four months, 64 00:02:58,320 --> 00:02:59,800 Speaker 2: you could save some money. 65 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:02,160 Speaker 1: My mind, imath On one Spectrum mobile line. 66 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 2: Versus a single Verizon line with similar features, You would 67 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 2: save about thirty dollars a month or seven hundred and 68 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:10,760 Speaker 2: twenty dollars over two years. Otherwise, I would wait to 69 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 2: see what the deal is with bringing your own existing 70 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:15,600 Speaker 2: device when they announce those details later this year. 71 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:17,080 Speaker 1: One Spectrum allows this. 72 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:20,040 Speaker 2: It could mean even greater savings if your phone is 73 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:23,040 Speaker 2: already paid off and it works on their network. Next up, 74 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:26,680 Speaker 2: Visible Visible is a secret phone service run by Verizon. 75 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:29,639 Speaker 2: For forty dollars a month, you get unlimited calls, text, 76 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:32,040 Speaker 2: and data. Kind of funny they call it Visible when 77 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:34,560 Speaker 2: really it's tough to find out about. The big question 78 00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:37,840 Speaker 2: here is whether your existing cell phone works with the service. 79 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 2: Many iPhones will, but Visible does have a section on 80 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 2: their website where you can pop in the unique identifying 81 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:46,200 Speaker 2: code from your cell phone called an Imei number to 82 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 2: see if it's compatible. The main thing to know here 83 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 2: is that your speeds are limited to five megabits per second. 84 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 1: This is definitely. 85 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 2: Fine for most video streaming emails, surfing the web, and 86 00:03:56,680 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 2: posting to Instagram, but if you are a phone user 87 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:03,800 Speaker 2: and like to stream live from your phone or watch 88 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:05,800 Speaker 2: and post videos from your device all day long. 89 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 1: You might find the speed limitation. 90 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 2: Frustrating, especially since the Verizon network is really fast and 91 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:14,280 Speaker 2: it can handle speeds that are often ten times the 92 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:17,360 Speaker 2: five megabits they limit you to. Additionally, you have to 93 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:20,440 Speaker 2: be a DIY person. Visible requires you to sign up 94 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 2: through their app, pop in a simcard that they send you, 95 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:25,960 Speaker 2: and pay your bill digitally with a card or payment 96 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:28,560 Speaker 2: service like PayPal. If you have an issue, you can't 97 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:32,360 Speaker 2: walk into a store. This service is primarily aimed at millennials. 98 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:35,680 Speaker 2: In fact, at the start it was invite only, but overall, 99 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:37,320 Speaker 2: if you're the kind of person who likes to tag 100 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:39,880 Speaker 2: your own luggage at the airport, you self service check 101 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:42,480 Speaker 2: out at the grocery store, or you like online chat 102 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:44,960 Speaker 2: and email versus calling in a eight hundred number for help, 103 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:48,160 Speaker 2: you might be fine with Visible. Finally, Metro by t 104 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:51,480 Speaker 2: Mobile In case you haven't heard the news, Metro PCs 105 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:55,280 Speaker 2: is becoming Metro by t Mobile. The revamped brand has 106 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:58,920 Speaker 2: rolled out several new plans with compelling features, most notably 107 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:01,880 Speaker 2: one with an Amazon on Prime membership built in. The 108 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:04,480 Speaker 2: big difference here is that Metro is a prepaid plan, 109 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:06,840 Speaker 2: so you pay for your service before you actually use 110 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:09,320 Speaker 2: it each month. Not a big deal since many wireless 111 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:12,160 Speaker 2: customers are already on auto pay anyway, so it's really 112 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:14,400 Speaker 2: not much different from what you're used to the other 113 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:17,760 Speaker 2: nice thing about Metro is that taxes and fees are included, 114 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:19,920 Speaker 2: so the price of the plan is the price that 115 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:22,000 Speaker 2: you will actually pay every month. The thing to know 116 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:24,360 Speaker 2: about Metro is that you're getting the same T Mobile network. 117 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:27,799 Speaker 2: The big difference here is that postpaid T Mobile customers. 118 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:28,560 Speaker 1: Get priority on the network. 119 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:30,640 Speaker 2: So let's say you're at a baseball game where everyone 120 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 2: is using their phone and all the T Mobile towers 121 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:37,000 Speaker 2: are overloaded. Theoretically, a regular T Mobile customer might see 122 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:39,839 Speaker 2: their Instagram picture post first because they're getting priority on 123 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:43,160 Speaker 2: the network they're the ones paying the premium. In reality, 124 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:45,240 Speaker 2: this should rarely be the case, but you do need 125 00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:48,039 Speaker 2: to be aware of this distinction. The other difference between 126 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 2: a Metro plan and a standard T Mobile plan is 127 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:53,280 Speaker 2: when they start slowing down your data. With Metro, you 128 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:55,919 Speaker 2: might be slowed down after using thirty five gigabytes of 129 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:58,400 Speaker 2: data in a cycle, but with T Mobile that number 130 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 2: is fifty gigabytes. With T Mobile, you also get free 131 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:04,400 Speaker 2: international roaming, so if you travel out of the country 132 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:05,880 Speaker 2: a lot and you want to use your phone, a 133 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:09,000 Speaker 2: standard T mobile plan might be a better bet. Video 134 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:12,320 Speaker 2: on both services is streamed at DVD quality now. The 135 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:15,000 Speaker 2: big advantage to Metro is its variety of plans. You 136 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:17,360 Speaker 2: can get a plan as low as thirty dollars a month, 137 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:19,400 Speaker 2: but that includes just a teeny. 138 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:20,080 Speaker 1: Tiny bit of data. 139 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:22,479 Speaker 2: If you're looking at the high end, for fifty or 140 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:25,000 Speaker 2: sixty dollars a month, you can get many of the 141 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 2: most popular wireless features, including mobile hotspot. The most interesting 142 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:31,719 Speaker 2: plan to me is the sixty dollars a month, which 143 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:35,120 Speaker 2: is their top plan. You get unlimited data, talk, and text, 144 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:38,960 Speaker 2: including a good amount of mobile hotspot use, and they 145 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:42,440 Speaker 2: even include one hundred gigabytes of Google backup storage space 146 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:47,120 Speaker 2: and Amazon Prime. Those one hundred gigs on Google usually 147 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:49,840 Speaker 2: cost two dollars a month, and an Amazon Prime membership 148 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:52,320 Speaker 2: if you paid up monthly, would run you thirteen dollars 149 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:55,080 Speaker 2: a month, So you can subtract fifteen dollars a month 150 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:57,880 Speaker 2: from the top plan and you're effectively paying just forty 151 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:00,520 Speaker 2: five dollars a month for an unlimited plan. One thing 152 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:03,240 Speaker 2: to know Metro's new look, and new plans don't happen 153 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:06,719 Speaker 2: until October. So the bottom line, Spectrum, Visible, and Metro 154 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 2: are just three new options in a sea of wireless plans. 155 00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 2: And while many of you are probably gonna stick with 156 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:13,880 Speaker 2: your big old school plan from one of the main 157 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:16,880 Speaker 2: carriers like AT and T, T Mobile or Verizon, you 158 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:19,480 Speaker 2: really can save some money if you're not a power 159 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:22,040 Speaker 2: phone user. I pay about one hundred and eighty dollars 160 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:24,160 Speaker 2: a month for two unlimited lines, and I would love 161 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:27,040 Speaker 2: to pay less, but I don't like any restrictions on 162 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:29,000 Speaker 2: my network speeds. Plus I like to pay a bit 163 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:31,960 Speaker 2: extra to have my video streamed at HD quality versus 164 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 2: DVD quality. Plus I'm always live streaming something or uploading 165 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:38,240 Speaker 2: or downloading huge files and using my phone as a 166 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:41,680 Speaker 2: mobile hotspot. But again, I'm sort of the exception to 167 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 2: the rule here. I'm not the typical mobile phone user. 168 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:46,880 Speaker 2: My job relies on all this social media and all 169 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:49,360 Speaker 2: of this streaming and all of this content creation, so 170 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:51,360 Speaker 2: I have to pay a premium for that. If none 171 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:53,520 Speaker 2: of those things are important to you, or if only 172 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:55,320 Speaker 2: a few of them are important to you, you could 173 00:07:55,320 --> 00:07:57,560 Speaker 2: save a lot of money by shopping around and going 174 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:00,080 Speaker 2: with a carrier, or a plan that isn't as we 175 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:02,840 Speaker 2: well known but backed by one of the big networks. 176 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:03,800 Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening. 177 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:05,600 Speaker 2: If you want links to all the plans I talked about, 178 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:07,920 Speaker 2: you can go to my website it's Rich on tech 179 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:11,000 Speaker 2: dot tv, or check the show notes. And if you 180 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:13,640 Speaker 2: enjoy listening to this podcast, please share it with your friends. 181 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:16,680 Speaker 2: Take a screenshot of you listening on your phone and 182 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:18,880 Speaker 2: post it to social media, and be sure to tag 183 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 2: me so I can share in the love and share 184 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:21,480 Speaker 2: your post. 185 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:23,800 Speaker 1: I'm Rich Demiro. I'll talk to you real soon.