WEBVTT - 3 New Money Saving Mobile Plans

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<v Speaker 1>Three new mobile phone plans that might just save you money.

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<v Speaker 2>What's going on. I'm Rich Demiro. This is Rich on Tech.

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<v Speaker 2>There are lots of mobile phone plan options out there,

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<v Speaker 2>but in reality, many people don't want to switch for

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<v Speaker 2>a better deal because they're tied up in device payments

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<v Speaker 2>or your phone is tied to a particular carrier. But

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<v Speaker 2>there are some new and compelling options out there in

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<v Speaker 2>the wireless world, and I'm going to go over three

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<v Speaker 2>of them that I'm getting lots of questions about. Spectrum Mobile,

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<v Speaker 2>Metro by T Mobile, and Verizons Visible. All three services

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<v Speaker 2>have compelling prices that could save you almost fifty percent

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<v Speaker 2>on a typical unlimited plan and offer many of the

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<v Speaker 2>same features and the network quality that you're used to.

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<v Speaker 2>Let's start with spectrom Mobile, because this one is all

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<v Speaker 2>over the airwaves. This is a pretty compelling new offering

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<v Speaker 2>and wireless and if you're in a Spectrum area, you

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<v Speaker 2>see the commercials all day. They're advertising an unlimited plan

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<v Speaker 2>for forty five dollars a month, or you can pay

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<v Speaker 2>by the gigabyte at just fourteen dollars a month. Spectrum

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<v Speaker 2>Mobile runs on a combination of the Verizon Now Work

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<v Speaker 2>and Spectrum's Wi Fi hotspots. Basically, if they can route

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<v Speaker 2>your call over their own Wi Fi hotspot, they will

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<v Speaker 2>do this. Otherwise it just goes over the Verizon network

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<v Speaker 2>and all of this is invisible to you, the end user.

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<v Speaker 2>You just dial your numbers the way you always do. Also,

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<v Speaker 2>Spectrum doesn't say that their service runs on Verizon. They

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<v Speaker 2>just say it's on America's largest LTE network, and the

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<v Speaker 2>map is in Verizon's signature red.

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<v Speaker 1>So you get the idea.

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<v Speaker 2>Now, for the average user, the fine print on Spectrum

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<v Speaker 2>mobile plans isn't actually that bad. You do have to

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<v Speaker 2>pay taxes and fees on top of the forty five

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<v Speaker 2>dollars plan price, and although the plan is unlimited, they

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<v Speaker 2>might slow you down after twenty gigabytes of use. In

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<v Speaker 2>any given cycle, you even get to use your phone

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<v Speaker 2>as a mobile hotspot, but after five gigabytes of hotspot

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<v Speaker 2>data use, this feature is slowed down to a turtle

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<v Speaker 2>speed of six hundred kilobytes per second, which is almost

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<v Speaker 2>fast enough to check your email.

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<v Speaker 1>Also, video streams at.

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<v Speaker 2>DVD quality or four ADP not a deal breaker, as

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<v Speaker 2>many of the other popular unlimited plans have similar limitations,

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<v Speaker 2>but there are two main sticking points to know about. First,

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<v Speaker 2>you must keep your Spectrum Home Internet to get the

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<v Speaker 2>forty five dollars a month plan. Otherwise, if you cancel

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<v Speaker 2>your home internet service, they will charge you an extra

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<v Speaker 2>twenty dollars a month that instantly negates any savings that

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<v Speaker 2>you might realize on this plan. The other thing is

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<v Speaker 2>that right now you must purchase your phone through Spectrum.

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<v Speaker 2>This means you cannot bring your current device, which might

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<v Speaker 2>be paid off from another carrier. Spectrum offers a selection

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<v Speaker 2>of current devices, including the iPhone tens and Tens Max,

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<v Speaker 2>as well as Samsung devices like the Note nine and

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<v Speaker 2>the S nine. They also give you twenty four hours

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<v Speaker 2>to pay with no interest, as other cell phone carriers do,

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<v Speaker 2>and the company says the ability to bring your own

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<v Speaker 2>device is coming later this year. So is Spectrum Mobile

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<v Speaker 2>a good deal right now only if you're in the

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<v Speaker 2>market for a new phone and have no intention of

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<v Speaker 2>giving up your home internet service through the company. But

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<v Speaker 2>if you plan to stick with Spectrum Home Internet for

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<v Speaker 2>two years and you need a new phone that you

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<v Speaker 2>would be buying from another mobile carrier over twenty four months,

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<v Speaker 2>you could save some money.

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<v Speaker 1>My mind, imath On one Spectrum mobile line.

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<v Speaker 2>Versus a single Verizon line with similar features, You would

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<v Speaker 2>save about thirty dollars a month or seven hundred and

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<v Speaker 2>twenty dollars over two years. Otherwise, I would wait to

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<v Speaker 2>see what the deal is with bringing your own existing

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<v Speaker 2>device when they announce those details later this year.

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<v Speaker 1>One Spectrum allows this.

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<v Speaker 2>It could mean even greater savings if your phone is

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<v Speaker 2>already paid off and it works on their network. Next up,

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<v Speaker 2>Visible Visible is a secret phone service run by Verizon.

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<v Speaker 2>For forty dollars a month, you get unlimited calls, text,

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<v Speaker 2>and data. Kind of funny they call it Visible when

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<v Speaker 2>really it's tough to find out about. The big question

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<v Speaker 2>here is whether your existing cell phone works with the service.

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<v Speaker 2>Many iPhones will, but Visible does have a section on

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<v Speaker 2>their website where you can pop in the unique identifying

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<v Speaker 2>code from your cell phone called an Imei number to

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<v Speaker 2>see if it's compatible. The main thing to know here

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<v Speaker 2>is that your speeds are limited to five megabits per second.

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<v Speaker 1>This is definitely.

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<v Speaker 2>Fine for most video streaming emails, surfing the web, and

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<v Speaker 2>posting to Instagram, but if you are a phone user

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<v Speaker 2>and like to stream live from your phone or watch

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<v Speaker 2>and post videos from your device all day long.

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<v Speaker 1>You might find the speed limitation.

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<v Speaker 2>Frustrating, especially since the Verizon network is really fast and

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<v Speaker 2>it can handle speeds that are often ten times the

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<v Speaker 2>five megabits they limit you to. Additionally, you have to

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<v Speaker 2>be a DIY person. Visible requires you to sign up

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<v Speaker 2>through their app, pop in a simcard that they send you,

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<v Speaker 2>and pay your bill digitally with a card or payment

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<v Speaker 2>service like PayPal. If you have an issue, you can't

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<v Speaker 2>walk into a store. This service is primarily aimed at millennials.

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<v Speaker 2>In fact, at the start it was invite only, but overall,

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<v Speaker 2>if you're the kind of person who likes to tag

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<v Speaker 2>your own luggage at the airport, you self service check

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<v Speaker 2>out at the grocery store, or you like online chat

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<v Speaker 2>and email versus calling in a eight hundred number for help,

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<v Speaker 2>you might be fine with Visible. Finally, Metro by t

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<v Speaker 2>Mobile In case you haven't heard the news, Metro PCs

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<v Speaker 2>is becoming Metro by t Mobile. The revamped brand has

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<v Speaker 2>rolled out several new plans with compelling features, most notably

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<v Speaker 2>one with an Amazon on Prime membership built in. The

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<v Speaker 2>big difference here is that Metro is a prepaid plan,

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<v Speaker 2>so you pay for your service before you actually use

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<v Speaker 2>it each month. Not a big deal since many wireless

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<v Speaker 2>customers are already on auto pay anyway, so it's really

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<v Speaker 2>not much different from what you're used to the other

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<v Speaker 2>nice thing about Metro is that taxes and fees are included,

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<v Speaker 2>so the price of the plan is the price that

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<v Speaker 2>you will actually pay every month. The thing to know

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<v Speaker 2>about Metro is that you're getting the same T Mobile network.

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<v Speaker 2>The big difference here is that postpaid T Mobile customers.

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<v Speaker 1>Get priority on the network.

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<v Speaker 2>So let's say you're at a baseball game where everyone

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<v Speaker 2>is using their phone and all the T Mobile towers

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<v Speaker 2>are overloaded. Theoretically, a regular T Mobile customer might see

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<v Speaker 2>their Instagram picture post first because they're getting priority on

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<v Speaker 2>the network they're the ones paying the premium. In reality,

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<v Speaker 2>this should rarely be the case, but you do need

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<v Speaker 2>to be aware of this distinction. The other difference between

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<v Speaker 2>a Metro plan and a standard T Mobile plan is

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<v Speaker 2>when they start slowing down your data. With Metro, you

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<v Speaker 2>might be slowed down after using thirty five gigabytes of

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<v Speaker 2>data in a cycle, but with T Mobile that number

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<v Speaker 2>is fifty gigabytes. With T Mobile, you also get free

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<v Speaker 2>international roaming, so if you travel out of the country

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<v Speaker 2>a lot and you want to use your phone, a

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<v Speaker 2>standard T mobile plan might be a better bet. Video

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<v Speaker 2>on both services is streamed at DVD quality now. The

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<v Speaker 2>big advantage to Metro is its variety of plans. You

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<v Speaker 2>can get a plan as low as thirty dollars a month,

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<v Speaker 2>but that includes just a teeny.

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<v Speaker 1>Tiny bit of data.

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<v Speaker 2>If you're looking at the high end, for fifty or

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<v Speaker 2>sixty dollars a month, you can get many of the

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<v Speaker 2>most popular wireless features, including mobile hotspot. The most interesting

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<v Speaker 2>plan to me is the sixty dollars a month, which

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<v Speaker 2>is their top plan. You get unlimited data, talk, and text,

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<v Speaker 2>including a good amount of mobile hotspot use, and they

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<v Speaker 2>even include one hundred gigabytes of Google backup storage space

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<v Speaker 2>and Amazon Prime. Those one hundred gigs on Google usually

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<v Speaker 2>cost two dollars a month, and an Amazon Prime membership

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<v Speaker 2>if you paid up monthly, would run you thirteen dollars

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<v Speaker 2>a month, So you can subtract fifteen dollars a month

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<v Speaker 2>from the top plan and you're effectively paying just forty

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<v Speaker 2>five dollars a month for an unlimited plan. One thing

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<v Speaker 2>to know Metro's new look, and new plans don't happen

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<v Speaker 2>until October. So the bottom line, Spectrum, Visible, and Metro

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<v Speaker 2>are just three new options in a sea of wireless plans.

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<v Speaker 2>And while many of you are probably gonna stick with

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<v Speaker 2>your big old school plan from one of the main

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<v Speaker 2>carriers like AT and T, T Mobile or Verizon, you

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<v Speaker 2>really can save some money if you're not a power

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<v Speaker 2>phone user. I pay about one hundred and eighty dollars

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<v Speaker 2>a month for two unlimited lines, and I would love

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<v Speaker 2>to pay less, but I don't like any restrictions on

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<v Speaker 2>my network speeds. Plus I like to pay a bit

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<v Speaker 2>extra to have my video streamed at HD quality versus

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<v Speaker 2>DVD quality. Plus I'm always live streaming something or uploading

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<v Speaker 2>or downloading huge files and using my phone as a

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<v Speaker 2>mobile hotspot. But again, I'm sort of the exception to

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<v Speaker 2>the rule here. I'm not the typical mobile phone user.

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<v Speaker 2>My job relies on all this social media and all

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<v Speaker 2>of this streaming and all of this content creation, so

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<v Speaker 2>I have to pay a premium for that. If none

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<v Speaker 2>of those things are important to you, or if only

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<v Speaker 2>a few of them are important to you, you could

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<v Speaker 2>save a lot of money by shopping around and going

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<v Speaker 2>with a carrier, or a plan that isn't as we

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<v Speaker 2>well known but backed by one of the big networks.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much for listening.

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<v Speaker 2>If you want links to all the plans I talked about,

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<v Speaker 2>you can go to my website it's Rich on tech

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<v Speaker 2>dot tv, or check the show notes. And if you

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<v Speaker 2>enjoy listening to this podcast, please share it with your friends.

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<v Speaker 2>Take a screenshot of you listening on your phone and

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<v Speaker 2>post it to social media, and be sure to tag

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<v Speaker 2>me so I can share in the love and share

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<v Speaker 2>your post.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Rich Demiro. I'll talk to you real soon.