- In the US you usually have to pay to make calls, but also to receive calls (same for text messages). One of the reasons is that there are no dedicated mobile phone numbers. So callers cannot determine by the number, if they are calling a landline or a mobile phone. When you get your phone contract you will most likely be able to choose a number from your local region (e.g. '650' for most of the Bay Area)
- Compare the coverage of the available carriers on RootMetrics
- To keep costs low in the beginning, I got a no-contract, pay-as-you-go offer from BestBuy, called 'H2O Wireless pay-as-you-go' without monthly fees and pretty low rates (10 USD for 200 minutes, 5 cents per minute/message and 10 cents per MB)
- Ting offers even lower rates, but I have not tried it myself
- By using Apple Facetime, Skype and other VoIP-Apps (explained here), when at home or elsewhere with WiFi connection, we were able to keep the monthly bill at around 20 USD/month
See also the following post:
What is the best mobile provider in the Bay Area and San Francisco?
