Nationwide or Semi-Nationwide?

Please forgive me if I didn't understand the post correctly, but the one thing I noticed was the immediate conclusion that a nationwide plan is needed. If you travel extensively, I can understand it, but if it is just to be able to dial long distance, there is no need to go with a national plan. Regional and even Local plans sometimes include long distance calls.

For example, as long as you are within your plan's calling area, you can call TO anywhere in the country. The benefit of national plans is that it allows the caller to be anywhere in the nation and not incur additional charges.

 

Now there's a question I've never seen asked before (or did I forget, again?). Since I'm on the West Coast, I wouldn't be much help here except to tell you my bill is never more than 4 or 5 dollars over the plan rate (for taxes, etc.).

 

Taxes on $29.99 should be about $4-$5 dollars bringing the cost around $34.00 dollars give or take, but it shouldn't matter how the taxes are, if he's not going to use the phone alot minutes on the phone he might want to save $3.00 dollars for something else like McDonald.

 

fcc taxes are one thing but the various states have different taxes. as well as some counties add a tax and then on top of that certain cities do. you should find someone in your locality with a cell phone bill and look at the bill to see the breakdown of their taxes.

 

Yeah, I agree with everyone else, the tax, etc., shouldn't be more than $4 - $5 more than the bill.

I can tell you right off my last bill. I have Voicestream Wireless. I pay $39.99 for 700 anytime Nationwide minutes (free roaming & free long distance). My total bill after taxes and all other surcharges was $43.57. After looking through my bill very closely, Voicestream doesn't charge me any extra fees or surcharges, just one tax.

If you are interested, here are the Voicestream Nationwide rate plans.

 

airb,
Taxes can be assessed by a government entitiy as small as a few blocks, so it varies widely. But the taxes at one address would be the same regardless of the carrier. Users here report from 9 to 16% taxes, averaging about 12%.

A nearby city next to me levies a hefty tax on roaming. So if your carrier's plan includes free roaming across the area you will use the phone, that kind of tax would be small or none. So with the Cingular plan, there might be less roaming tax. I used to allow a little roaming on my account since it didn't justify a regional plan, until I found out the roaming taxes made a big diffference. So now I have a regional plan with no roaming.

BTW, that tax was incorrectly collected since I didn't live in that city. After pitching a _____, I got all those tax charges returned from the carrier, but that's another thread. (After complaining, I was put into the proper taxing area, and sure enough, my tax rate went higher. Me and my big mouth. But at least the taxes now benefit MY neighborhood)

-Bill Radio

 

I have almost $9 in taxes on my bill. TX doesnt have a state income tax, so our state sales tax is 8.25%. Here's the breakdown:
Cingular Home 400:
$39.99 monthly service charge
$1.60 (16 SMS @ $.10 each)

Other Charges & Credits (as quoted on the bill)
Federal Universal Service $0.55
Texas Universal Service $1.50
Total: $2.05

Taxes, Surchases, or Assessments (on the bill)
9-1-1 Service Fee $0.50
Texas Infrastructure Fund $0.97
Federal Excise Tax $1.30
State Sales Tax $2.78
Local Special Purpose District Tax $0.46
Local Sales Tax $0.46
Total: $6.47

Total Bill: $50.11

I think that the state of TX/the federal government charges all these taxes, and that they would be the same with Verizon, Sprint, etc. I don't see how going with a national plan could save anything. My grandfather has an old $15/month plan (analog, 0 minutes included, $.60/minute) and without any calls it is still ~$22/month (I keep trying to get them to upgrade, but he hates contracts and will not pay no contract price for a phone). It serves his needs. The only two that are variable I think are the state and local sales taxes, the rest would be assessed on my bill as well as his (AFAIK they are not percentage based).

 

$4 or $5 sounds about right to me also. For what I get I pay $32 plus taxes and that makes my total bill $37.38.