Related Links

Pay As You Go, often shortened to PAYG, is used as a general term for the concept of a prepay mobile phone. In many countries this is referred to as "prepaid" mobile service.

The concept was initially developed by Eircell in the Republic of Ireland in the 1990s, as a method of letting different types of people (those under the age of 18, those without bank accounts and those without proof of identity) obtain a mobile phone. Originally limited to one TACS handset, costing £99 upfront, the system was an amazing success, despite the high price of calls and a 7p service charge on every operation. The system was branded as Ready To Go, a name still used by Vodafone, who now own Eircell.

A user would buy a phone, usually pre-loaded with some amount of credit, and would purchase extra credit when required. A call cannot be made unless the user has the amount required for that call's minimum charge. Some networks charge more for the credit than you get in call value, often due to service charges and VAT on phone calls; however the opposite is often true, with users paying, for example, €20 for €22 call credit.

The concept has since been copied in many other countries, with virtually every network in every European country supporting it. On many networks, such as Ireland's Meteor, Pay As You Go is the main mode of operation, with pay monthly account phones being very much second-class. Conversely, in the United States, account phones offer the best features with pay as you go services being far more restricted in functionality. In developing countries pre-pay tariffs are chosen by the overwhelming majority of subscribers - in South Africa, for example, over 90% of users are on a pre-pay tariff.

Often, Pay As You Go customers pay more for their calls and SMS messages, and are limited in what they can do with their phone - calls to international or premium rate numbers may be blocked, and they may not be able to roam. These limitations are often due to the complexity of managing the credit system for high price calls, or when the user was not on their home network.

In the United Kingdom, operators have started placing restrictions on PAYG users (for instance, having a minimum topup amount of more than £10) and raising the price of PAYG phones in an effort to attract users to contract plans (which tend to earn more money than prepay overall).

 

Many traditional service providers also provide pay as you go plans. Companies such as Alltel, Cellular One, Cingular, Nextel, Sprint, Suncom, T mobile, Us Cellular, Verizon, Virgin Mobile, Amp'd Mobile, Helio, Boost Mobile, and more. You are sure to find the right carrier for your needs.

Yoursource connects you to the information and resources you need to sign up for pre paid, or pay as you go phone service. We are dedicated to bringing you information on cingular prepaid wireless, pay as you go cell phone, pay as you go phone, pay as you go cellular, cingular prepaid, pay as you go cell phones, cingular prepaid phones, cingular prepaid phone, cingular pre paid, pay as you go wireless and Verizon pay as you go.

Wikipedia

Yoursource - for other great offers!