For the truly tight fisted celllular user

AT&T now that it has purchased DirectTV is offering it's first bundle. For Basic TV channels plus 4 wireless phones it is $200/month. It comes with 10GB of sharable cellular data and television service with high-definition video and digital video recording capabilities for four televisions for a And that is without internet!

Cricket Wireless (a wholly owned AT&T division) offers unlimited domestic talk and text (not including Mexico and Canada) plus 2.5 GB for $40/month. But with four phones they give you a $30 discount or 4*$40-$30=$130. Using that figure as a baseline satellite TV would be $70 a month (including equipment for up to 4 televisions and DVRs).

Presumably this cost is what a typical American family is expected to handle as part of modern day connectivity. High speed internet for the home is added to this sum.

Could anyone with children comment? What does your pre-teen expect?

I'm not sure this is relevant. You can get an unlocked Moto G third generation for about $220, no plan required. I think it's only 16GB internal memory, but it can be fitted with a micro-SD card. The screen is only 720p at 5".

I'm thinking about getting one. It runs near-pure Android 5.1.1 and it's water resistant. Besides, at no extra cost you can get it in custom colors from the website.

On the other hand, the Moto G second generation ought to drop in price...

Quote: Nareed

On the other hand, the Moto G second generation ought to drop in price...

In the USA if they are optimized to work with 3G (UMTS/HSPA+) networks when roaming outside the US
Motorola Moto G (2nd generation) Unlocked Cellphone, 8GB $219.98 + $6.58 shipping
The same phone with USA GSM is only $149.99 & FREE Shipping.

But I was actually talking about the service, where paying $500 or more per year ifor a single phone s now commonplace.

Here are Telcel America plans
Extended Nation Plans Just pick one plan and talk from The United States and from Mexico††. One plan. Two countries. One service!
30-Day
$60 10GB 4G LTE† then 2G*
$55 4GB 4G LTE† then 2G*
$45 2GB 4G LTE† then 2G*
$35 TALK AND TEXT UNLIMITED Offer: 1 GB at 4G LTE† then 2G* until 12/31/15 LIMITED TIME OFFER

How do they compare to prices in Mexico for unlimited talk and text

A Telcel America division sells TALK AND TEXT UNLIMITED for $25 at Walmart (but USA only)

Quote: Pacomartin

Motorola Moto G (2nd generation) Unlocked Cellphone, 8GB $219.98 + $6.58 shipping

I'd take the third generation.

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How do they compare to prices in Mexico for unlimited talk and text

Sorry, I haven't the faintest notion. The last time I paid for a cell plan was in 2008. Since then I've used the corporate phone exclusively. Back then data wasn't part of any plan.

Quote: Pacomartin

Could anyone with children comment? What does your pre-teen expect?

The TV kills it for me. I don't care if it's a "deal". It's an added cost for something I don't want. It'd be like getting a genuine Louis Vuitton for $10. Sure it's a deal. But wtf am I gonna do with it?

Having just spent a week with 6 pre-teens, I'd say a GB or two a month is plenty. How much draw could Facebook and InstaGram have, anyway? I personally stream Pandora at pretty much all hours of the day, and even with visiting here and my many forays into Google, I almost never reach 3GB a month of usage. I think I may have done once when work was dreadfully slow and I spent days on the YouTubes. Other than that, I don't see how it's possible.

I'd give them 1GB and let them experience want and deal with budgeting. Kids shouldn't be satisfied. A little crying prepares them for real life =p

Texts I'd probably try to get unlimited. Kids talk too much, and their info per word ratio is horrible. Unlimited text would save me a surprise $1,000 phone bill.

Quote: Face

The TV kills it for me. I don't care if it's a "deal". It's an added cost for something I don't want. It'd be like getting a genuine Louis Vuitton for $10. Sure it's a deal. But wtf am I gonna do with it?

A genuine LV for $10 can be sold for at least ten times as much and still be a bargain. That's what you do with it.

Unfortunately you can't do that with TV...

Quote: Face

I'd give them 1GB and let them experience want and deal with budgeting. Kids shouldn't be satisfied. A little crying prepares them for real life =p

Using those guidelines below, under the best of circumstance streaming a high definition video is about $9/hour. I read these stories about kids watching movies on the phone and I would be terrified that they would watch a 2 hour movie 5 times a week.

I guess I am old, but considering you often have to pay for the movie in addition to the streaming costs, I can't see who would do it. My local movie house charges $5.75 for a late afternoon matinee and Adult (Fri-Sat):$10.25 as a maximum price and additional 3D Surcharge:$4.00

AT&T general guidelines for the amount of data used per service:
• 1 email (no attachment) 20KB
• 1 email (with standard attachment) 300KB
• 1 social media post with photo 350KB
• 1 app/game/song downloaded 4MB
surfing the Web (mobile optimized) (7.5MB/hour)
streaming music (30MB/hour)
streaming video (standard) (240MB/hour)
streaming video (HD) (900MB/hour)

Quote: Pacomartin

Using those guidelines below, under the best of circumstance streaming a high definition video is about $9/hour. I read these stories about kids watching movies on the phone and I would be terrified that they would watch a 2 hour movie 5 times a week.

That's why there are data caps.

BTW, who watches anything more than a short video on a phone??

I actually cancelled Netflix on the first try because I didn't care to watch movies or TV on a 7" tablet or on the PC. I signed up again only when I began to expect a Chromecast. I can't imagine watching on a phone, or even the phablets which descended from the sacred Mt. Cupertino earlier this year.

Quote: Nareed

That's why there are data caps.

BTW, who watches anything more than a short video on a phone??

YouTube accounts for nearly one-fifth of all mobile data traffic and over half of all youtube streaming is now done over phones. The mobile phone industry is steering away from data caps, but once you hit a negotiated data amount the data rate can slow to a point where it is probably only useful for reading e-mails. In an effort to prevent lawsuits, mobile companies are only promising the minimum possible speed beyond the high speed cap, but in many cases they still deliver more than minimum.

But there is now considerable amount of full length video (TV or movies) being viewed on phones in the USA.

Bedroom viewing is rapidly replacing fixed TVs with tablets. Living and Family room viewing is still largely on bigger screens.

Quote: Pacomartin

YouTube accounts for nearly one-fifth of all mobile data traffic and over half of all youtube streaming is now done over phones.

Youtube is also mostly short videos. People played them even on their Blackberries with the sub-microscopic screens.

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But there is now considerable amount of full length video (TV or movies) being viewed on phones in the USA.

Plenty of future work for ophthalmologists and LASIK surgeons.

On the other hand, much of that may be streamed to a Chromecast or similar dongle. For that I usually use the tablet, but the iphone works about as well.