Ting is a US wireless carrier that lets you pay for only what you use. Need a lot of data, but don’t make a lot of phone calls? No problem. Send thousands of text messages per month, but rarely use your phone’s web browser? That works too.
You might be able save a lot of money each month by paying only for the features you use.
Up until recently there was one thing you couldn’t use though: a GSM phones. Ting only supported phones that worked with Sprint’s WCDMA network. But now you can use GSM phones too.
Ting has launched an open beta of its GSM service. Just buy a $9 SIM card, pop it in your unlocked T-Mobile compatible smartphone, and you’re good to go.
Keep in mind, while you don’t need an invitation to join the beta anymore, Ting is still calling its GSM service beta… which means there are still some kinks to work out. There’s currently no support for making international long distance calls.
Ting’s GSM network also doesn’t support international roaming yet, but the company helpfully points out that it’d probably be cheaper anyway to just pop out your SIM card and replace it with a pre-paid card from a local carrier if you’re traveling abroad.
Ting’s rates for GSM service are the same as for its WCDMA plans, which means you could pay as little as $9 per month for very basic phone service, or pay more when you use data, text messaging, or additional voice minutes.
this would cost me a fortune, i have to stick to t-mobiles unlimited…. just did the math according to their chart, my bill would have been around $650 last month
The $6 service charge kills this for most low use users. I’d like to see them get rid of that.
I seem to recall seeing a $20/device/month charge on T-Mobile’s no-contract service… I might’ve misread it, though.
That’s why I use Ptel. No sales tax either.
This program has been forced out now due to SPRINT’s attempt at killing the byod cdma bussiness for their mvno’s! as reported this weekend. TING and FreedomPop are still having over 90% activation failure on Sprint branded cdma phone activation even new phones that have never been under contract. TING and FreedomPop need to scream louder and publicly st Sprint, they owe it to their loyal customers!
Im calling NASA to help me figure out that chart,,,unreal complexity..
I thought so at first but it’s interactive, click through the cells and the total price updates accordingly at the bottom. According to other commenters here they bill based on usage, so chart will also show you how little your bill could be during low usage months.
It’s not a tiered plan thing – they do it backwards. You settle up *at the end of the month*, paying for what you actually used that month according to the amounts shown in the chart (which is interactive, so a static screenshot is just going to confuse people). Use more, pay more. Use less, pay less. Didn’t use one type of service at all? Don’t pay at all. Easy. I’m a light user, so my bills have been $12/mo or less for the year I’ve been on the service – including the $6/device activation fee. And the one time I was put on hold, the hold music was the Buckaroo Banzai theme. They’re also pretty up-front that you won’t save any money with them if you’re a heavy data user.
I’ve been with Ting since last fall. We moved 4 phones over and are saving about $110 vs what it was on Sprint. Couple caveats: we are not big data users … we typically use a lot of wifi at the home and office. I think single phone users won’t see the big benefits that family plan users will b/c one of the reasons that Ting is less expensive is that its just $6/line vs $25+ minimum you see on family plans from major carriers.
Like Phil, I’ve had Ting on Sprint’s network for just over a year, and although the coverage is generally worse than what I had on Verizon, I’m saving on average about $80-$100 per month. I’m not a big data user, so Ting’s pricing works great for me. One correction to the above though is that Ting does not force you into a set plan. You get billed for your actual usage according to the tiered pricing structure. It’s great paying only for what I use, but heavy data users may not see as much savings. One of the best things about Ting though is their customer service. If you call, a real person will answer the phone quickly, and they’re not just an operator, they can usually fix anything you need without transferring you. If you sign up for service and using this link https://z7j81m1no44.ting.com/ then you’ll get a $25 credit on your first bill (in full-disclosure using the link will also give me a matching credit as well). I can’t say enough good things about Ting. Great company, fair pricing, great service.
Whoops. I always get thrown by their savings chart. I’ve adjusted the article.
I’ve been with Ting for almost 1 year now, and absolutely love it. Sprint’s service in my area (NE Ohio) is pretty good, and we aren’t huge data/voice/text users. In all, we have 2 smart phones and 1 dumb phone on our plan, and the bill comes to $42 before tax, and $45 after. Now that it supports GSM phones, that will be a great added benefit for customers.