I'm considering dumping Verizon for another wireless provider now.

I am a very light mobile user and I have been using Verizon Wireless since July 2002 in a $7.50/month plan for 30 anytime minutes (as part of my employer's corporate deal). I almost never used up those 30 minutes. Adding a number of fees the monthly, it costs me around 10 bucks a month. I also got a new Kyocera 2235 phone with dual chargers.

Now that Verizon is changing the deal: it wants $15/month in exchange for 30 minutes starting February and it is time for a change ...

Basically, I am looking for a plan that will keep my monthly wireless expenses to under $10. Here are what I have found thru some quick research:

Cingular KIC Prepaid Plan

Cingular offers a prepaid plan with the following features:

- $0.35/min for standard airtime and $0.10 for nights/weekends
- National long-distance included
- No roaming
- $20 charge will expire only after 90 days
- Not sure if activation fee applies

Virgin Mobile

Virgin Mobile is a prepaid mobile service pure-play. It offers the following features:

- First 10 minute each day at $0.25/min, after that $0.10/min
- National long-distance included
- $20 every 90 days to keep the account active.
- No activation fee
- No hidden fees
- Cheapest phone is Kyocera K7 Rave for $69 at the Virgin Mobile site and the same phone sells for $59.99 at Amazon.com (As a plus, I can probably reuse my Kyocera car adapter.)

I have also checked out other prepaid plans from TracFone and AT&T Wireless but they are worse than the Virgin Mobile plan. I'll keep looking for a while but the Virgin Mobile plan should cost me like $20 * 4 + $69 = $149 for the year, or $12.40/month, far better than the $18-$20 I expect from Verizon (including hidden fees). In addition, as I can keep using the phone, my running cost can be as low as $7/month. I will decide on this in the next 10 days.

By the way, I noticed Verizon offers a phone recycle program HopeLink and the donation will be tax-deductible. It may be worth $10 for me.