Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!rutgers!texbell!vector!telecom-gateway From: Kenneth_R_Jongsma@cup.portal.com Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Cellular Telephone Prices Message-ID: Date: 17 Oct 89 16:53:40 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Lines: 19 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 466, message 7 of 11 Someone mentioned that the cost of a cellular telephone had dropped to the $200 range in their area. (Not to be confused with airtime rates) Anyway, several local electronics stores in the area have been advertising transportables for $87. The catch is that you have sign up for 6 months of service with one of the local carriers. These may be refurbished units, but they did have the full 832 channels and were 3 watt transmitters. They did want an "installation" fee of around $50. Presumably to activate the account, since their can't be anything to installing a portable! I assume the carriers are paying a kickback to cover the low cost of the units - at least that's a practice mentioned in one of the business magazines. ken@cup.portal.com