Last month I cancelled my iPhone voice plan with AT&T and started using the phone as a WiFi device only. After forking out over four thousand dollars to AT&T in four years, I had had enough.
I was very hesitant about cutting the cord, but now that I have done it, I do not miss the plan at all. With ubiquitous WiFi virtually wherever I go, I am only disconnected when I am driving, I am on an airplane, or when I am in an outdoor park somewhere around town. My biggest concern was not having the Maps application while driving. It turns out that the Maps GPS technology on the IPhone does not need a cellular internet connection. As long as you set your destination prior to hitting the road, the app works without a hitch! pretty cool.
Prior to cutting off the carrier cord, I prepared my device to function as a regular phone by doing the following:
Setup a Google voice phone number. If you don’t have one already, head on tohttp://google.com/voice and get one. It is free, forwards calls to multiple phones, has great voice mail, and lots of cool features. Downloaded the Google voice app for the iPhone. With this app you can check your voice mail and send and receive text messages to your google phone number. Downloaded the TalkATone iPhone app. As great as the Google Voice app is, it cannot make or receive phone calls directly. TalkAtone extends the functionality of Google Voice allowing you to use your iPhone as a true phone without a cellular voice plan. TalkATone allows for an unlimited number of free calls of up to 15 minutes to the US and Canada.
That’s it folks. putting up with a little inconvenience, I am now able to enjoy my iPhone without the high monthly expense!
In addition, I downloaded the Skype iPhone app, signed up for unlimited wifi calling within the US and Canada, and signed up for “Skype World plan” which allows unlimited calling to most countries.
Luckily I was also able to terminate the AT&T contract without paying an early termination fee.