PREPAID vs. POSTPAID

Cellular phones (a.k.a. cellphones) are amazing. What started out as luxury gadgets for the rich evolved into everyday-items which can be found almost anywhere and are owned by almost everyone. This, I think, could probably be credited to the invention of the “prepaid subscription.”

At the advent of cellphones, there was no such thing as a prepaid subscription. Everything was “postpaid.” (a.k.a. a line) Each person had to avail of the service by subscribing with a service provider and paying for a bill every month. However, realizing that the market for postpaid subscribers was too small, the providers then came up with the brilliant idea of allowing people to avail of a service which allowed them to have cellphones but still be able to control their daily spending. Hence, the birth of the prepaid subscription.

The battle between postpaid and prepaid has come a long way. The former usually catering to those who had more money to burn (hereinafter Postpayers), while the latter was more commonly availed of by the more frugal class (hereinafter Prepayers). The two kinds of subscriptions varied in the perks they offered. The Postpayers would often argue that while on its face a line would cost more, the overall value of such subscription would actually be greater than that of prepaid. That is, while you pay more, the amount of benefits you would get would likewise increase. Also, you would no longer have to worry about running out of credits to make a call or send a text message. On the other hand, Prepayers would claim that availing of a line would result in greater expenses since it provides a virtually limitless use of one’s cellphone. Moreover, the use of a line would prevent one from trying to save on communication expenses since there would be a fixed minimum amount which the subscriber has to pay monthly even though the actual usage results in a less amount.

Although the arguments of Prepayers are all valid, the same could be debunked by the current trend of advantages provided for postpaid subscriptions. At present, the types of postpaid plans being released cater to the different needs of the different classes of subscribers. The cost of such plans has even been reduced or minimized to as low as three hundred pesos (P300) a month. This allows even low income earners to avail of a line, considering that there are a lot of Prepayers who would spend about the same amount or even more per month. Some of the plans available could be found in the following websites:

http://site.globe.com.ph/mysuperplan/home?sid=TYI@wsuxpRYAAARCnFkAAACGe
http://www.suncellular.com.ph/postpaid_choose_a_plan.php
http://smart.com.ph/gold/plans/


If what prevents you from availing of a line is the fear of spending more than you are able to pay, then the answer to your problem lies in the type of plan you avail of. Unlike in the past, the plans today now allow unlimited calling or texting each month. So you wouldn’t have to worry about spending so much. In fact, if you availed of such a plan, you would be able to connect more with your friends and loved ones without having to burden yourself with extremely high expenses. Furthermore, you would no longer have to make the excuse that you ran out of credits to reply to a message your friend sent you. Of course, not running out of credits could either be a pro or a con depending on how much you like your friend. Without actually seeing for yourself the kinds of plans offered by the service providers, there really isn’t anything more that can be said about the benefits of being a Postpayer. But overall, the reduction in costs of the postpaid subscription has led many to avail of it and consequently provided for a means to connect people better and faster.


Paul Obmina, entry no. 17