I told you before about the new service from Comcast called Xfinity Mobile. After some debate, I made the switch to their service, and I’m happy to report that my cell phone bill is now lower than it has ever been.
I paid $0 before taxes, and even after taxes my total bill was $1.87. I’m pretty stoked, obviously! Oh, and you should know that we have zero relationship with Xfinity Mobile. I’m passing this along simply because it’s a great deal that I think more people should be aware of.
Caveats
There are three main caveats for how I pulled this off.
First, you can only get the best pricing on this service if you also use Comcast for Internet, home phone, or cable. Where I live, Comcast is by far my best Internet option. So it’s not like I’m “biting the bullet” to pay more for Comcast Internet than a competitor only to get the cell phone deal. YMMV.
Second, I didn’t use data. This was a big lifestyle change for me, but I’m very happy with it.
This is specifically where Comcast’s pricing model excels. Talk and text are 100% free if you’re an existing customer. From there, you can pay by the gig for $12. So it’s nice to know that even if I used a whole gig of data, my price ceiling is $13.87.
Third, the pricing could change. As I explained in my original post on Xfinity Mobile, some of the current terms are “loose.” That’s to be expected with a new service, I suppose. But all signs seem to suggest that this will be a good deal for at least a while longer.
Other Options
If I wasn’t a Comcast customer, or had higher data needs, I would probably look elsewhere for my phone service first. That’s because of the loose terms I mentioned above. I’d rather go with an established low-budget provider, than risk going all in on Xfinity only to have them become much more expensive later. Plus, once you account for the additional $10 fee if you aren’t a pre-existing Comcast customer, the deal isn’t as good vs. the competition.
If you fall in this camp, then you might consider Republic Wireless, Ting or some other MVNO first.
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Beware of Comcast when you are ready to leave them (for whatever reason). We sold our house and when I called to cancel my Internet service with them they informed me that even though we were no longer under contract, we had not provided a 60 day termination notice so we would have to pay for two more months of service that we could not and would not be able to use. There is no justification for requiring a 60 day termination notice. It is just a way for them to get you on the way out.
Fair point Karen. There’s nothing worse than a bad customer experience, which will prevent most folks from going back to a company if they can help it. Luckily, I’ve managed to have a generally good experience with Comcast, and have been able to talk through the few issues that have come up. But it’s taken multiple phone calls and a good chunk of my time on occasion. I’m not sure how it will play out, but their service line for Xfinity Mobile has much different branding/messaging. The customer service and experience might also be much different than their other services. I don’t remember the specifics on any termination clause. So many cell phone providers now cancel when you port your number, and if you aren’t under contract this ends up being fairly straightforward. I’ll try to dig back through the Xfinity Mobile terms and see if anything jumps out.
That’s an awesome price. I have heard horror stories, but for that price it might be worth it!
Yeah, no complaints so far on my end!