I use a Virgin mobile phone because it's a no-brainer. I bought the phone outright & charge it up with minutes whenever necessary. Sometimes it's weeks before I plunk in another $20, sometimes months. Of course you can fill it up with pre-paid cards, or by an allegedly-secure phone call. It works out to about $.04/min & the coverage is the same as the Sprint network.

We used it at the Zine GTG in Boston to call Laurie at the simultaneous Zine GTG in Ottawa & it worked fine.

Gail In Eugene but never for long