Are US cell phone numbers portable (ie you can switch carriers/plans and keep the old one)?
I am moving to NOrth Carolina next year and want my US number on my business cards, which will be printed up before I leave Australia. If I got a friend to get a cheap prepaid SIM card before I arrive, would it be easy to switch the number over to a cheaper plan once I've sorted myself out there?
You can buy pre-paid SIMS on Ebay, but most of them have California area codes. If you have a friend who is already in North Carolina, best to have him/her to purchase a SIM on your behalf, as you won't be able to purchase one yourself because they won't ship overseas. Once you arrive you can change to a monthly plan, but you probably won't be approved until you've been there a while and have had a chance to build up a bit of a credit rating. Don't forget though, that on a pre-paid plan you pay for outgoing AND incoming calls, and also picking up messages.
I might be forgetting a few & they vary by region, but the major US cell phone companies include bellsouth, AT&T, sprint, t-mobile, verizon, cingular, virgin, & nextel. Have a look at their websites and see which plan works for you. Most companies offer reasonably priced phones (US$50 or so) if you sign a 1 or 2 year contract. Monthly fees depend on how many minutes you want each month. Often, you can save money by bundling Internet & residential phone services, so it's worth looking into this. If you travel a lot, it's worth getting a plan where you get national coverage & don't have to pay any roaming fees. Also, before choosing a plan, check out cellreception.com to see which companies have decent reception in your area.
When I was living in colorado i got a pre paid sim card from the cingular store (free, bonus) in denver and when i got a bank account changed it to a pre paid plan which was like $40 plus tax a month and i used it to text and call heaps and didn't run out of money often, it could be a way around the whole having to have a credit history thing that heaps of countries seem to require. I reckon the paying to send and recieve works out in the end perhaps other countries should start doing the same i cant survive on $40 . month on my nz cell. Hope this helps.