Only in America. I pay $17.95/month not locked to a contract. Get about $400 of credit (or 400 minutes) which is plenty for me. Calls and text to same network are free. Free voicemail to send/receive. SMS is 25c each to send, receive free. And I also get 1.5GB of 3G (surprisingly fast) downloads...LTE is just about to roll out on Telstra If I paid that for 2 years = That's $430! $430 + cost of phone = total price with the freedom to stop/upgrade anytime. Now I'm a bargain hunter, so if there is a (lets say SGSII) phone that rrp for $650, I end up buying for under $480, so I really squeeze out every cent ($910 total). The price of a comparable plan = $49 per month (phone is free). And this is (best case scenario) therefore total cost = $1,176 and that is $266 more expensive and locks you in (early termination fees).