Now that I have more time.. My old neighbor & his lady friend had trac fones. He either had me do the minutes on both phones or went to Radio Shack because it was the only place that would do it for him. The last time I put minutes on his cell phone; it was pretty involved. He had to purchase the card then scratch it off & reading the numbers on the scratch off were a pain; then having to enter it into the phone. We have verizon; I'm not sure what type of pay as you go phones they have but they're expensive to do it that way. Last time I looked it was $30 a month plus minutes charge. I know people that do other pay as you go; Boost; virgin mobile & they are cheaper; especially if she's not going to use it much. I have never seen the one "elderly" phone in person but the pictures look good. The problem she may have is learning to use the address book or having to see the numbers to enter them in. If she can see the numbers; she may not see the screen. My 46 year old eyes are starting to have problems lol One thing to consider would be a case that she can wear around her neck; get her into the habit of having it with her in case she ever falls getting the mail or where ever because my neighbor did fall going into his house; I don't know how he managed to get up & climb 6 steps to call 911. Of course he'd just brought his trac fone into the house & put it on the table; then went outside to finish unloading his car.

It depends on the phone and the carriers. There's a number of different types of service out there too. For instance different carriers use different frequencies (CDMA, PCS, GSM, etc) SIM cards are suggestive of GSM technology used by Tmo and ATT. If you're looking to use prepaid service you can sometimes use the phones but won't always have all the features. If you're looking for a contract service, then as cautioned before, beware of costs to change. Often the smallest thing will extend your contract. For instance, if you get a new phone, you generally get a new (extended) contract with hefty cancellation fees. You'll have to get more info from the companies, but generally speaking, Tmo will not be interchangeable with Virgin and Verizon. Tmo & AT&T are more likely to be options. Probably not answering your question, but not an easy question to answer!

Could you call your cell phone company and ask them to check it out?? Another thought, when you bought something did you put in your cell phone # while registering the product, and even some medical center are asking for cell phone numbers also. Also there are ways people can pick up phone numbers electronically and if your friends and relatives are calling you either from a car, motel, and even home, someone can "capture" your phone number.

I started off something is changing or about to and then you answered that question later in your post -- the providers are outsourcing the towers. It is a cost saving measure -- not only do they put maintenance in the hands of specialists who can work on any provider's towers, they are moving to combining towers so the hardware cost, the land rents, the need for number of people and locations are all reduced as well. Why can you not do the deals directly? Economics. You have one tower. You are inexperienced and are going to be in over your head. They won't want to deal with you on solo terms, They either have to stop and explain everything or you will be run over. It will take them far more time to deal with you than it is worth to them. It is also likely to cost you more time than it is worth to you. A good attorney in a specialized area would be cheap at $500-600/hr and could be $1000/hr or more (top guy -- who probably has associates and paralegals at a lesser rate doing some of the work and also billing). Every time you talk to them, they talk to the tower lawyer, read documents or do any work, you get billed. You would likely burn up years of the rent you are currently getting and it may outweigh the increases they would be offering for years to come. And that's not only the original deal, but wth any questions or problems down the road. My DH was involved in some licensing deals 7 or 8 years ago and they are still dealing with disputes on those. Not using experienced, specialized lawyers who know what issues to spot and forsee would be against your interests. Stupid in laymans terms. But again, it would cost them more money to deal with you as someone outside the game and they might not even talk to you. They have likely set up a system to have all their contracts the same and want to keep it that way for simplicity and efficiency. My guess is that you would get nowhere. They will wait for you to give up and come to them or find another spot and leave you out of the deal. What I would look at is whether you are willing to have the tower on your property for as many years as they need it? Does it limit your use, interfere with anything? Would it prevent you from leasing or selling the property down the road (a buyer might like the income, but depending on their purpose, the tower could get in the way and nix the deal -- but the income might also lessen the interest you have in selling the property). I get the frustration -- you don't seem to know enough to understand what is happening and what it should be worth to you. You want to make sure you get a fair deal. Your negotiation position is limited. I just entered cell tower lease in google and the first hit is for a group that says it works with property owners, government agencies, etc in negotiating leases (steelintheair - I know nothing about them, so proceed with some caution). I'm sure the will want to sign you up and claim a fee or possibly a percentage of the rents you would recieve. You could start with talking to someone there or a similar group. I would expect a strong sell and some pressure to sign up -- not unlike the personal injury lawyers on TV. But stand your ground and get questions answered first and make sure you understand what the will and won't do for you. Read carefully any contract they offer and consider having another attorney look it over to make sure you don't sign away something without realizing it. Know exactly what it is going to cost you to have them represent you and why it would be a benefit over not using them. Perhaps this group or another had contacted you or your neighbor. Compare notes. Your taller tower is likely worth more, so don't focus on dollars so much as concepts and rights in the deal (how add-ons are treated, whether rents increase over the years or with inflation, etc.). Don't be rushed into signing anything. Make sure you understand everything before you sign. Sleep on it, get away from it and make sure you don't have any forgotten or unrealized questions (you probably will at some point -- the pros get into years of disputes because what they thought was clear isn't so clear years later, but you want to minimize those issues). The values aren't likely to decrease in the short term. There is sometimes a premium for the last folks who sign -- but you risk them finding a way to go around you and having nothing at the end of your current term (maybe sooner if there is an out under the current lease). I've just scratched the surface and this is long. Haven't seen or read anything -- can you see why it could cost a small fortune to try to go it alone? On the other hand, for no real time or effort on your part, you could wind up with a nice stream of income -- but it isn't likely to replace your day job. Enjoy it, don't be run over, but don't get thinking greedy if you want to stay in the game. And that's about all I can tell you -- keep in mind I know nothing about any particulars and my answers are intended to be common sense replies to general questions, not particular legal advise. As my mom always said, it may be worth exactly what you paid for it. But I hope it helps at least a bit.