What Can You Do With Old Cellular Phones?
So, you've just upgraded to a new cellular
phone. In most cases, the old phone was working
just fine. Americans are replacing their
wireless phones on an average of every 18
months. That time span was shrinking until
the wireless carriers instituted 2-year contracts
as the norm, slowing the trend (You don't
need to wait a full 2 years, see our Wireless Tips for how). What about that old phone...especially
since you may have invested so much money
into it? Let's explore your options:
- OPTION 1: Use your old phone as an active
backup with your current carrier. You could add it to a "Family"
plan and use it whenever you'd like, and
use the same bucket of minutes. Also, most
carriers offer their own prepaid program
that would allow you to keep that phone in
a drawer or glove box, activated with a different
phone number.
- OPTION 2: Use that old phone as a backup
phone with a prepaid re-seller. This is normally a much cheaper option
than dealing with your old carrier's regular
or prepaid plans. An example would be if
you have an AT&T phone, you could buy a new SIM for that phone
for SpeakOut Wireless from 7-Eleven that also uses the AT&T network. However, to buy a Speakout SIM at 7-Eleven, you need to buy both the
SIM and phone. That would work, but then
you'd have another phone to worry about.
Better would be to look for a SpeakOut SIM on eBay or similar source. That same
AT&T phone could be "unlocked" and
used on a different GSM network like T-Mobile. You can purchase a T-Mobile SIM to use their excellent T-MobileToGo prepaid service. Check our MVNO List or our Recommendations Page to see which phone might work with which
reseller. Sprint and Nextel phones normally cannot be used off their
own network.
- OPTION 3: Keep the old phone in the house
or car for "911 Only" use. By law, any cellular handset must be capable
of accessing 911 whether it is activated
with a wireless carrier or not. You may
have
an old phone that on the screen says
"Insert
SIM" or "Activate Phone",
but it could indeed call 911 anyway.
There
are several exceptions: If it is an analog phone, it may not work at all. And in some
cases, technology that once was available,
may no longer be offered by your carrier.
The only way to tell if this works is
to
try it, and the local Public Safety agencies
seriously frown on that type of activity.
If you want to test it, ask for their
permission,
or, at least ask the carrier if your
model
will indeed work. Keep in mind, a deactivated
phone used only to access 911 cannot be used to call for a tow truck or
an important ride, no matter how much
of
an emergency it seems to you. 911 is
only
for life and death situations, or reports
of serious property damage, that would
be
handled by police, fire or rescue personnel.
- OPTION 4: Recycle that old phone. There some online companies that actually
pay you for your old phone. They normally refurbish
it and offer it for sale, sometimes in another
country. The older the phone, the less it's
worth. There are other operators on the web
or in your city who will take your old phone
and disassemble it to it's basic parts and
either properly dispose of the toxic materials
or recycle any reusable parts. The wireless
stores themselves will take back any of their
old phones and claim they will properly reuse
or recycle them. Many business supply stores
also have a recycle box for cellular phones.
If nothing else, try not to toss out the
phone's battery, that's the most toxic source
of landfill pollution from these phones.
There are a few agencies who want good phones
to donate to shelters and the like, and even
offer a tax deduction.
- OPTION 5: Keep that old phone in a drawer
in case your new phone breaks. This is what most people do. You can reuse
the old phone if you have a relatively recent
model. Some phones without E911 capabilities
or digital technology may not be able to
be reactivated. The carriers aren't trying
to rip you off, they may either be forbidden
by law to allow old phones on their network,
or no longer support the technology used,
such as analog (AMPS) or TDMA.
NOTE: If you keep a deactivated phone for whatever
reason, even a "911-Only" phone,
you should change the phone's MTN, or Mobile
Telephone Number, to something like "123-456-7890",
perform a complete master "Reset",
or remove the SIM if it has one. You may
need to access the phone's programming menu
to change the MIN. Then, the wireless carrier
won't detect a second phone with your phone
number on it and suspect fraud, or so that
a Public Safety agency doesn't think it's
your real phone calling in an emergency when it's
really somebody with your old phone. They actually recognize "123-456-7890"
as a properly-deactivated phone. A complete
"Reset" would make sure that any
of your personal information would be removed.
Important: Don't count on an old phone's battery to
be working if left lying around, keep the
charger handy, especially in the car. A new
battery is overkill.
Find a cellular store for more options. Fill
in your city, state and "Find It."
