I have Boost Mobile (Sprint), unlimited talk, unlimited text, 4 gigs of data for 30 bucks a month and got a new Android phone at a very heavy discount. It's a 'pay as you go' phone but I set it up with prepay via CC. No statements, no surprise charges, just 30 a month.
Much cheaper than my old Verizon, like half the price. kept my number too.
very happy with them.
I carry a SAT phone for emergency's. It's good anywhere, anytime (works directly off satellites). like your GPS does, anywhere in the world but airtime is super expensive and the phone is as well. Airtime can range from a couple bucks a minute to well over 10 bucks a minute depending on where you are.
You buy the phone outright and pay via airtime. Phones are upwards of a grand for a basic unit to a couple grand for a complex one.
I've been at 10,000 feet in Colorado in the mountains and used it. No cell phone will work in such a remote area. I could be in Alaska, Canada, Israel or even Russia and it would work fine.