I'm posting just to say that I too am hoping someone knowledgeable will answer some questions about these pre-paid card cellphones. My situation is somewhat similar to yours--I need some kind of phone for emergencies and to summon my road service. I want to keep my land-line service. I can't afford full cell phone service plus regular phone service. I've been trying to research these pre-paid cell phones. Sounds promising and affordable. ($20 every three months for the service.) But on looking at their websites and their coverage maps, I see lots of holes in their coverage. Since I'm prone to the Murphy's Law thing, it would be my luck that I would need to call from one of those little holes in the coverage. Oh well, hopefully someone will come here pretty soon and tell us what the deal is on these less-than-full-service cell phones. They also talk about a pre-paid "card" which is associated with them. What's the card do?
Does anyone have any experience with this prepaid service? It's .18/min daytime and .09/min nights and weekends and the cards last 30-60 days. It uses the Verizon network, which I hear is pretty good. I'm not a cell-talker and would only need it for occassional/ emergency use. I looked into Verizon wireless itself (InPulse) but that costs .99/ day regardless of usage PLUS the cost of the cards/minutes, which seems excessive to me.
Anyone have any advice on this Viva thing? I'd never heard of it before but it sounds okay.

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