With the rising cost of living all over the world, it is only normal to see people who want to cut costs as much as possible. You'll find free Wi-Fi just about anywhere, including in Ubers and trains, so getting a mobile subscription without data should be seamless, right?

The answer is more complex than it appears. Almost every mobile service provider includes data plans to all its subscription packages so it's hardly possible to separate plans for calls and texts only from those that provide internet service.

So how do you subscribe to a plan for only calls and texts to save money on monthly phone bills? Since you have access to the internet due to free Wi-Fi everywhere, is it necessary to have personal cellular data for browsing? This article explains how you can subscribe for plans that don't include data to help you overcome the hurdle. You can also click here to get more information.

What Is a Mobile Subscription without Data?

A mobile subscription without data refers to a plan with a mobile service provider that allows you to pay for calls and texts only without subscribing to data plans. Nowadays when almost everyone owns a smartphone, mobile service providers always merge plans to include calls, texts, and internet access.

In other words, it's almost impossible to find plans that offer strictly calls and text messages without data. Some providers offer phones at low prices to attract customers to their brand and keep them. But while the offers are juicy and seem to be in the interest of the buyer, there's usually a hidden plan to include mobile plans which means the customers must subscribe to a certain plan to keep using those phones.

Some start at $30 per month, while others are as high as $45 per month, and these are the lowest plans. For a household where more than two people use smartphones, the monthly phone bills will keep increasing, especially when one or two of the users stream movies, music, or other content for various purposes.

In some cases, phones come with apps that can't work without a Wi-Fi connection. That means such apps won't work and if you need to use them, you must subscribe, which can be expensive. However, access to free Wi-Fi makes all the difference. It means you can contact your provider and request plans that allow you to pay strictly for voice and SMS, significantly reducing your phone bills.

The problem is usually that many mobile service providers don't offer such plans. Users must stay within the stipulated offers or completely lose access to the service.

Who Is Likely to Use a Phone without Data Subscription?

A few categories of people are more likely to use a mobile data plan than others. Older people who don't need social media or an online presence can opt for this plan. Children at a certain age can also use this plan if their parents don't think it's time to introduce them to the internet.

People with steady access to free Wi-Fi also fall into the group; there's no need to spend money on a data plan when you have constant access to a free one. You may want to go off the grid for a period and all you'll need is a phone with voice/SMS access. This plan is ideal for such a situation.

How You Can Use a Mobile Subscription Without Data

There isn't much smartphone owners do with their gadgets. Most users, who are pretty young, use them to take pictures, listen to music, browse social media and update their pages, play games, listen to or upload podcasts, and a few other trivial things.

Surprisingly, all smartphones have capacity for more than these listed activities, but most users never use up to 30% of that capacity. Only a few understand what their gadgets can truly do and use them accordingly. If these are the main uses of most phones, what's the point of paying for data when you can freely access Wi-Fi?

If you're trying to cut costs, you can research and find a few providers that offer plans without data, although that will be challenging because such providers don't advertise as much as others. But the following are other ways to get a subscription without data.

1. Find a Dataless Plan

Finding a mobile service provider willing to offer a dataless plan may be difficult, as we have mentioned. Most don't have that option, especially with the setup of buying a phone at a subsidized price and attaching a compulsory data plan to it. However, that's not the end of the road as a few providers may have such plans for people who live off the grid or who don't want anything to do with data.

In such cases, the provider has restrictions for usage, such as the type of phone to use for a dataless subscription. If you fall into this category, you may find that you can't use high-end phones, like iPhone 14 or 15 and Samsung S23 Ultra, for plans without data. That will mean ditching such phones and other similar gadgets and using something more mainstream.

Also, if you live in the United Kingdom, Norway or Canada, you'll easily gain access to dataless plans from major mobile service providers. For example, you'll find several providers in billigste mobilabonnement uten data who offer easy plans for all categories of subscribers. These countries and a few others make going off the grid easy because they recognize the need to go for cheaper and more favorable options.

2. Use a Dumb Phone

You can still find “dumb phones” without Wi-Fi capabilities to use if you want to get a plan without data. You can guess that these are the opposite of smartphones because they don't have the same capabilities. As mentioned, all high-end phones always come with a pre-included data plan that makes it impossible to go dataless. If your plan is to cut costs or simply go off the grid, it might help to ditch the iPhone, Samsung phone or any other smartphone and go for the dumb phone.

You may find a plan with T-Mobile, AT&T and a few others to get your started. These plans work with your SIM card and not the type of phone you use so it's easy to switch when you have the right phone. This plan may also work with a smartphone, that is, if the provider offers their plans based on your SIM card instead of the phone.

That would mean buying the gadget independent of any low-price phone sales or offers from mobile service providers. Explore these options and switch to what works for you; there are other ways to use the internet even if your phone is not online.

3. Go for an Unlocked Phone

The lure of having the latest phones is what traps users in a contract with a mobile service provider. These providers draw potential customers in with offers of the latest technology or gadgets at unbelievably low prices, sometimes almost free.

The catch is that they must subscribe to a monthly plan, albeit cheap, but what they don't always reveal is that the subscription will roll into a pricey data plan over time. Also, they don't tell users that they will enter into a contract where they can't use other networks apart from theirs - this is called carrier locking.

Regardless of where you take a phone like that, no one can use it unless unlocked. Unlocking means buying out the contract, which entails paying for the entire cost of the phone and other charges. The expensive nature of such buyouts discourages users and keeps them from entertaining this option.

Another method, although unconventional and illegal, is to use an unlock code. A few operators have a way of generating unlock codes for such uses for a price. Fortunately, there are unlocked phones, which are phones not sold and locked by service providers. You can get such a phone and subscribe to a dataless plan on any network of choice.

You can also switch providers at will, keeping you from being trapped in an unfavorable contract. It might cost you a little more when you're just starting but you'll save more money over time as you cut the cost of data subscriptions.

4. Choose to Go without a SIM

The final option on our list is going without a SIM. Yes, you might never have thought of it but it's possible to use your phone without a SIM card. If you're not someone to make terrestrial calls but still need connectivity of some sort, using this method may be ideal.

Since free Wi-Fi is available just about anywhere, all you have to do is have an automatic connection and you can make online calls and browse the internet among other things. It's possible that you'll lose connection a few times a day when you go to places without any network or Wi-Fi but those usually last only a few minutes before connecting again.

In emergencies, you can still access emergency calls on your phone, even without a SIM card. Of course, this method doesn't work for everyone; you must live in an urban area where Wi-Fi is always readily available. If you live in a remote area, you'll need to use a SIM card for easy access to amenities.

Conclusion

It's unconventional to go for a mobile subscription without data in this digital age where everything seems to be online. That's why mobile service providers always have such plans to entice new customers and keep existing ones.

However, a few situations can necessitate the use of dataless plans, such as giving a child a phone or an elderly person wanting a phone without access to the internet. Unlocked phones and dumb phones work very well in these situations. There's also the option of going without a SIM card. Weigh the options and decide what works best in the long run.