Should I switch to Ting?

Ting.com is a new virtual wireless company. They resell time on Sprint’s network, and use a pay-as-you-go model of billing. You buy your own mobile device, pay a monthly access fee, and then pay only for whatever service you consume. It’s the way of the future.

Future or not, it could still be overpriced. Hence this plot. Sprint theoretically roams on Verizon, and only Verizon offers the mountain coverage I require, so AT&T’s not plotted.

Complicated, right? Since there are three variables (minutes, texts, data), and one price, the natural realm for this problem is in four dimensions. Note, for giggles, that 44640 minutes (or less) is a month.

I retreated back to the problem I’m personally interested in: Should I switch? Note that this plot does not include the significant (or subsidized) cost of a phone. I use about 500 minutes of voice a month and send more than a hundred texts.  How much data can I use before Ting is no longer the optimal choice?

My current Verizon plan is ~$40/month before fees with no data. Ting beats that handily. The steep light-blue line must be a way that Ting (or their Sprint overlord) plans to make money. Ting is a great deal for small usage, but very poor for lots of usage.