Some seminaries have started letting girls split an American line/ land line to lessen costs.
Remember, you still want your daughter to be in touch with you and to be able to reach you if needed so a cell is very useful.
What the girls who want to save money do is buy calling cards and use a pay phone for most of the calls and then when just use a cell phone as needed.
A lot of the sems used to text everyone on the same plan but now , whats in is Kosher phones, so they dont text anyway. Most sem’s reccomend a plan but don’t insist on it.
Even if they strongly reccomend, they have no way of keeping track if ppl have different brands.
The important thing is to really compare prices and make sure you know and your daughter knows how much everything costs.
i.e. a 45 conversation can cost you $10. girls need to learn a cell is not for shmoozing with all your friends in America. Also, a lot of companies have hidden charges like charging you $1. to get an informational text and ppl ask for it w/o realizing it.
There are many different plans and many times you can get cheaper if you go with an Israeli plan i.e. Orange, Cellcom, Pelephone vs. an American/tourist plan i.e. Talk N Save, Zap, Holy Land Phones, etc.
The thing with an Israeli plan is they might not explain everything to you and might not speak English as far as if you have questions.
BTW, almost every cell phone plan offers free incoming calls and texts.