In my home country of Bulgaria, we used to do that all the time. It works because most phones are pre-paid. You don't have a monthly bill. Instead, you preload

In my home country of Bulgaria, we used to do that all the time. It works because most phones are pre-paid. You don't have a monthly bill. Instead, you preload $10 - $20 into your SIM, and you can text at $0.20 per SMS or talk at $1 per minute. Also, only the person that initiates the call or SMS pays, the receiver is not charged anything. You'd still need at least a balance of $1 to initiate calls, so when people's balances get low, they only call people and hang up immediately (we call that clicking / buzzing). Essentially you make plans to meet somewhere or go out, and you click / buzz the other party when you are ready. It is generally understood that if you get a click / buzz, you should look around or call that person back if you have a higher balance ;) Also with the preloading SIM card payment model, you can essentially have a $1 balance on your SIM card for a year, and receive calls without paying anything.