Yes. He can purchase ring tones for his cell phone whether it is pre-paid or post-paid. There are countless internet sites where he can download ring tones either to his computer and transfer them through bluetooth to his phone or download it straight to his phone.
Many of the prepaid cell phones that have recently been released allow an option to purchase personalized ringtones. For this, you may have to check online with the service provider.
It depends on the make of your phone and your carrier for your prepaid plan. I know that Net10 has some ring tones available for their pre-paid phones.
I know you can through Alltel and Boost Mobile. Although you are going to have to have the web on the prepaid phones as well, so they dont charge you extra.