Tips for Choosing a Cell Phone Plan

Consumer Information | Mobile Phones

It looks like you are new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed . Thanks for visiting!

It seems that everyone has a cell phone today. While that means demand is high, it also means that providers have had to offer increasingly competitive cell phone plans and prices in order to earn the business of the ever rising number of customers signing up for cell phone plans. This is a good thing for consumers.

However, with the increasing number of options - you may also find yourself overwhelmed and confused when trying to choose the cell phone service plan that is right for your needs. Read on to find out what to look for in a cellular phone plan so that you can make the best decision possible before signing the contract.

Service Plans - Coverage

Most cell phone providers offer three basic types of cellular calling plans - local plans, regional plans and national plans. Each type specifies a different “home” area that you may use to make and receive calls without having extra fees tacked on your bill at the end of the month.

Local plans usually reach a very small metropolitan area or portion of s state. Regional plans follow this same method, except that the area they cover is a bit larger. Usually an entire state - while some may also include service to certain areas of surrounding states. National plans usually allow you to make and receive calls throughout the continental USA.

No matter which plan you have, if you go outside of the covered area as designated by your particular plan (and sometimes outside of your providers coverage area), you will be considered by the phone company to be roaming. Calls made or received while roaming are usually a lot more expensive and many also incur long distance charges on top of the per minute roaming fee.

Service Plans - Minutes

Most cell phone plans come with a designated number of “anytime” minutes. Anytime minutes are almost always daytime minutes (most providers now offer unlimited nights, weekends or nights and weekends - otherwise known as off-peak hours) and going over the allotted number of anytime minutes included in your plan can be pretty costly.

Be sure to pick a plan that will realistically cover the amount of daytime calls you will need to make and be sure to watch how much time you spend on the phone during the day to make sure that you don’t go over that allowed time.

Some family plans also offered shared minutes. This means that a block of phones all under the same account are assigned a certain number of minutes as a group. So, if a group is assigned 1000 minutes, all 1000 minutes can be used by one group member or each group member could make 250 minutes worth of calls each - or any other variation.

Free member to member minutes are another common feature. This means that a provider allows you to call other customers on their service at any time of the day or night without eating up those precious anytime minutes. Many families find that all being on the same service provider helps them be able to use their phones more frequently without going over their plan minute amount.

Features

Check out what features are included in your plan and what features are extra. For example - some providers provide text messaging for free, others allow you to do 10 a month for free and still others will charge you for each message you receive. Also check that other features you want will be available, such as call waiting, caller ID, voicemail and more.

Service Agreements

The service agreements used by most cell phone companies are iron clad. Once you sign the service contract, you are required to honor it or else risk paying extremely high fees for breaking it. Be sure to check the cancellation policy. Some providers must be notified in writing at the end of your contract that you do not wish to continue service. If they don’t get that written notice, then your plan may end up automatically renewing for another set length of time.

With the competitiveness of the industry, plans that are a great deal now may not be a steal a year from now. Make sure that your cell phone company allows you to change from one plan to another (that are offered by that company) without violating your service agreement contract.

You will need to decide which plan will best suit your needs based on your historic or probable use of your cellular telephone service. If you need help finding some good plans and service providers, have no fear! We’ve looked at a lot of the plans being offered in the cellular phone service arena and have found some great deals on cell phone plans. If you’re credit is a problem, you can also check out deals on prepaid cell phone plans like those offered by TracFone and Verizon Wireless.