How to Choose a Cell Phone Service

This day in age almost everyone old enough to drive has a cell phone. With the many providers and the various options for service contracts available choosing the right cell phone service provider to fit your individual needs can be difficult. Before you make the commitment to a contract consider the following steps.

Things You'll Need

• Information regarding the cellular carriers operating in your area.

Instructions

1. Determine your coverage area. Consider the places where you will be using your phone the most often. If you are someone who commutes a long distance than a national coverage area will help you avoid roaming charges. If you are someone who rarely travels outside your local area a smaller local plan might be a better choice.

2. Determine what you will be using the cell phone for. If it will be a phone used primarily for business most of your calls will occur during business hours. In this case you will need a plan with more daytime or anytime minutes.

3. Determine if your main usage will be during night and weekend hours. If this is the case consider choosing a plan that has fewer anytime minutes and more night and weekend minutes. Most carriers offer packages that allow you to talk free during nights and weekends.

4. Consider who you will be talking to the most. If most of your friends, family, and business contacts use one carrier it may be beneficial for you to choose that carrier as well. Many carriers will allow you free mobile to mobile minutes.

5. Determine what features are important. Most carriers provide basic features such as voicemail and caller ID free of charge however, if you want data access, text messaging, or picture messaging most carriers have plans that will greatly reduce your cost for these services. If you do not choose one of these plans you are charged at the per message rate.

6. Determine what type of phone you would like to have. Many cellular phone manufacturers make phones that are specific for one network. In some cases it is possible to get an unlock code to use on other carrier's network, however unlocked phones usually do not allow you to access all the features.

7. Compare the providers in your area to determine which is the best fit for you and/or your family.

Tips & Warnings

• Few carriers offer local only coverage though there still some smaller companies who have what they call home plans available. For the most part large national carriers have done away with limited calling areas and offer nationwide calling plans. Roaming contracts with other providers allow you to talk free of charge in most areas.

• Due to hills and incompatible cell towers blocking your reception there may be areas where you cannot get service. Most companies allow you to have a trial period to try out the device and the service plan. If it's not compatible to your needs you can return the phone and cancel the contract without being penalized.

• Night and weekend hours vary depending on the carrier so be sure and check before making a commitment. Some carriers allow you to start your night and weekend minutes at 7pm for an additional fee.

• Minutes are billed based on origination time. This means if your night and weekend minutes start at 9pm but you get a two hour phone call that starts at 8:45 all the minutes will be counted as daytime minutes.

• Mobile to Mobile minutes are defined as minutes between two parties on the same carriers network. In order for your minutes to be billed as mobile to mobile both you and the person you are speaking with have to have the same cell provider. If you do not these minutes are considered anytime minutes.

• Be sure to check out each companies roaming policy. Some will allow you to "roam" outside your home area though you have to be using your carriers network in order to avoid additional charges.

• Going over your allotted minutes can cause your bill to skyrocket quickly. For this reason it's is better to get a plan larger than you think you need to begin with. Most carriers will allow you to downgrade your plan at anytime without effecting your contract.

• Most cell phone carriers charge for both sent and received texts.

• Anytime you are talking on your cell, even if you are not the one who made the call, will be billed as minutes to your plan.

• Read your contract carefully. If you are signing up for service for more than one phone or a family plan each phone has it's own contract. This means that if you cancel your service before the contract completion date you will be charged the early termination fee for each line of service.