Choosing Cell Phone Plans

Family Cell Phone Plan

If you need to stay in touch with your loved ones, you should select family cell phone plan that:

- Allows you to share minutes with your spouse and/or kids.

- Provides a monthly bill listing charges for each line. This will help you identify how many minutes your family needs every month and the time of day members place calls.

- Is regional or local. The majority of families do not need a national plan.

- Offers bulk text messaging and unlimited night and weekend minutes for chatty teens.

Student Cell Phone Plan

When choosing between various student cell phone plans, select a plan that:

1. Includes plenty of “anytime” or night and weekend minutes.

2. Offers free calling among friends in the same network.

3. Includes you in your parents’ family plan.

4. Offers wireless data services.

Business Cell Phone Plan

To find a good business cell phone plan follow these three steps.

1. Determine the cell phone coverage you will need. You must figure out where you are going to be using your cell phone. Is your business located in the city or in the country? Do you travel aboard?

If your work in the city, you can use a GSM, CDMA or TDMA phone. However, if your work is in the country or remote areas, you should choose a CDMA or TDMA phone. If you plan to use your business cell phone while overseas, GSM is the communications standard used outside of North America.

2. Determine the cell phone rate plan you will need. Find out what business rate plan is the most economical for you. If you plan to use the phone mostly during the day, find a plan that will give you the maximum number of minutes throughout the day.

3. If you plan to buy a GSM phone since you will travel and use the phone abroad, chose tri-band/tri-mode phones.