What You Should Know Before You Buy a Cell Phone

Consumers have two options to choose from when it comes to service for cell phone: under contract or prepaid.

Service under contract

In general, plans under contract bind customers to an agreement by two years of service under a fixed rate, required day part of the cost of the cell phone. (An iPhone can cost up to $700 without a contract for two years, but as little as $200 with a two-year contract). Generally, the plans include a fixed number of minutes, text and messages for customers with Smartphones, data (Internet). Some plans include free calls from cell to cell, and free or discounted calls for evenings and weekends, in addition to messages with photos or video. Each month customers receive an invoice for the service during the previous month. AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and U.S. Cellular are the five largest cell phone companies providing services with contract. There are plans from $30 per month, plus taxes.

Prepaid Service

Prepaid Cell phones, are an alternative to expensive contracts for two years. The prepaid plans have advantages because they do not require a contract or a credit review and not surprise it with a charge for cancellations or excess of use.

There are two types of prepaid plans:
Per minute plans allow consumers to buy minutes online, by phone and in select stores. The client accesses the minutes by dialing a code from your cell phone and once those uses, should buy more time. Sometimes the minutes expire after a certain period of time if the customer does not use them.

Prepaid monthly plans offer a set number of minutes, texts and data per month. Customers pay the company in advance each month. Some companies such as Boost Mobile, offer monthly plans cheaper than the big mobile companies and without a two-year contract agreement.

What is the best plan for me?
It all depends on plans under contract, usually offer the latest models of smartphones and can be a better option for families who want to multiple lines. The family plans, allow consumers to add an extra line for $10 per month for each line. Calls between handsets of the same company are usually free.

Prepaid cell phones used to be for consumers wearing few minutes (300 minutes or less per month), that they did not want high-tech phones, wanting to avoid that they review you credit, or that they only needed a phone for emergencies. But that is changing. Prepaid phone companies now offer plans and phones that compete with the five largest cell phone companies, so this type of plan has become a better choice for one larger number of users. compare cell phone carriers.

Here you can read the results of research of CUB offers prepaid phones for customers of little, medium, or high use. CUB study does not take into account the quality of the service.

Which company does the best quality on calls?
The quality of the service varies by company and region. It may be that a company has a good service in a region but bad in another.

Most cell phones have a trial period in which you can return the phone and cancel the contract without a penalty. Be sure to try the phone in the places where you will use it, as well as in your work or your home.

How many minutes do I need?

With most plans under contract, if you scroll past the allocated minutes, you will have to pay up to 49 ¢ per minute. But according to a study by CUB, determined that the minutes that are consumed and are wasted, are the biggest problem. In fact, an analysis of more than 4,000 invoices showed that the average customer in Illinois pays more than six hours in minutes not consumed. Enough to handle, speaking by telephone from Chicago to Cairo, IL. Be sure to read your bill every month and if it is constantly below the number of minutes assigned, ask your company a plan with fewer minutes.

Extra functions

CUB found that the average user pays more than $8 per month - nearly $100 a year - for extra functions that probably do not use, such as insurance, directory and services as roadside assistance. Be sure to check your Bill to see if you are paying for one of these services and ask yourself if you really need them.


Do I need to purchase insurance for my cell phone?
For most consumers, the cost of $5 or more per cell phone insurance, not worth it. But if you have a smart phone that is very expensive, insurance might be useful. Read the fine print to find out what your insurance really covers. It may be that the company requires a police report and a deductible before replacing your phone and perhaps by one used or "similar" to that you had.

Cell phones and 911

Remember that you don't need a phone plan to use 911 from your cell phone. From any cell phone, while you have battery and is within a range with signal, you can call 911. Take into account that the authorities may have difficulty to determine their location if calling from a mobile phone, unlike when a conventional telephone line is used. Keep that in mind if you are considering to get rid of your conventional phone line.

Use your cell phone as a tool to save money

Do you often have many minutes remaining at the end of each month? Don't waste them! Use them to make calls long distance-national. That will help reduce the cost of the Bill that receives from his company's long distance regular (conventional phone line).

Depending on the application that gives your phone, you could rid completely of your long distance service. Similarly, if your cell phone has voicemail included, don't pay an extra fee every month for the same service in its line of home. Your friends and family your cell phone number and ask them to leave you messages on your voice mail.

Can I cancel my conventional phone line

Remember that cell phones are not always as reliable as conventional telephone lines. If your cell phone battery is discharged or if a power failure occurs, you can not make calls. In addition, in the event of an emergency, the authorities do not may place already that is calling from a cell phone, unlike when it does so from a conventional telephone line.
Yet the number of households that only have mobile telephone service, continues to grow. If you are traveling constantly, few people live in your home and/or has a good coverage of cellular service, consider it.

If you're not yet ready to get rid of your phone line (a) conventional but want to save on your phone bill, consider a calling plan Consumer complete Choice of AT & T's low cost, in conjunction with Pioneer Telephone for long distance. Consumer complete Choice plans, were created by CUB under a legal agreement and prices will remain frozen until June 2013.

For the long distance, consider the Pioneer Telephone Rate Buster plan that offers rates of 2 to 3 ¢ per minute for calls exceeding the 15 miles from her home.

What is the charge on my Bill?
Overage Charges (Excess use charges)
Use more than the minutes allocated each month, can increase the cost on your invoice with rates of up to 49 cents per minute extra.

Federal Universal Service Charge
(Federal Universal service fee)
This is not a tax. This position goes to a national fund to keep phone service affordable for customers in rural areas and low-income, as well as greater access to Internet service in schools, libraries and rural hospitals. The company is not obliged to charge this fee to their customers but does it anyway.

E911 Fee
Office 911 that charge municipalities or counties, cover costs for the services of call of emergencies or to update service.

Regulatory Charge (Charge regularotio)
This is not a tax even if it seems it. This fee goes directly to the bottom of the company.

Taxes (Taxes)
Taxes amount to 20.9% of the Bill for an average customer in Illinois. Unfortunately, the only way to reduce these taxes is reducing your Bill. Find out if you can purchase a cheaper plan calls, text or data (Internet).