|
|
|
|
Smartphone Calling Plan and Service GuideOct 21, 2009 Cell phone carriers are notorious for slapping consumers with fees and unexpected charges. But if you look carefully at what you're paying for and figure out what you need, you can keep your monthly bill down. Are you paying too much for your cell phone and its services? Even if you're sticking to your monthly allocation of minutes and messages, you might still be paying more than you have to. The only way to tell is to take a cold, hard look at your plan and your handset--and at the way you actually use them. Here are five ways your carrier might be milking you for extra bucks -- and what you can do to stop those unwanted charges. Texting FeesTexting fees are billed separately from your data plan. And since some carriers are raising texting fees, they are good candidates for a self-audit. Two obvious possible overcharging scenarios: Either you're not using anything close to the number of messages allowed by your plan, or you're being hit for overage charges because you underestimated how often you'd use text messaging. Both are annoying, but you can avoid paying extra if you reassess how much you're really using text messages--and how you're using them. If you're sending a lot of one-word messages (such as "OK" or "Yep"), you're building up your monthly message count with a lot of empty air. If you try to send messages that actually say something, you might find that you really don't need an unlimited plan. Some cell phone providers offer packages of message limits, often ranging from 250 to 2500 messages a month. On the other hand, if text messaging is the communications medium of choice in your circle, or if you're hooked on using SMS for TV shows or concert promotions, perhaps it's time to move up to a plan with unlimited texting. Some providers have unlimited text messaging packages starting at just $15. If you're on the receiving end of a lot of short messages that are being billed, it might be wise to sign up for at least an entry-level text plan. While you're at it, take a hard look at your voice plan -- if you're doing all that texting, maybe you don't need so many voice minutes. The Three-Year ContractiPhone lovers can skip this section: You can't get an iPhone without signing a two-year contract. But if you're planning on buying another brand of smartphone, the temptation to sign up for a three year contract is hard to ignore. However, you should consider how much value you're getting on a new phone when you sign that deal with the wireless telco devil -- a three-year commitment in exchange for a couple hundred dollars worth of savings on the handset of your dreams. Are you even sure you're going to want that handset at the end of one year -- much less three? If you're a gadget-lover who drools over every new hot handset that comes down the pike, even the standard hardware refresh period of two years will feel like an eternity. And in the meantime, you'll be stuck with a carrier that may not provide adequate service where you live. The solution: Either opt for a shorter contract (shop for one that offers prorated handset subsidies) or avoid a contract completely and pay top dollar for an unlocked handset. If being free of a contract suits you, you might want to check out some of the prepaid services, which are starting to offer some very slick handsets. As most carriers don't offer data plans on prepaid services, this is not the best route to take if you're looking to upgrade to a smartphone. If you're trying to get out of an existing contract, note that carriers no longer charge the full early-termination fee across the board. Most will pro-rate that fee based on how long you stayed with the company. Make sure to find out about a carrier's early-departure policy before you sign up for a contract. For contractual add-ons such as the 6GB iPhone and Blackberry data plan, you may potentially be liable to pay additional termination fees. Overseas Calling ChargesSome handsets can accompany you to Europe and to other countries that support GSM/GPRS smartphones. But if you don't plan ahead, you're likely to be blindsided by a seriously huge bill for roaming charges. Look for calling plans that offer international roaming services. You can reduce your rates for voice calls by subscribing to an International Voice Roaming pack prior to departure. This includes both minutes and a significantly lower overage rate. These packages come in four regional flavors and have varying rates depending on where you are traveling. In some instance, subscribing to one of these packs can save you as much as $4 a minute on overage fees! Most major U/S. carriers offer roaming services to Canada, Europe and Asia. All major carriers in Canada offer roaming services in the U.S., and therefore the roaming packages for U.S. travel are far more competitively priced. One tip to keep voice roaming charges down: If you're not able to pick up calls when traveling (such as when you're asleep), power down your handset, or at least put it into airplane mode so that it doesn't show up on a carrier network. Once an incoming call hits the overseas network in pursuit of your handset, you'll be charged at overseas rates even if the caller just winds up leaving voicemail. In fact, you might even incur a double charge -- when the unanswered call bounces back to voicemail in the U.S., the overseas carrier may charge for sending the call back. But if the network can't find your phone, the call will go straight to voicemail, incurring no foreign roaming charges. Making calls using Skype or another voice-over-IP service can save you money if you can find a Wi-Fi network (which is generally a good strategy to save money on data services while traveling). Overseas Data ChargesAT&T offers two international data plans for iPhones, starting at $119.99 per month for 100MB of data use. Data plans from Canadian carriers don't apply to data services on overseas networks (and that means no U.S. coverage either): Rogers charges $30 per megabyte for international data roaming -- and a single digital image can easily cost this much to e-mail. Fortunately, Rogers offers international data roaming packages that, while still expensive, significantly undercut the pay-as-you-go rate. Consider buying one before you leave if you plan to use your iPhone, BlackBerry, or other Smartphone for e-mail and Web browsing. The packages range in price from $50 for 10MB to $225 for 75MB--and even if you exceed your allotment, the overage rate of half a cent per kilobyte is significantly cheaper than the usual rate of $30/MB. iPhone users who want to keep an eye on data usage while roaming should go to Settings/General/Usage and look under Cellular Network Data. Do this when you first arrive at your overseas destination, and you can reset all the statistics to start tracking your use from then on. Better yet, try it out before you go to get an idea of what your typical monthly data consumption looks like. Also bear in mind that you don't have to incur roaming charges if you simply leave your handset at home. If you don't have a dual-radio or HSPA phone when traveling outside North America, then your carrier's CDMA/EvDO networks are incompatible with the GSM/GPRS networks most other countries use. If you need a phone, buy a cheap prepaid phone in the country you're visiting. It will certainly save you money on both voice and data. But remember, you won't be reachable on your usual cell phone. The Fine PrintWhen was the last time you really looked closely at your phone bill? This is a good way to see whether your phone usage is in line with your plan. You might find, for example, that you're not even close to using the number of minutes you've paid for. And while you're at it, look carefully for all the little charges at the end to make sure you're not paying for something you never wanted. Who knows what charges may be lurking buried deep in your wireless bill? |
Tag This Page: Share (' |
Need More Information? Search the whole Web or just the Mobilook site here: |
Top Pages on Mobilook
|
top cellphone
news site map home |
’)