Choosing A Cell Phone Plan

Hi,
Cell phones are popular electronic purchases among many types of customers who acquire them for different reasons. The purpose and use of the cell phone determines what type of plan is best for the user. Reasons vary from the single adult who doesn't use the phone for communication, but only as a safety net to have in case of car trouble, to family plan users who want to be connected with their teenagers. Teens, by their nature, are always in communication with each other. If they aren't calling their friends, their friends are calling them. There are a myriad of choices in plans, phones and options. Sorting through them takes time and due diligence. It's a good idea to determine the following factors before investigating cell phone plans:
1) How many minutes are needed? The key minutes to identify are the ones needed between 7am-7pm Monday through Friday. (Some cell phone companies clock their minutes from 7am-9pm Monday through Friday).
2) Identify where the phones will be used. If phones are not used in areas which incur roaming charges, the inclusion of roaming charges isn't a necessary consideration when selecting a plan. Roaming charges can be quite expensive. If a phone will be used regularly in an area which will incur roaming charges, look at the plans which include them.
3)Camera phones. The phones themselves are available at a reasonable cost. The revenue is generated for the carriers when people send pictures to each other. Pay attention to all the costs associated with Internet connection fees etc., when looking at plans to decide exactly which options you want.
4) Text messaging costs. For many users, text messaging is infrequent enough that it makes sense to pay for each message. A mother I know didn't understand that she would be charged for all the text messages sent TO her daughter, and not only for the ones her daughter generated. After her daughter stayed home from school one day and received a tidal wave of messages saying "where are you?", "are you OK?", "why aren't you here?", the mother switched to unlimited text messaging on her daughter's phone.
Once you have a general idea of your needs, you can start looking for a suitable plan. The privacy of your own home is a good place to learn about different plans. Use the Internet to read and compare plans offered by different carriers. It pays to become familiar with the general scope of plans on the market before talking to salespeople representing individual companies. Remember that cell phones cost the cell phone companies very little and their claim of "249.99 YOURS FREE with a 2 year contract" is a selling tool and nothing more. By focusing on the plans we need, we will get the best deal without buying unwanted additional services. Tomorrow I will discuss purchasing cell phones and signing contracts.
Until then,
Alan