Every company out there seems to be offering up the best phone plans. At least, that’s according to the companies themselves. They all seem to claim to be offering more for less, but why do their prices keep seeming to go up? The reality is that phone plans are made purposefully confusing. They provide a couple of obvious good things to obscure from the questionable fees and over charges they seem to make all the time.
If they make it seem like it’s difficult and confusing to compare plans, then people will just choose their plan to make it easy. However that’s just foolish. There’s always some ways to cut through these sort of cheap marketing schemes. Comparing phone plans really comes down to just truly knowing what you want out of your phone experience.
What Makes up a Phone Plan?
Phone plans have all kinds of varied options. The services that they offer will increase or decrease the price of the plan depending on which are used. The First option is whether you want to use a mobile plan, a home plan or both types. Bundling multiple services together can actually produce quite a savings if you are looking at both a mobile phone and a home phone.
Home phone options tend to be somewhat limited. There’s only so much they can do. But simple things like call display and voicemail are important options. Home phone is a safe and reliable way to connect to others. Home phone is especially useful in emergency situations like blackouts. They will keep working when cell phone towers and other electronics don’t. Don’t forget long distance charges. If you’re someone who calls your family internationally or in another city, they can add up on the wrong plan.
Mobile plans are more complicated. The base mobile plan will allow you to make phone calls much like a home phone. Local calls will be free and long distance calls will be more expensive. Some basic plans will have minutes restrictions, but almost every plan has abandoned that by now. Since cell phones have basically become mini computers in the hand, what most people are interested in is data packages. Data is the information that runs through your phone from the internet or through the apps you get from the app store. There are still the typical services like voicemail and call display. However, those will come free in most mobile phone plans. It’s the data that matters most to companies.
What Do You Do With Your Phone?
As mentioned earlier, if you want to compare phone plans, you need to figure out what you want to do with it. Everyone has different priorities. Depending on those priorities, you’re going to want different plans. So the question is, what do you like to do with your phone?
- Call family anytime - If all you’re looking to do with your phone is speak to your family, then you will likely wish to pick a basic plan. Merely look at what it will cost you for long distance charges. If your family prefers to speak through apps like skype or apple talk, then data charges will be the thing to compare.
- Text and email friends and family - If you’ve moved to the point where you prefer text or email, then you need to compare rates for those. Texting is often free or unlimited on larger plans. Emailing photos will take up data, but not much. Very small data plans will often be more than enough.
- Catch up around the world - For those who have lived adventurous lives, you’ve probably met a lot of different people over the years. They may have spread out throughout the world. Checking out international calling rates and comparing them can actually turn what might be a terrible plan otherwise into the very best plan for you.
- Stay connected with the world - Many people have moved from consuming their news in papers to an online format. If you are one of these people, you can get live news updates and sports from around the worlds straight to your phone. These plans will require solid data plans, but not the high end ones.
- Watch movies and television or listen to music - Phones are multi purpose now. If you’re someone who wants to enjoy your media anywhere, then you’ll want a large data plan to accompany this.
Comparing Phone Plans - Questions and Answers
- Q: Is Every Phone Plan Available to Me?
A: Unfortunately, not all providers are available in all areas of the United States. You will have to make choices regionally. - Q: Am I limited to the big phone companies?
A: Not at all. Regional companies are popping up all the time. These companies will often purchase connectivity through the - Q: Can I just use wifi instead of data?
A: It’s certainly possible to use wifi instead of a data plan. You will be limited in where you can use anything other than pure calling on your phone to locations with wifi. There’s a lot of those though. - Q: Is there a best company or phone plan?
A: Right now, many of the highest companies run on the same level of phone plans. There’s only minor differences. The best plan is subjective, but there should be one there.
