Solving the puzzle of cellphone plans
PICKING a cellphone plan has become one of the connected life’s great chores.
Many of the nation’s 235 million mobile-phone customers have faced the mind-numbing task of poring over an overwhelming array of available services and handsets, and it’s not getting any easier.
Nearly 9 out of 10 cellphone users get their service from the nation’s top four carriers: AT&T; Inc., Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA. Each offers dozens of individual plans, family plans and handsets. Then there are the add-on features, such as text messaging, streaming video and photo sending.
Cellphone customers, especially parents with two or three mobile-crazed teenagers, can face huge bills if they make the wrong choice.
They may miss the “gotcha” charges for items like that call that began before the free night or weekend period. And sometimes their bills soar because their kids have no idea how quickly the costs for text messaging, ring tones, songs, videos and games can add up.
To avoid paying more than you should, you’ve got to be smart and prepared. After all, you will most likely be locked into a one- or two-year contract -- mainly for discounts on handsets -- and terminating that deal early will cost you $150 to $200 a line.
Start the decision-making process by asking yourself a few simple questions: Where, when and how much do you use your cellphone? What features do you really plan to use? And how much do you want to spend?
The answers can narrow your choices quickly.
Erik Melendez, a mechanic in Los Angeles, doesn’t usually leave Southern California and needs a cellphone only to make calls -- but he’s often on the phone four hours a day.
“An unlimited plan gives me peace of mind,” Melendez said.
So he went with a prepaid plan from Boost Mobile, a youth-oriented subsidiary of Sprint, with unlimited talk time for $55 a month.
Although a regional plan may work for many people, the more popular ones are nationwide calling plans that come with various bundles of minutes and, sometimes for $5 or more a month, a designated amount of text messaging -- an important feature for teenagers, especially.
To figure how much talk time you’ll need, count the minutes you spend on your current phone in a typical month, then add 25% to 50% as a buffer to avoid hefty overage fees. That should give you an idea of how many minutes you’ll need for your new cellphone.
Here are some other tips:
* Usually you can avoid contracts by paying full price for the handsets. You also can check out smaller regional companies, which often let you quit at any time, or prepaid plans.
Some states have legislation pending to lessen the pain. But the California Senate on June 7 rejected a bill that would have required all carriers to offer 30-day trial periods and to prorate termination fees, tying the amount you pay to how much of the contract term remains.
* Get a data plan if you want to use your mobile phone for checking e-mail, surfing the Web and taking advantage of offerings such as music, video and live TV. Be aware that data plans can cost $40 a month or more, and some of the advanced features incur extra fees.
To take advantage of those added features, you’ll also need higher-end phones, mainly so-called smart phones.
You usually can get discounts on handsets by signing one- or two-year contracts with a carrier, but look out for hefty penalties if you try to get out of those contracts early.
* Don’t bite on buying the latest must-have handset: the Motorola Krazr, the Samsung Blackjack, the LG Sync, the BlackBerry Curve or even the soon-to-be-released Apple Inc. iPhone.
“People get phone envy and go straight to the hottest phone on the market,” said industry veteran Jen O’Connell of Atlanta, author of “The Cell Phone Decoder Ring.” “Then they end up with something that doesn’t work for them or has features they don’t know how to use or even want.”
* Do basic research on the Internet, then head to the store or pick up the phone to talk to a salesperson.
“If you’ve got someone at your side explaining all the offerings to you, you’re probably going to find out more quickly what each plan has,” said Rosa Esquivel, AT&T;’s marketing director for the Los Angeles area.
You might not spot the website’s fine print, for instance, that says the big discount you’re getting is good for only three months. A salesperson should be pointing that out immediately. If there’s one thing consumers hate, it’s getting nickel-and-dimed for the little things that make the monthly phone bill swell by $10 or $20.
If you’re confident enough about what you want, you can buy online at your chosen carrier’s site or at one of numerous Internet retail stores.
* Figure out which network works best where and when you will use the phone the most.
Most carriers’ services generally work fine in much of Southern California. But most have dead spots in some areas.
In parts of Santa Ana, customers can’t get a signal from the nation’s largest wireless carrier, AT&T;, formerly known as Cingular Wireless, said Eddie Nunez, a salesman with Wireless Toyz, a retail chain that sells most brands.
T-Mobile is upfront in acknowledging that its network isn’t as robust as its rivals’, but it is spending billions nationwide to expand and upgrade the system. It also has perhaps the most useful coverage map on its website, allowing buyers to zoom in to the street where they live or work to see how good the phone reception is.
* To find out which carrier works for you, ask your neighbors, your relatives, your colleagues at work, your college buddies, your high school friends -- folks who are near where you’ll be using the phone.
“They’ll know the nuances,” said J.D. Power & Associates analyst Kirk Parsons.
* If you’re a first-time buyer or switching to another provider, take advantage of the trial periods each company offers, ranging from 14 to 30 days.
Verizon Wireless, the second-largest carrier, is so confident in its system that if you return the phone within 30 days and switch to another carrier, it will not only reimburse you for all your costs but also will pay for all the calls you made.
* Pay close attention to add-on features. They can be simple -- $5 for 200 multimedia messages to $40 for unlimited messages with AT&T; -- but can add up quickly if you also want a data plan for e-mail and Internet, or fee-based content such as live TV, video and music downloads. Ring tones, at $2.50 or more for a 30-second clip, are nearly triple the price of a whole song downloaded to your computer and sideloaded into your cellphone.
* For the devices themselves, check online for the handsets available with the calling plan you choose. Then go to the store to hold them and figure out which ones work for you.
“Choosing a handset is a personal experience,” said Kevin Kunkel, Sprint’s vice president for Southern California.
Television commercials and newspaper ads make a lot of claims. In some cases, it’s OK to believe the hype.
Verizon Wireless, for instance, boasts in commercials about its network’s superior reliability. That claim is well-founded, experts said. For several years, Verizon has ranked at or near the top in customer satisfaction surveys nationally and regionally.
T-Mobile’s frankness about its coverage limits has helped customers know what they’re getting, and that has helped it surpass Verizon Wireless in customer satisfaction surveys. The fourth-largest carrier -- half the size of No. 3 Sprint -- also wins customers with bigger packages and more flexible terms for less money.
What’s popular now, for instance, are its MyFaves plans and offers of 1,000 minutes for $40 a month. MyFaves allows unlimited calls to five people on any wireless or land-line network in the U.S.
Sprint Nextel, often ranked low in customer service, has gained attention for providing a more powerful data network and for pricing plans that resonate with customers.
On most plans, Sprint still offers free weekend and night calling starting at 7 p.m.; other carriers start at 9 p.m. And it now has a handset that handles both Sprint cellular calls and Nextel Walkie-Talkie service.
AT&T; typically offers the widest variety of handsets -- about three dozen models now. But otherwise it’s still struggling to find an identity: Cingular Wireless was known for aggressive pricing, while the old AT&T; Wireless it bought three years ago was known for its customer service. “It’s tough to get a fix on what they are today,” Parsons said.
But on June 29, the company will launch the iPhone exclusively on its network, a pioneering move that should help it cash in on all the music, video, games and other features offered on multifunction handsets.
Cellphone companies market the entire mobile experience as a personal one, giving you what you want when you want it and wherever you are. AT&T; even uses the term “MEdia” on entertainment services to emphasize the individual.
Customers have bought into that notion. Now, with a wide array of offerings, it’s up to you to figure out what to buy.
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How the plans stack up
Here are key plan features for the five biggest cell phone providers:
SPRINT
CHEAPEST
Sprint Basic
Price: $29.99
Minutes: 200
* Unlimited night calls: 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.
* Unlimited weekend calls
* No roaming charges
* $36 activation fee; $150 early termination fee
INTERMEDIATE
Sprint Power Pack
Price: $39.99
Minutes: 450
* Unlimited night calls: 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.
* Unlimited weekend calls
* No roaming charges
* Unlimited Sprint mobile-to-mobile calls
* $36 activation fee; $150 early termination fee
PREMIUM
Sprint Power Pack Unlimited
Price: $199.99
Minutes: Unlimited
* No roaming charges
* Unlimited Sprint mobile-to-mobile calls
* $36 activation fee; $150 early termination fee
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T-MOBILE
CHEAPEST
Basic Plus
Price: $29.99
Minutes: 300
* Unlimited weekend calls
* No roaming charges
* $35 activation fee; $200 early termination fee
INTERMEDIATE
MyFaves 300
Price: $39.99
Minutes: 300
* Unlimited calls to five U.S. numbers
* Unlimited night calls: 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.
* Unlimited weekend calls
* No roaming charges
* $35 activation fee; $200 early termination fee
PREMIUM
MyFaves 5000
Price: $139.99
Minutes: 5000
* Unlimited calls to five U.S. numbers
* Unlimited night calls: 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.
* Unlimited weekend calls
* No roaming charges
* $35 activation fee; $200 early termination fee
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ALLTEL
CHEAPEST
Greater Freedom
Price: $39.99
Minutes: 700
* Unlimited night calls: 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
* Unlimited weekend calls
* Unlimited Alltel mobile-to-mobile calls
* Available only in Imperial County
* $25 activation fee; $200 early termination fee
INTERMEDIATE
National Freedom
Price: $49.99
Minutes: 1000
* Unlimited night calls: 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
* Unlimited weekend calls
* Unlimited Alltel mobile-to-mobile calls
* No roaming charges to major U.S. cities
* Available only in Imperial County
* $25 activation fee; $200 early termination fee
PREMIUM
National Freedom
Price: $199.99
Minutes: 6000
* Unlimited night calls: 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
* Unlimited weekend calls
* Unlimited Alltel mobile-to-mobile calls
* No roaming charges to major U.S. cities
* Unlimited calling to 10 U.S. numbers
* Available only in Imperial County
* $25 activation fee; $200 early termination fee
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VERIZON
CHEAPEST
America’s Choice Basic
Price: $39.99
Minutes: 450
* Unlimited night calls: 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
* Unlimited weekend calls
* No roaming charges
* Unlimited calls to other Verizon customers
* $35 activation fee; up to $175 early termination fee
INTERMEDIATE
America’s Choice Select
Price: $59.99
Minutes: 450
* Unlimited night calls: 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
* Unlimited weekend calls
* No roaming charges
* Unlimited calls to other Verizon customers
* Unlimited messaging in the U.S.
* $35 activation fee; up to $175 early termination fee
PREMIUM
America’s Choice Select
Price: $219.99
Minutes: 6000
* Unlimited night calls: 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
* Unlimited weekend calls
* No roaming charges
* Unlimited calls to other Verizon customers
* Unlimited messaging in the U.S.
* $35 activation fee; up to $175 early termination fee
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AT&T;
CHEAPEST
Nation 450 w/Rollover
Price: $39.99
Minutes: 450
* 5,000 night (9 p.m. to 6 a.m.) and weekend minutes
* Unlimited AT&T; mobile-to-mobile calls
* Unused minutes can accumulate for up to one year
* $36 activation fee; $175 early termination fee
INTERMEDIATE
Nation 900 w/Rollover
Price: $59.99
Minutes: 900
* Unlimited night calls: 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
* Unlimited weekend calls
* No roaming charges
* Unlimited AT&T; mobile-to-mobile calls
* Unused minutes can accumulate for up to one year
* $36 activation fee; $175 early termination fee
PREMIUM
AT&T; Unity 6000
Price: $199.99
Minutes: 6,000
* Unlimited night calls: 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
* Unlimited weekend calls
* No roaming charges
* Unlimited AT&T; mobile-to-mobile calls
* Unused minutes can accumulate for up to one year
* $36 activation fee; $175 early termination fee
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Sources: The companies
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Research by SCOTT WILSON
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Online resources
Here are websites that can help you find a cellphone plan and handset.
Ratings and reviews
www.consumerreports.org
www.jdpower.com/telecom
www.wirelessguide.org
Comparison shopping
www.bizrate.com/cellphones1
www.cellphones.ca
www.cell-phone-plans.net
www.letstalk.com
www.myrateplan.com
www.phonedog.comwww.phonescoop.com
www.wirefly.com
Source: Times research
