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Q: How can I keep the cost of cellular from
increasing?
- A: Almost every wireless carrier lets you
keep your cellular plan for as long as you
like. You can expect a "Promotional"
plan to expire at some time, which may increase
your cost, but you can either avoid Promotional
plans altogether, or call and inquire if
you can replace it with another Promotional
plan.
Q: What if I lose my cellular phone?
- A: Most carriers will help you get a new
phone and, in most cases, offer it at a good
price, if you agree to another 2-year contract.
If you eventually find your old phone, the
carrier may charge you a "re-stocking"
fee to take it back, but that would release
you from the new contract. You might hold
on to the 2nd phone as a spare as long as
you don't mind the new contract. Customer
Service will help you choose which phone
is active. Prepaid phones usually need to
be replaced by purchasing another. Insurance
programs are rarely worth the cost.
Q: How does a wireless company give me "Free
Long Distance?" I'm really paying for
it, right?
- A: You are correct that you still pay for
every call, but if your account includes
"Free Long Distance" it means there
is no additional charge for calling anywhere
in the US. Each call is charged as if you
are calling next door. This may not be the
case for people calling you. Cellular charges by time used, not by distance.
Q: My son wants to add me to his family cellular
account. Isn't there a danger of using up
all his minutes?
- A: It's possible, but the advantage of "Family"
plans is having lots of minutes to be used
by different family members who use their
minutes at different rates in different months.
Even more important to you is that if you
call any of those family members from your
cellular phone to theirs, NO minutes are
used by either party.
Q: I'd like to try Prepaid, but I'd forget to
refill every 90 days. What
can I do?
- A: There are several Prepaid plans that only
need to be refilled once a year. You could
refill at any time before that. You could
choose a memorable date like your birthday,
July 4th or New Year's. There are also a
few services that will automatically renew
for you from a credit card or checking account.
If you do let a Prepaid phone expire you'll
have a few months grace to refill before
losing your number.
Q: I just want a cellular phone for when I'm
in the car. Can I leave it there?
- A: Yes. The only consideration would be the
phone's battery. An unused phone with a relatively
new battery should be able to sit in the
car for several months before worrying about
recharging, as long as it is turned off.
If you have any concerns, you can buy a car
charger and use it only if you need it. You
can get one at a good price from these Discount Accessory retailers.
Q: Most wireless plans charge for hundreds of
minutes I don't expect to use. Can I get
fewer minutes and save?
- A: Yes. Many cellular companies, especially
the smaller ones, offer "Basic",
"Security", or "Senior"
plans, some of which are not advertised.
There are also "Lifeline" and "Life-Link" plans available to people on certain
types of government support programs for
as little as $1 month. If you don't qualify, there are many Prepaid plans that charge only for the minutes you
use.
Q: If I get a cellular phone, I'll have 2 phones,
wireless and landline. Do I need both?
- A: No. In these days, a phone is associated
with a person instead of a home, as in the case with your home phone. This is the case in over 20% of households
in the US. You can drop your wired line and use just
wireless, and still have the same phone number.
Before choosing one over the other, make
sure you can live with the requirement that
you must keep your wireless phone charged.
This is not a problem if you are already
familiar with a cordless phone as your home
phone.
Q: I want to keep my home phone. How can adding
a cellular phone save me money?
- A: First, you can make all your calls that
are normally "Long Distance" with
your cellular phone and only pay the normal
per-minute rate. Then, you can reduce the
services on your wired phone to just basic
calling, removing the extra charges for Long
Distance and Calling Features that are normally
included with wireless phones at no extra
charge.
Q: I'm not comfortable agreeing to a 2-year
contract. Can I sign up for a shorter time?
- A: Yes. Some wireless companies have plans
that don't require a long contract, but there
are no contracts when you pay in advance.
This includes all "Prepaid" plans. Also, there are several "Flat
Rate" companies that offer feature-rich
service and even Unlimited talk minutes when you pay a month in advance,
with no contracts needed. If you already
have a contract, there are ways to Get out of Your Contract.
Q: I would like more information than is
available here. Where can
I go?
- A: We have a number of links to other web
sites with information
about wireless phone
service, Below.
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