Top rated cellular phone providers in the United States are Verizon, Cingular, T-Mobil, AT&T and Nextel. Each provider claims excellent networks, and have their own specials that are used to advertise. For example, Cingular allows the consumer to keep rollover minutes, and Nextel has free in-coming minutes. To get the plan and phone that is right for you some thought needs to be given to what your needs and usage will be. If many of the long distance, or out-of-state calls will be to a family member, then a plan that allows free calls to family members on the network would be advantageous.
Be careful of the roaming charges. Many times these minutes are very expensive. Roaming means that your cell phone is not initiating calls within your “home” or primary calling area. The charges for these types of calls can go as high as 69 cents per minute. If you travel a lot make sure that you have a large “home” area, or no roaming fees.
Many independent cell phone websites have detailed service plan comparison charts. These are useful as they detail exactly what you will get for the money. The comparison charts help you decide what you want, such as number of minutes, primary calling area, free long distance, or prepaid plans. Most users find that they talk more than they think they will, so it is advisable to purchase a large number of monthly minutes, rather than paying the over limit per-minute cost which adds up quickly.
