US 2/1/04 0817-20,100

Small fees add up

ANYTIME MINUTES

Also called peak minutes, these apply when

rates are highest, typically during weekday

daylight hours. Expect to pay 25 to 45

cents per minute if you exceed your allot-

ment of anytime minutes. When comparing

plans, go for the one with the larger num-

ber of anytime minutes even if it means

paying a higher monthly fee, to minimize

what you might spend for extra minutes.

FEBRUARY 2004

CONSUMER REPORTS 17

Finding the right calling plan is easier

than ever. That’s because the plans are

becoming simpler. Long-distance, roam-

ing, and calls on nights and weekends

—important features that used to add

significantly to overall costs—are now

almost always folded into the basic

monthly fee.

Still, it is possible to get trapped in the

wrong calling plan and spend many times

more than the $49 monthly average.

To understand how various factors can

affect the bottom line on your cell-phone

bill, see Dollars & Sense, page 19. The

table on that page was developed with the

help of TeleBright Corp., a Maryland-

based phone-rate tracking company that

provides data for interactive plan selec-

tors on ConsumerReports.org.

Two examples show how seemingly

minor details add up:

For families. Nextel’s national Get

Connected More 600 plan costs $56 a

month;T-Mobile’s FamilyTime plan costs

$70. But we estimate that a family of four

making 1,800 minutes of regular voice

calls monthly would actually spend $65

more per month on the Nextel plan.

The T-Mobile plan winds up costing

less because its base price includes two

phone lines; Nextel’s includes only one.

Each extra line is $10 per month cheaper

on T-Mobile.T-Mobile’s plan also provides

200 more peak minutes. The T-Mobile

plan is even slightly less expensive than

the Cingular FamilyTalk 700 plan at $50,

again because of differences in the cost of

additional lines and the allotment of peak

minutes.

Closely matched. Even plans with the

same basic rate can cost different

amounts. Consider the Cingular Super-

Home 900 and T-Mobile Get More 3000

regional plans. Both cost $50 a month and

come with generous amounts of peak

minutes. But we estimate that a frequent

user, racking up 1,200 minutes of calling a

month, would actually pay $6 a month

more with the T-Mobile plan. The main

reason: It’s one of the few that carries a

charge for long-distance calls made from

outside the home calling area.

HOW TO CHOOSE

Here are the issues to keep in mind

when shopping for a calling plan:

Understand the important factors.

The basic fee, the home calling area (the

territory where you don’t incur roaming

charges), and the allotment of peak-time

minutes matter greatly with any calling

plan (see First Things First, below). Be

sure those factors meet your needs first.

Then look at the other details, such as the

cost for additional minutes or roaming.

Stay with the carrier you like. If

you’re satisfied with the phone service

you have, keep the carrier but change the

plan to try to keep the bills in line. It al-

most never makes sense to change carri-

ers just for a cheaper calling plan. In our

view, good service generally outweighs

good rates.

So it is that the prospect of better serv-

ice with Verizon, highest-rated in our

12-city survey, may be worth the added

Decide how much you want to spend, then find the most minutes for your money.

First things first.

BASIC MONTHLY FEE

The more minutes of calling time or the

broader the calling area, the higher the

basic fee. Fees range from about $30 for

regional plans offering only a couple hun-

dred minutes of calling time to almost

$200 for a nationwide plan with unlimited

calling. Decide how much you can afford to

spend each month, then look for the

biggest bucket of minutes at that price.

•

HOME CALLING AREA

This is the territory where you can dial

calls without incurring roaming charges.

Roaming, if it applies, costs 50 to 80 cents

per minute. A national calling plan, with no

roaming or long-distance charges, is the

right choice for many people.

BEST CALLING PLANS

Continued on page 20

18 CONSUMER REPORTS

FEBRUARY 2004

MONEY

ADVISER AD

SUBSCRIPTION

CANADA

FEBRUARY

2004

CONSUMER REPORTS 19

We asked TeleBright Corp., a leading source of information on tele-

phone service, to select representative plans from each of the major

national carriers and calculate the cost for three types of user:

• The casual user who uses 300 minutes of calling time a month,

half at peak times and half on nights and weekends; the usage

includes 45 minutes of long-distance and 6 minutes of roaming.

• The frequent user who uses 1,200 minutes a month, with 840

peak minutes; we also assumed 84 minutes of long-distance and 36

minutes of roaming.

• A family of four who together use 1,800 minutes, 1,080 of which

are on nights and weekends. Roaming accounts for 18 minutes;

long-distance, for 144 minutes.

The plans shown here were available in the Chicago area in late

November 2003. They’re meant only as examples, not as Ratings.

Given the intense competition that exists among carriers as a result

of number portability, you can expect to see other special deals and

new calling plans frequently.

HOW TO USE THE TABLE

• If you’re trying to find a calling plan for the first time, the table

gives you an idea of the monthly cost you can expect. If you think

your usage may fall between what we’ve estimated for casual and

frequent use, be generous. Choose a plan with more peak minutes

than you think you’ll need, to minimize extra-minute charges.

• If you want to change carriers, use the table to gauge how com-

petitive the new carrier’s plan is likely to be.

• If you know that your usage comes close to our examples, then

you can begin your quest for an economical calling plan with the

ones we’ve selected. Subscribers to ConsumerReports.org can use a

selector powered by TeleBright.com to help choose a plan.

THE BOTTOM LINE ON CALLING PLANS

dollars&sense

Plan name Estimated

monthly cost

Basic fee Extra-

minute cost

Roaming Long-

distance

CASUAL USER

T-Mobile Basic Plus $33

$30 300 Unlimited 40¢ 49¢ —

AT&T Wireless mLife Local $29.99 34

30 250 Unlimited 45 69 —

AT&T Wireless mLife National $29.99 34 30 200 Unlimited 45 69 —

Cingular SuperHome 300 35 30 300 5,000 45 79 —

Cingular Nation GSM 250 35 30 250 5,000 45 79 —

Sprint PCS Free and Clear Nationwide 300 38 35 300 Unlimited 40 50 —

Verizon Wireless America’s Choice 300 39

35 300 Unlimited 45 69 —

Sprint Free and Clear Area-Wide 48 45 1,000 Unlimited 50 50 —

Nextel National Instant Connect 500 50 50 500 Unlimited 40 — —

T-Mobile Get More 3000 62 50 3,000 — 35 49 20¢

FREQUENT USER

Sprint Free and Clear Area-Wide 63

45 1,000 Unlimited 50 50 —

Nextel National Instant Connect 1000 70

70 1,000 Unlimited 40 — —

T-Mobile Get More Plus 78 60 1,000 Unlimited 40 49 —

Cingular SuperHome 900 w/ Rollover 78 50 900 5,000 39 79 —

Sprint PCS Free and Clear Nationwide 1000 83 65 1,000 Unlimited 40 50 —

T-Mobile Get More 3000 84 50 3,000 — 35 49 20

AT&T Wireless mLife Local $59.99 85

60 1,050 Unlimited 40 69 —

AT&T Wireless mLife National $59.99 85 60 850 Unlimited 35 69 —

Verizon Wireless America’s Choice 700 93

60 700 Unlimited 40 69 —

Cingular Nation GSM 1000 w/Rollover 98 70 1,000 5,000 39 79 —

FAMILY OF FOUR

T-Mobile FamilyTime Plan (includes 2 lines; $10 per extra line) 99 70 800 Unlimited 35 49 —

Cingular Nation GSM FamilyTalk 700 w/Rollover ($10 per extra line) 102

50 700 5,000 39 79 —

Sprint PCS Free and Clear Nationwide 700 ($20 per extra line) 127

50 700 Unlimited 40 50 —

AT&T Wireless mLife Family National $49.99 ($20 per extra line) 128 50 700 Unlimited 40 69 —

Verizon Wireless America’s Choice FamilyShare 700 ($20 per extra line) 140 60 700 Unlimited 40 69 —

Nextel National Get Connected More 600 ($20 per extra line) 164 56 600 Unlimited 40 — —

Within types, in order of estimated monthly cost.

Included minutes National

plans

•

Peak Off-peak

What the numbers mean

EEssttiimmaatteedd mmoonntthhllyy ccoosstt

is our estimate of the total cost for each

plan, based on the usage pattern we set.

BBaassiicc ffeeee

is the carrier’s

initial monthly charge.

IInncclluuddeedd mmiinnuutteess

lists the peak (weekday,

daytime) minutes included in the plan and the off-peak (night and

weekend) allotment.

EExxttrraa--mmiinnuuttee ccoosstt

is the charge for calls that

exceed the allotment of peak or off-peak minutes.

RRooaammiinngg

is the

per-minute charge for calls made outside the home calling area.

LLoonngg--ddiissttaannccee

is almost always included in the basic fee.

20 CONSUMER REPORTS

FEBRUARY 2004

expense of a Verizon calling plan.That’s a

decision you need to make.

Think national. National calling

plans have become so inexpensive that

they’re worth considering first, even if

you don’t travel often. However, national

plans often include fewer anytime min-

utes than regional plans do. So if you plan

to use the cell phone during business

hours—for a lot of daytime, midweek call-

ing—then look first at regional plans.

Try sharing. If two or more family

members use cell phones, consider a

family plan that lets everyone share a

pool of minutes and minimize the

monthly fee. Family plans add $10 to $20

to the basic monthly fee for each addi-

tional phone. However, it may be hard to

keep tabs on overall usage. Sprint, T-

Mobile, and Verizon let you monitor over-

all usage on a Web site or by punching in

a code or calling the carrier’s customer

service office.

Watch the extras. Seemingly minor

add-ons can add up.They include direc-

tory assistance (about $1.25 per call, plus

airtime charges), text messages (10 cents

each, or about 2 cents each in plans that

let you buy them in bulk), “multimedia”

messaging, such as sending cell-phone

snapshots (25 cents each), and cus-

tomized ring tones (99 cents each). If you

expect family members to send and re-

ceive more than a handful of text mes-

sages monthly, choose a plan that lets you

buy them in bulk. There are plenty of

other charges that can increase the size

of your bills.

Opt for larger buckets of minutes. If

you’re buying your first cell phone, give

yourself a generous estimate of the

amount of calling you’ll do. Keep in mind

that you pay for incoming and outgoing

wireless calls.

A $30 plan offering 300 peak minutes

translates into an average of 10 minutes

of phone time per day before extra-

minute charges of 40 cents per minute or

more kick in. It may make sense

to take a $40 plan with 400 peak

minutes. If you take the cheaper

plan but underestimate usage by

even 1 minute a day, you’ll spend

more than if you took the $40

plan in the first place.

If you already have a wireless

phone, use your recent bills to

help estimate your needs. If you

miscalculate, you should be able

to switch later to a plan with the

same carrier that better matches

your calling pattern.

Consider prepaid. Prepaid

plans are best suited for parents

who want to control their

children’s usage, those with a credit prob-

lem, or as an emergency-only service.

Using a prepaid plan is like using a pre-

paid phone card; you buy the amount of

calling time you want every month or so.

There is no long-term contract. Prepaid

plans vary widely, but all include free long-

distance and most include roaming.

AT&T’s GoPhone, sold in electronics

and department stores and on the AT&T

Wireless Web site, is more like a sub-

scription service than a prepaid plan.

When you sign up for GoPhone, you se-

lect the amount of calling time you want

and give AT&T permission to debit your

bank account or credit card automatically

to replenish your account. GoPhone

plans range from $19.99 for 80 anytime

minutes to $49.99 for 550 minutes, with

unlimited nights and weekends.

With other carriers, you generally buy

chunks of time—in stores, by phone, or

online—as you need them.

Tw o national companies specialize in

prepaid plans:Virgin Mobile charges 25

cents for the first 10 minutes daily, then

10 cents per minute. TracFone offers a

wide range of options, from $17.99 for 60

days/30 minutes to $149.99 for 365

days/300 minutes.TracFone’s phones also

have a useful monitor that displays the

number of unused minutes.

MORE THAN 40 PERCENT

of the ConsumerReports.org

subscribers surveyed said

they CHANGED THEIR PLAN

in the past year, in most cases

to increase the number of

minutes in the base plan.

Analog The original type of wireless

techology. An important backup for emer-

gencies, but being phased out.

CDMA Code Division Multiple Access.

The format used by Sprint, Verizon, and

some regional carriers. It assigns a digital

code to keep the calls separate.

Cellular Also known as mobile or wire-

less. It’s a call-handling system composed

of a network of antennas. A call is relayed

from antenna to antenna.

Cellular band The part of the radio

spectrum originally allocated for mobile-

phone use. See also PCS band.

Dual band Denotes a phone that can

operate in the cellular and PCS bands,

which can broaden coverage.

Dual mode, tri-mode, multinetwork

Denotes a phone that can use at least one

digital format, analog technology, or both.

GSM Global System for Mobile Commu-

nications. A digital format that’s widely

used in Europe and Asia. It keeps calls sep-

arate by assigning a slice of time to each

caller. Used by AT&T and Cingular.

iDEN Integrated Digital Enhanced Net-

work. Used only by Nextel in the U.S.

PCS band Personal Communications

System band. A portion of the radio spec-

trum allocated to mobile-phone use. Sprint

and T-Mobile are the largest companies in

the PCS band.

PTT Push to Talk. Allows a cell phone

to be used like a walkie-talkie.

Roaming The common practice of

seeking a signal from a “partner” carrrier

to handle a call outside your home area.

SMS Short Message Service, or text

messaging. Lets you send short text mes-

sages from one cell phone to another or

from the Internet to a cell phone.

TDMA Time Division Multiple Access.

The digital format used mainly by AT&T

Wireless and Cingular. Similar to GSM.

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