Some tips on shopping for smartphone service

The cellphone industry's traditional way of doing business -- locking customers into pricey two-year contracts -- has been upended thanks to upstart major carriers T-Mobile and Sprint and a bunch of smaller providers that are giving consumers more options and different ways to customize their service.

That means wireless carriers are falling all over themselves trying to gain new customers, making it a good time to shop around.

In a new report on the wireless industry, Consumer Reports estimates that consumers on family plans who are spending more than $200 monthly could take advantage of the new plans to save $100 or more each month.

 

With all the new options and plan permutations, smartphone consumers face almost too many choices. (Robert F. Bukaty/AP file photo)

 

But with all the new options and plan permutations, consumers face almost too many choices. "It can be very, very hard to figure out," said Cameron Craig, who cofounded a website called WhistleOut to help people sort through their wireless options.
Here are some tips that Craig and other experts suggest will help you make a decision:

Where will you use your phone? Root Metrics grades the service provided by the major carriers in particular metro areas and provides nationwide coverage maps. You can use those to see how strong the signals are likely to be at your house, your office and other popular destinations. Note that many of the smaller carriers actually offer service over the major carriers' networks, so you can also use Root Metrics' service to evaluate their coverage as well.

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Answering this question can also be helpful in picking a service plan. The difference between many plans these days is the amount of data they include. If you usually use your phone at home or the office, where it will be accessing the Internet through a Wi-Fi hotspot, you likely won't need all that much wireless data. If you are a road warrior who uses your phone mostly in the car, you may need more data than the average consumer.

How will you use your phone? The carriers generally provide tools through their websites to track the number of minutes you spend talking on the phone, the number of texts you send and the amount of data you use each month. They also sometimes will show your average usage over a period of time. Take a look not only at the average amounts, but also your peak usage, because carriers sometimes charge hefty overage fees when users go over their limits.If you're moving to a smartphone from a regular cellphone, Consumer Reports advises that most consumers can get by with about 1 to 2 gigabytes of data a month, particularly if they're conscientious about using Wi-Fi hot spots. However, consumers who are moving from a slower smartphone to one that connects to the Internet via the fast new LTE networks should expect to use up to 50 percent more data than before, says WhistleOut's Craig.

Who will be on your plan? If you are buying service for more than one person, you can save money by signing up for a family plan from one carrier. Those plans typically offer discounted service for multiple phones, or allow consumers to share data.T-Mobile, for example, is offering a special deal that provides unlimited voice minutes, texting and data for two people for $100 a month total. That deal got the attention of Art Hernandez, who was shopping for a plan to cover himself and his son. He also plans to check out Sprint's deals.
"I heard those are the two that are basically the cheapest," said Hernandez, 69, of San Jose. "I don't use a cellphone much."

What phone do you plan to use? You can save money by sticking with your current phone. But doing so can limit your choice of carriers; if you have an AT&T phone, you typically can't use it on Verizon's network, for example.Also, some of the lower-cost networks have a much narrower range of available phones. So, if you have your heart set on the new iPhone 6 or the latest Samsung gadget, you may have to either pay full price for it or choose a different carrier.

How do you want to pay for your phone? The carriers have been moving to separate their service charges from the cost of phones and in the process have given consumers some new options to pay for their devices. Many carriers offer what amounts to no-interest financing deals, which allow consumers to pay for their phones over a two-year period. While these deals are similar in practice to the old two-year plans, the big difference comes at the end of the two years. Under the old setup, you'd still be essentially "paying" for the phone, but with these new options your bill will be lower because you've paid off the phone. Sprint now offers customers the option of leasing their phones, promising to replace them with a new model every two years. The leasing charge is typically less than what consumers would pay on a financing plan, but consumers don't get to keep the phone at the end of the deal.

Did you look for special deals or read the fine print? The wireless market is extremely competitive right now, with carriers offering new deals to lure in consumers, deals that could save you a good deal of money.source: http://goo.gl/2SGDTS

Posted in: Mobile News