Different types of cell phone plans are available

Types of Cell Phone Plans

Though each carrier offers variations, most cellular plans fall into one of these basic categories:
Local Cellular Plans
Regional Cellular Plans
National Cellular Plans
Family or Shared Cell Phone Plans
Prepaid Cell Phone Plans

Local Cellular Plans
These are the most geographically limited plans in which you pay extra for using your phone outside of a relatively small home calling area, typically a metropolitan area and the adjacent suburbs. Under many local plans you also pay extra for calling long distance. These plans carry the lowest basic monthly fees, but if you use your phone when you’re on the road or make a lot of long distance calls, your monthly bills can quickly climb well above the cost of comparable regional or national plans. These are the most cost-effective plans if you generally stick close to home and/or don’t plan to use your phone very much.

U.S.customers

Regional Cellular Plans
These plans usually offer inexpensive calling over a much larger multi-state area, such as the entire Northeast or Southwestern U.S. Only when you make or take calls outside this area will you pay high roaming charges on top of your monthly fee. If you take frequent road trips across state lines, a regional plan could be your best bet. Make sure to check the coverage maps for your carrier to make sure the places you frequent are within your home calling area.

National Cellular Plans
These plans carry somewhat higher monthly fees, but they typically allow you to use your phone anywhere in the country with no extra charge for roaming and/or for long distance calls. These plans are best for people who travel or are simply willing to pay a bit more for freedom from worrying about where they are and who they’re calling.

Family or Shared Cell Phone Plans
These monthly plans give two or more family members their own phone and separate phone numbers, while sharing a "pooled" allotment of minutes. The plans offer a lower cost per minute than individual plans that add up to the same number of minutes. Even better, they cut costs by addressing a common multi-phone problem: some family members exceed their allotment of minutes, while others don’t use theirs. You get one monthly bill for the entire family. But you’ll want to check the call timer on each member’s phone periodically, since there's no other warning that you’re about to run over your family quota of minutes.

Prepaid Cell Phone Plans
A pay-as-you-go prepaid cell phone is an option for people who don't want the hassle of a credit check; those who expect to use their phone very sporadically or only for emergencies. Their per-minute rates can be more expensive and the minutes your purchase sometimes expire after 90 to 120 days. The phones are generally inexpensive, but increasingly stylish and capable models are being offered with standard features such as voicemail, call waiting, Internet access and other extras just like those sold with conventional monthly calling plans.

Technology Difference: Digital or Analog
In our cellular world, there are two primary technologies available to wireless users: analog and digital, and your preference for one or the other depends on where you'll want to do the majority of your calling.

Next consider whether you want analog or digital service. Digital service ? clearer and more secure than analog ? is necessary for features like wireless Internet and e-mail. But coverage can be spotty. The older analog network, which transmits sounds like radio waves, has the most extensive coverage, especially in rural areas. Tip: If you want digital service, make sure your cellular company has a ''roaming'' agreement that lets your phone work on an analog system when you are outside digital range. But beware ? roaming can be expensive, and it requires a ''dual mode'' phone.

Although dropping out of popularity, the analog standard, otherwise referred to as AMPS or NAMPS, offers coverage for over 80% of the U.S., including many rural areas not covered by digital technology. Analog offers the advantage of low pricing and a large calling area. Low sound quality and reduced privacy or security are disadvantages to this technology.

The digital standard, which encompasses the CDMA, TDMA and GSM platforms, allows for more callers to concurrently occupy space on each of a service provider's cells, making it the superior choice for highly populated or metropolitan areas. Each platform has its merits, ranging from the reduced background noise and earlier WAP adoption of CDMA phones, to the clearer sound and security protection of TDMA phones, to the near global roaming ability that accompanies GSM phones. PCS, the new kid on the block, is a marketing term for a CDMA digital network. Disadvantages to digital systems are their lack of unified technology and a small, metropolitan-focused calling area.

If you go to the country occasionally, you won't have coverage at all if your phone is digital only. Remote locations are not covered by the digital network, but using a digital & analog phone makes it possible to automatically switch to analog when digital service is not available for a better overall coverage.