Cell phones bewildering, myriad
By Richard Mullins
Democrat and Chronicle
democratandchronicle.com
(January 5, 2003) — With the holiday shopping season over, Christopher Sardone is going back into the fray to pick new cell phones for his family.
And he’s bracing for a fight.
“Companies are just focused on getting your business and not keeping you happy,” says Sardone, who juggles a Cingular Wireless bill for his wife, a T-Mobile bill for his daughter and a Verizon Wireless bill for himself.
“We probably pay $250 a month for everyone, which is too much. But everyone uses their phone totally differently,” Sardone says. “And it seems like you just can’t live without one anymore. I’m talking on one now.”
With five major cell phone companies in Rochester, each offering a dozen or more plans, choosing a cell phone plan has never been more complex.
And it’s about to get even trickier.
“If you’re looking for things to get easier, it won’t, it will get worse,” said Kirk Parsons, who tracks cell phone plans for JD Power & Associates.
This will be the year of new cellular gadgets, Parsons says: instant messages, camera phones and online games. And charges for those services can be far more complex, with some firms charging per kilobyte of data transmitted, rather than per minute used.
Cell phone sales people “will try to move you up the price scale,” Parsons says. “’For another $5 you get this,’ and ‘If you want that phone, you have to chose this plan.’ Stick to your guns and what you want to pay.”
No one plan will fit everyone, so his best advice is to ask the right questions and get as much information as possible because breaking a service contract can cost $150 or more.
Still, most service contracts tie a customer to a company, not to a specific plan from that company. So major cellular firms often allow customers to move to larger or smaller service plans, something that not enough people try, Parsons said. And since plans change from month to month, it’s always worth the time to see whether a new plan fits better.
What potential customers may not know enough to ask about are the new data capabilities of cell phones, and the charges that could be incurred.
Instant text messages, camera phones and online games are the next major wave of service from cellular companies, as well as location-based services such as maps and directions.
“Pricing for data is a totally different animal, and the language and the lingo are just a mine field to try and figure out,” Parsons said.
Cellular providers are taking very different routes in how they charge for data.
Some offer a certain number of phone-to-phone text messages per month. Others charge by the kilobyte or megabyte of data.
T-Mobile, for example, sells one megabyte of data transmission for $2.99 per month for customers in the “T-Zone” plan.
“One megabyte is about 500 Web pages downloaded,” said T-Mobile spokesman Brian Zidar. “Or that’s 340 e-mails, or 50 ring tone downloads, or 85 pictures downloaded or 25 of your pictures sent from your phone.”
Each additional megabyte costs $10, Zidar said.
Such services are very young, and companies are still experimenting with what plans will work, says Brent Iadarola, who follows cellular trends for Frost & Sullivan Co., a market research firm.
“Consumers don’t have any idea what a megabyte may get them,” he says, noting many phones have pre-loaded games, like Kung-Fu or golf. Others must be downloaded, which soaks up more data time. “This is going to be a year where carriers figure things out.”
Cellular firms are eager to deploy these new services after spending billions of dollars on equipment to send data.
Estimates vary, but analysts say the United States has about 123 million cellular customers, and more than half of U.S. households own at least one cell phone.
Customers often switch carriers, and attracting a new customer can cost $300 to $450 each, JD Power estimates. So anything that keeps customers with one carrier boosts profits. The availability of data services is seen as one way to retain those customers.
Iadarola said many cellular firms believe, for example, that people who buy a combination Palm Pilot and phone, and take the time to download their address book and connect it with their employer’s network, are far less inclined to switch cell phone companies and start over.
“We’ve been waiting a couple years for services like these,” Iadarola said. “Now is the time they will really push their marketing campaigns to sell them.”
E-mail address: rmullins@DemocratandChronicle.com
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Which plan is best for you?
To decide which cell phone plan is right for you, consider the answers to these questions:
How much will you use the phone, and who will you be calling most often?
"Remember the average call lasts more than four minutes," said Kirk Parsons, who tracks cell phone plans for JD Power & Associates. "Three hundred minutes may sound like a lot. But just a few 20-minute calls and that adds up."
If you mostly call your family, consider putting everyone under a plan that offers free minutes among each other.
Where you will be calling? And where you will you be calling from?
"This is very important," Parsons says. "This is where people end up overpaying or paying a lot more than they expect. All carriers have coverage maps that look great, but in reality there are holes everywhere."
If your plan doesn't cover an area you plan to call or call from often, you'll end up with long-distance or roaming charges, which can really add up.
How much do you really know about the plan you're considering or the company you're buying it from? Are they hiding some important details? Do they have a reputation for good customer service?
"Really grill the person offering the plan, ask them a lot of questions," Parson said.
Can you get by with a pre-paid plan?
Every major cellular provider offers a way to pay a specific amount in advance for a month of service. Not enough people try this route, Parsons said, but it could be right for you, because "this way, you know exactly how well the phone works and where it works." |
