Cell Phone Plans
In the 1970s, I remember watching television. Several television shows showed the lives of the rich and famous. One common scene I remember is the rich handsome man talking on the car phone. That was the epitome of wealth and status. At the time, my friends and I debated whether or not car phones were possible. We elected to believe they were not real. None of us had any idea just how wrong we were.
These bag phones were the first crude cell phones. Powered by a cord that plugged into the cigarette lighter of a car, they were limited in range. Later models brought increased range and portability. They were still huge. In fact, in the 1980s, cell phones were called bricks due to their resemblance to a common masonry building block.
Cell Phones Rule the World
The rate at which they became popular astounded even the experts. To reach the world, they had to be less expensive. Cell phone companies provided the answer. The baby bells jumped ship and entered the cell phone business. Soon, many different companies were involved in this new communications venue.
Cell phones needed to be priced at a reasonable rate to spread to the general public. The cell phone contract came into being. People could now buy a phone of their choice for free or for an inexpensive price if they promised to sign up for service for two years.
Different Cell Phone Plans
Customers had many options presented to them. They could choose from several different types of phones. These devices would normally cost up to $200 each, but were offered for free as long as the person opted into the contract. If anyone wanted a fancier cell phone, they could pay about $50 to $100 to buy a more expensive phone. They still had to promise to abide by the rules of the cell phone contract.
In the infancy of cell phone companies, people had to pay for every little service as a separate fee. There was no charge for long distance, but numbers of minutes were low so people frequently ended up paying exorbitant over the minute fees. If people were not keeping track of their minutes, they could get some really high bills.
During those early days, cell phone companies kept track of the zone where your phone contract was based. As long as you stayed within the boundaries of your call area, you were charged the regular rate. If you went outside the area, you were charged roaming fees. Those fees varied depending on how far you were away from your home zone. This was one way the companies could recoup some money lost to free long distance.
Customer numbers continued to grow throughout the 1990s. Soon, everybody had a cell phone. They were no longer the gadget of the rich and famous. Yes, there still appeared on television and on the movies the coolest of the cool people. The coolest actor and actress still looked cool when they whipped out the fanciest flip phone and started talking. Some were so well practiced at the cell phone flip it could have been surmised they would have made great gunslingers in the old west.
Dropping Prices
In time, cell phone companies had to drop roaming fees because they had so much competition from other companies. They began coming up with new ideas to draw customers in and keep them paying each month. Family plans came into play where you could share several phones on one account for about $100 each month. Family members could talk to each other without running up any minutes. They could save the rest of the minutes for other purposes.
Next the companies came up with one of the best of all options for customer. They decided to allow people to talk to anyone that had the same cell phone company for no charge against cell phone minutes. Now you could talk to everyone you knew that had the same company and it was all free.
Cell phone plans are sweet if you can stomach the two year contracts. You get free text messaging, in company free calls, high minutes, favorites, family plans, free voice mail, free long distance, and a free phone. Competition has been good for customers. The cell phone plans available now are much better than the ones offered just ten years ago.
Get on the net and compare the different companies. See what they have to offer you if you take them up on their offer. Before you sign the contract, make sure that you read all of the fine print. Don’t let the people standing in line behind you keep you from doing this important step. You don’t want any surprises when you get your first bill. The most fun part of a new cell phone company is getting access to the latest and greatest in available blackberry phones.