Compare Wireless Plans - How To Choose?!
When you start to compare wireless
plans, the real question then becomes - How to choose?! There
are
just so many options! So now
that you're confident that you're sick of signing long term contracts,
and understand that prepaid wireless can actually be a better
value, you're ready for the next step. That is, figuring out
what
type of plan will best meet your needs, and what wireless providers
offer what plan types.
There
are numerous
things that are important to different people, so the good news is that
there's no one right answer. However, the bad news
is that it's
going to take some work to figure it out! The spirit of this
site
is to provide a free resource to help you through your
research
and selection
process. Everything you need to discover, digest, and
understand to ultimately make the best decision for you can
be
found on this site. Below you will find some key selection
criteria to consider as you think through and evaluate the available
options.
1.
Determine how much you use your phone, and the payment flexibility that
you
want.
- Depending on your average voice call usage, and how much
money you want to
spend, and when you want to spend it, you'll be bound for one of the
following plan categories. Before you compare wireless plans,
you'll
want
to see where your usage needs fit in terms of the plan type category.
Click on the link for each type to explore more details.
- PAYG
(Pay-As-You-Go)
Bound
- This is for people with only occasional usage, or
frequent,
but short calls. This category typically provides the maximum
payment flexibility in terms of allowing you to add as much or as
little money to your prepaid account balance as you either need, or
have available at a particular point in time. This is the
classic
original prepaid wireless plan type. It has a much less
prominent
presence in the prepaid space now, as it typically represents the
lowest value customer for a prepaid wireless carrier.
However,
there is still a place for it in terms of meeting certain people's
needs.
- Monthly
Bound
- This plan type is for people with a more frequent
usage.
This plan type requires you to make a payment once per month
on a
particular date in order to maintain continuous service. If
you're late for a payment, some carriers require that you pay for any
missed days, while others simply allow you to restart a new month on
the day you are able to make your next payment. This prepaid
wireless plan type is quite popular, but certainly affords for much
lower payment payment flexibility. Of course, if you're using
your phone regularly, while you won't have to sign a contract, you will
have to mentally commit to making regular on-time payments to ensure
that your phone is always active.
- Daily
Bound
- This plan type is for people with more frequent usage
than pay
as you go customers. For that more frequent usage you'll get
a
better value than paying per minute, but less value than a Monthly
plan. You'll also have decent payment
flexibility that compares more to the PAYG plan type as you can add as
much money as you need or have available at a given point in time.
- Unlimited
Bound
- Obviously this plan type is for people who have very
high
usage. But be careful! Unless you truly have a lot
of
usage, the Monthly plan type can actually offer the best value, so
don't automatically conclude that an unlimited prepaid wireless plan
will be the best option for you. Especially since prepaid
carriers have to be careful with people using too many minutes, which
can actually cause them to lose a lot of money, the Monthly plan type
is becoming even more popular because it limits the company's exposure.
That said, an Unlimited no contract plan can be an amazing
option
for people with high usage. It really all comes down to truly
understanding how much you use your phone on a monthly basis.
Read a quick note about automated Plan Selector services; don't let someone else
compare wireless plans for you!
2.
Determine how important the phone is to you.
- Phone
Preference is
a very personal choice that can drive wireless provider, and even plan
selection.
Especially now that higher end phones (ex. BlackBerries,
Smartphones, Touchscreens) are available on prepaid wireless plans.
Thankfully, the variety of these phones now available is
fantastic as can be seen in the Smartphone
Comparison table. You can compare wireless plans
for smartphones there as well.
3.
Determine how important network quality is to you.
- Network
Quality
can severely impact the number of dropped calls and voice quality that
you experience. It can really make or break your opinion
about the wireless service you're using, and affect your selection as
you
compare wireless plans. Also, data speeds have become equally
important as voice calls are going down, while data usage is continuing
to increase for the average user.
4.
Determine how important network technology is to you.
- Wireless
Network Technology
is widely discussed and debated, and can
be an important factor depending on your needs. Thankfully,
technology has been starting to converge into more universal standards,
so hopefully over time this will become less of an issue that customers
need to be thinking about.
If you're
not yet
convinced that prepaid wireless is the right choice for
you, check out the
Why
Prepaid Wireless section, or learn more about different the
different prepaid plan types at the
Prepaid
Wireless Plans page.
If you're ready to jump right in
and compare
wireless plans at a detailed level, click on the following
country specific links!
Home
›
How To Choose A Prepaid Wireless Plan
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