© 2006 Consumer Jungle Lesson Two: Wireless Phone Plans

© 2006 Consumer Jungle Intro to Understanding Plans Activation Fees: a one-time fee to customers to start a Wireless phone plan. Home Calling Area: is the geographic service area provided by the carrier. Roaming: Occurs when you make and receive calls using another carrier's Wireless phone towers. Long Distance: A call made to someone outside of your home calling area.

© 2006 Consumer Jungle Plan Pricing Carriers create plans based on combination of: –Peak Minutes –Off-Peak Minutes Start & stop times vary by carrier. Mobile-to-Mobile and In-Network Minutes Average person uses cell phone 2x per day

© 2006 Consumer Jungle How are minutes counted? Airtime minutes include: –Outgoing calls –Incoming calls Carriers round minutes up. When you talk one second over, the carrier rounds up to the next minute Minutes expire Rollover Minutes

© 2006 Consumer Jungle Family Plans Shared Minutes Low monthly fee for additional lines. Unlimited calling between callers on same plan. Each family member has a unique phone number.

© 2006 Consumer Jungle Prepaid Service Plans You purchase the phone & the minutes Best for infrequent users & emergency-only users Pros: –No monthly bill –Pay for a fixed amount of refillable minutes. –Don’t need a credit history. Cons: –Higher cost per minute –Minutes expire

© 2006 Consumer Jungle Plans for Kids 1/3 of 11- to 14-year- olds have their own cell phone Phones –Simple, No keypad –Speed dial buttons for parents, 911 Plans –Prepaid –Pay-as-you-go

© 2006 Consumer Jungle Compare Unique Features Verizon –National IN Calling T-Mobile –1,000 Anytime Minutes Sprint –Fair & Flexible Cingular –Rollover minutes Check to see if other carriers are available in your area.

© 2006 Consumer Jungle Try Before You Buy How trial periods work –You sign contract –Try the carrier/phone –Cancel contract without paying early termination fee Lasts 14 to 30 days Check coverage –Home –School –Work

© 2006 Consumer Jungle Avoid Wireless-Service Gotchas Sign a 1-year contract –Early Termination Fee –Some retailers add their own Early Termination Fee –Sign a 2-year contract only if renewing & happy with the plan. Read the fine print –Don’t understand? ASK.

© 2006 Consumer Jungle Free Wireless Phones Aren’t Free Carriers and authorized agents offer free phone as an incentive. But, the cost of service over 2 years is greater than the cost of the phone. Commission & early termination fee recoup the cost of the free phone for the carrier.

© 2006 Consumer Jungle Free Wireless Phone Scams Online or spam offer Don't buy unless they: –Are an authorized agent for a carrier. –Use a secure server to process your credit card information.

© 2006 Consumer Jungle Authorized Agents Act as an agent for individual or multiple Wireless phone carriers. Offer good comparative information for the customer. Get paid by the carrier after they sign you up for a plan. Before you sign a contract, ask how much they will be compensated for your contract.

© 2006 Consumer Jungle Selecting a Plan Find a plan that matches your use by asking yourself: When will I make the most calls? How long will I talk? Where will I call to and from? Who will call me? Do I need to make long distance calls?