Mobile Phone Plans Focus Study 1

Costs and Usage Mobile phones that are used irresponsibly or with the wrong choice of mobile phone plan can result in unexpectedly large bills. Text messaging is usually cheaper than voice calls; however, premium text messaging services that use 1900 are billed at a higher rate. Extra costs are involved when mobile phones are used for internet access, 3D games, music, video downloads, email and photo messaging. Most phone plans today have ‘unlimited’ calls included…more care needs to be taken with ‘prepaid’ options.

Call Costs The cost of making a mobile phone call is determined by the connection fee (or flagfall), call rate and the length of the call. The connection fee and call rate charged depends on the mobile phone network and mobile phone plan. A prepaid plan makes it easier to control spending by limiting debt. There are also fewer contractual arrangements. However, users often pay more for their calls and text messages. Postpaid plan involves a contract that varies in length from one to two years. It involves a range of charges such as a connection fee, monthly access fees, call costs, disconnection fee and data charges.

Comparison: Two different plans are outlined in the table: The table above shows two mobile phone plans. Joel uses Plan A. Paige uses Plan B. a What is the call charge if Joel makes a 2-minute call? Charge = 0.35 + (120 ÷ 30) × 0.47]= $2.23 Joel is charged $2.23. b What is the call charge if Paige makes a 5-minute call? Charge = 0.25 + (300 ÷ 30) × 0.40 = $4.25 Paige is charged $4.25. c Mia makes 100 calls in a month with each call lasting 1 minute. What is the monthly cost on Plan B? Charge = 100 × [0.25 + (60 ÷ 30) × 0.40] = $105 Cost = 105 − 20 + 24 = $109 Cost of plan B is $109.

Reading graphs for mobile usage