Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Five Things Cell-Phone Providers Don't Want You to Know

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 09 Nov 2002 14:40:45 -0500

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Personal Finance : Eric Gillin

Five Things Cell-Phone Providers Don't Want You to Know

By Eric Gillin
Staff Reporter

11/09/2002 10:59 AM EST

Click here for more stories by Eric Gillin

It's enough to make you wish for the days of two tin cans and a string.
Today, wireless-telephone consumers must sort through regional plans, national plans and national-on-network plans, all of which feature night and weekend minutes, anytime minutes, rollover minutes and text-messaging minutes. And those run on a network that may or may not be TDMA or GSM (that's industry parlance for time-division multiple access and global system for mobile communications, respectively), which is an important consideration if you want games, ring tones, instant messaging, full-color screens and a connection to your PDA.

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The plans will become even more complicated as the six major wireless service providers -- AT&T Wireless
(AWE:NYSE - news - commentary - research - analysis), Cingular, Nextel
(NXTL:Nasdaq - news - commentary - research - analysis), Sprint PCS
(PCS:NYSE - news - commentary - research - analysis), T-Mobile and Verizon
(VZ:NYSE - news - commentary - research - analysis) -- roll out new features and new plans to go with them. (Please see accompanying story on the pluses and minuses of the major providers' plans.)
If it seems as if all this is designed to confuse, you're right. However, shopping for a cell-phone plan can be easy -- especially if you know the inside dirt on these companies and the plans they offer. These five facts will help you get a better, cheaper and less-complicated plan.
You Should Change Your Plan

With more than half of all Americans in metropolitan areas owning mobile phones, the competition to retain and attract customers is fierce.
As a result, the wireless providers have been slashing prices on a near-weekly basis. On Oct. 18, Sprint PCS debuted its next-generation Vision PCS service with a $10 per month charge for unlimited data. Ten days later, AT&T Wireless added unlimited nights and weekends to its $30 regional plans. And on Monday of this week, Nextel, Verizon and T-Mobile either dropped prices or unveiled new plans.
"On a weekly basis, at least one of the carriers will lower their prices," said Sean Butson, a Legg Mason wireless analyst who writes a weekly report of the latest plan changes. "This has been going on for a year, particularly after the emergence of six national carriers."

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