10 Tips For Saving On Your Cell Bill

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10 Tips For Saving On Your Cell Bill

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The iPhone has finally arrived in Canada with an array of plan options, Bell and Telus have just announced new incoming text message charges, and there will be three new carriers vying for cellular customers by 2010.  It has been an unprecedented few weeks in the Canadian cellular market.  Though there has been a deluge of press coverage, most consumers are still in the dark about what these changes mean to them and their wallet.

To help navigate the recent changes in the cellular industry from a consumer perspective, here is a list of 10 Tips for Managing Your Cell Phone Bill

1. Avoid signing up for service contracts that will extend past early 2010. The emergence of new carriers in late 2009 and early 2010 will lead to much better market pricing from both the incumbents and new entrants.
2. When shopping for a new plan, compare plans at a total bill level, including all options, fees, and charges. This is can potentially add up to twice the advertised local minutes plan charge so it only makes sense to compare plans based on the expected monthly bill versus just one plan component.
3. Shop at independent dealers, such as Wireless Wave, instead of corporate stores. Our general experience has been that sales people at independent dealers seem to work harder to build the best package deal for customers.
4. Get the sales people to do the work for you. The best way to shop for plans at the total bill level is to have the sales people build the lowest total bill options for your needs. We recommend taking your last two bills with details on your usage; Minutes usage levels (local, long distance, outgoing, incoming, evenings, and weekends), text usage levels, data usage levels, and options, to independent carrier dealers and letting them build the lowest cost total bill plan that they can to meet your needs. Have them email you the results and you can easily compare total bill options across carriers.
5. Corporate Plans. Plans available to larger corporations can cost 15% to 30% less than those offered to individual consumers. If you have anyone in your family that works for a large corporation, have them check with their HR or IT department to see if the corporate cellular contract allows for employee purchases.
6. Do not use the carrier’s long distance. Carrier long distance charges are much higher than home or office long distance charges and are one component of your cellular service that can be easily avoided. For long distance calling from your cell phone, use services from companies like Alligato Mobile. They work well with your cell phone, are very convenient, and cost very little.
7. Do not use the carrier’s roaming. Roaming charges are very expensive and can easily add more than $1 per minute to your voice usage costs. If you travel frequently, use a service like Maxroam that offers very cost effective roaming calling from most of the countries in the world. If you only need occasional access to roaming, purchase a local prepaid phone or local prepaid SIM card from a shop at your airport of arrival. All international airports usually have shops that offer easy access to these products and they will save you a bundle on calling from your destination country.
8. Use more text, less voice, and avoid an email plan if you can. As part of your package, purchase a bulk text package and use text instead of email. An average user can communicate as well with an average text message as he or she can within an average email. Just strip away the unnecessary words and get to the point.
9. Wait to purchase the iPhone. If you can bear to wait. As per Tip #1, avoid locking yourself into a long term contract when significantly better offers will be available in 12 to 18 months.
10. Use your phone less. Just kidding - we know you can’t.