Senin, 06 Oktober 2014

Unlocked Mobile Phones Outright Offer Cost-Effective And Flexible Plans

By Craig Hannerley


We all remember the initial shock we got when we received our first cellphone bill after signing up for a two year contract with a specific service provider. It all sounded so nice, easy and cheap to choose a dandy, modern phone with all the various functions at a low monthly rate. What most people only realized later, was all the hidden costs and limitations involved in the contract that one is now legally bound to honor for the next two years. Buying mobile phones outright may save you a great deal of money and frustration, and give you a wider choice.

Mobile phones purchased on a contract basis may initially seem cheap because the full prize is subsidized by your monthly fees to the service provider over a two year period. In the long run, however, it can actually work out more expensive than buying an unlocked phone where there is no contract or hidden administration fees involved and more options available.

Buying a new mobile phone outright may initially cost you more (as a once-off payment) than with a 2-year contract, but if you do the calculations, you will find it may actually work out cheaper if you spread the amount over a two year period. The difference is that the total cost of a new mobile phone purchased on a contract basis is subsidized by your monthly payments for the duration of the contract length and thus only appears to be cheaper.

With unlocked phones, you are not tied to a specific carrier and thus have a wider choice of phones to choose from. These cheaper phones, however, only work on GSM cellular networks using Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards. Not all mobile carriers operate on GSM networks and thus one will have to find out which ones are associated with unlocked phones.

The advantage is that you have a bigger choice of products, since each service provider offers only a limited amount of manufacturers' cellphones on its network. Your choice is thus limited to the products that your carrier stocks, or even your prepaid phone company. When you take the carriers out of the picture, you can select any unlocked cellphone from any manufacturer, including the most trendy and greatest products from major manufacturers such as Apple, Samsung and Nokia.

There are numerous advantages to outright mobile phones. Not only is one free from the frustrations when experiencing administrative or billing errors with a specific service provider, but one can also shop around for new cellphones and deals as often as one likes. You simply buy an unlocked mobile handset of your choice (without a carrier plan or contract) and a separate SIM card from a service provider or prepaid phone company to activate your cellphone's voice and data services.

These SIM cards are freely available in most countries and can be inserted into any unlocked phone. You can choose between month-to-month services or a longer contract. The SIM card contains your basic information such as phone number, contacts and calling history.

Outright mobile phones are especially handy and cost-effective for people who often travel internationally. You can cut your international calling costs dramatically by simply buying a pre-paid SIM card with a local number of the country that you are visiting. Those who plan to travel to different countries during the same trip, can check out international roaming SIM cards with the cheapest roaming rates rather than buying a local SIM card in each country that they visit.

Another option is to keep your compatible GSM unlocked cellphone with your home number to make calls to family and friends at home. Although the calls and texts will cost you more, you will not have to repeatedly give new cellphone numbers to them from every country that you visit. This is only a cost-effective option if you just want to make a few international calls.

Another option for frequent travelers is to get a mobile device with dual SIM cards. These unlocked cellphones store both your regular SIM card and the SIM card of the country you are visiting. In this way you can receive calls from home on your regular home number and make and receive calls with the lower rates of a local number.

Communication technology changes and improves every day. It is worthwhile to stay abreast of all the latest products and services available to find the most suitable ones for your specific needs. The flexibility and cost-saving plans that unlocked mobile phones offer, may just be what you need!




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