Wednesday 8 October 2014

Unlocked Mobile Phones Outright Offer Cost-Effective And Flexible Plans

By Ben Harper


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 cellular phone industry continually grows and expands and new products daily flood the market. Most people like to keep up with the latest trends. Being stuck for two years with the same cellphone before you can upgrade, can be frustrating. Without a cellphone contract that restricts your choice of phones and the frequency of buying a new one, you are free to select the best and latest product from your favorite manufacturer.

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.

By buying a prepaid SIM card with a local number of the country in which you are staying, you can minimize your local calling costs. If you plan to travel to multiple countries during the same trip, it might be cheaper to buy a SIM card that offers international roaming services at the cheapest roaming rates. This will save you the trouble of buying a local SIM card in every country you visit.

Depending on the frequency that you want to call friends and family at home, you can also just use your compatible GSM unlocked cellphone with your home number. Although the calling cost will be considerably more expensive, you will not have to continually give new contact numbers to the ones you need to call during your travels.

The best deal for jet setters is a cellphone with dual SIM cards that stores both your regular home SIM card and the SIM card of your host country. This allows you to make and receive calls to and from your family at home on your regular home number, as well as making and receiving local calls at the lower local rates of your host country.

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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