Prepaid Tips:What to
Look for in a Prepaid Offer

Here are our prepaid tips, and a few suggestions to keep in mind when selecting your prepaid cell phone and plan:

• Your coverage may be more limited than with a post-paid plan - Although most major wireless carriers offer prepaid services on their own network, the majority of the cell phone models use a single band network.

  This means the handset will support digital, but not analog service. It may also mean that you have limited roaming ability.

  If you frequently travel out of your home calling area, make sure the carrier you choose allows you to roam out of network.

• Your minutes must be used within a certain time period - Depending on the carrier, and the amount you purchase for refill minutes, this time period ranges from 30 to 90 days.

  Generally, the more refill minutes you purchase - the longer your grace period is to use them. And typically, the more airtime you purchase, the cheaper each minute costs.

• Make sure your prepaid carrier has an alert system - Most carriers alert you via a message to your handset when your minutes are running low.

  In most cases, carriers suspend your account if there is a zero balance showing, then terminate it. If your account is terminated, you may be charged up to $35.00 to reactivate the account.

• Your choice of handsets will be limited - Although prepaid cell phone services are on the rise, carriers have very limited cell phone selections.

  Typically, each carrier has between 3 to 9 handset models to choose from. Most of these models are basic, although there are higher end models that include a digital camera, PDA or other enhanced features.

• You may be charged a daily access fee, even if you don't use the service - Although it's rare, some carrier's charge up to $1.00 for accessing the service, even when the cell phone is not in use.

  If you don't plan to use your cell phone on a daily basis, this can be costly. Currently, Verizon's INPulse is the only service charging this fee. T-Mobile also charges a daily fee, but only on the Side Kick II.

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