Oct 3, 2014

Buying Unlocked Mobile Phones Outright May Save You A Great Deal

By Shamar Smith


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.

Traditional cellphone contracts boils down to buying a cellphone at little cost from a service provider. In exchange for the great price, you sign a contract and agree to use that specific phone model with that carrier for a full two years. With a prepaid phone, you may choose a month-to-month service, but often there is a limited choice. With an unlocked cellphone, you have no restrictive ties to any carrier and are free to shop for phones and plans as often as you like.

A once-off payment for an unlocked mobile phone of your choice may initially seem more expensive than with a 2-year contract. If you spread the amount over two years, it may actually be cheaper than your accumulated monthly payments - especially if you have a cheaper plan.

Investing in an unlocked mobile phone also spare you the time and frustration of dealing with billing or administrative errors that often occur with lengthy contracts. You are not restricted to the cellphones stocked by your carrier and thus have a wider selection. The only problem is that these cheaper phones only work on GSM cellular networks that use SIM cards. Since all mobile carriers do not operate on GSM networks, you must make sure to find the ones who are associated with unlocked mobile 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.

Apart from having a bigger selection of cellphones to choose from, outright cellphones save you the frustration of dealing with contractual, billing and administrative errors that often occur in long term contracts. People often battle to get out of a contract once it has expired due to administrative problems. With unlocked mobile phones one is free to buy as many and as often as one likes.

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.

A mobile device with dual SIM cards is the best option for people who often have to travel internationally. These phones allow you to store your regular SIM card, as well as the one of your host country, in the same handset. This allows you to make and receive calls to and from your home on your regular number, while keeping the cost of local calls to a minimum.

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!




About the Author:



0 comments:

Post a Comment