Prepaid x Standard Cell Phone Services

Prepaid x Standard Cell Phone Services
by: Roberto Sedycias

A decade ago perhaps the options weren`t very many, but as time went by and with the advancement of high technology, cell phones became increasingly available for just about everyone, and most of us questioned which will be the best suitable service option when choosing a cell phone. Today there are two basic options: the prepaid cell phone service, which allows you to control more closely how much you can or want to spend in a particular month, and the standard cell phone service, which usually charges you a monthly bill. Both services seem to offer very good deals depending upon each person needs.

The prepaid service is meant primarily for users who want to keep a closer control of the amount of expenses in phone calls. After the phone credits are gone, one has the option to buy some more or not, keeping his expenses within a limit. This kind of service became very popular and it seems to keep growing every day worldwide. In developing countries, where cell phone tariff is expensive, prepaid services made possible to just about everyone to make use of cell phones.

Another advantage of this service is the fact that in case of a phone loss, one doesn`t have to worry much about phone calls made by third parties, because the cell phone has usually a small amount of credits inserted in. Once the stolen-lost cell phone is reported to the service provider, the phone chip will be canceled and no more hassle to worry about, except for the loss of the handset.

The standard cell phone service seems to be meant for the more active users who regularly dial phone calls or don`t care to go through the hassle of buying cell phone credits often. Although this service usually has a less expensive tariff than the prepaid service, users tend to make more use of it and because of that they end up spending more money with phone services.

One does really have to consider the options available and find out which is the most suitable for his personal use. The option for prepaid service seems to be more adequate for the less amount of usage the average people usually do. Those who prefer the prepaid service, do so because it is more attractive to their needs and they don`t have to worry about paying more for an extra service that it is not going to be used anyway.

For those who can`t afford a more expensive model or simply don`t want to spend any extra money for a cell phone, the prepaid service then becomes the ideal choice. However for those who need to keep updated this latest high-tech cell phone features and making phone calls is part of his personal or professional life, then the standard monthly paid service will seem more appropriate.

So whenever picking a cell phone service plan, make sure it fits your lifestyle. After all it`s you who will be paying the phone bill.

This article is under GNU FDL license and can be distributed without any previous authorization from the author. However the author´s name and all the URL´s (links) mentioned in the article and biography must be kept.

About The Author
Roberto Sedycias works as IT consultant for http://www.polomercantil.com.br

This article can also be accessed in portuguese language from the News Article section of page http://www.polomercantil.com.br/celular.php

International Cell Phone Services

International Cell Phone Services
by: Roberto Sedycias

If you are one who does a lot of international traveling, then you will want your clients to be able to reach you from wherever you might be in the world. But what are some of the options you have when it comes to maintaining your current level of cell phone (telefone celular) services worldwide? Do you have to buy a new plan? Do you have to pay outrageous rates? Just what is available?

First of all, the country where you live is very important when it comes to international cell phone (telefone celular) services. Most of the countries have one standard in cellular communications known as Global System for Mobile Communications or GSM. However, the United States did not follow the GSM standard and allowed competing wire carriers to develop their own standards. So, if you are coming from the United States and want to get cell phone coverage in another part of the world with your existing equipment, you probably will not be able to do it.

So let’s get back to our options for international cell phone (telefone celular) service. It is important to understand that the key issues to having effective international cell phone service is that you must have a phone that will handle the frequencies plus a service that is compatible within the country you are communicating from. If you have a phone set that handles GSM service, then your phone will be compatible in at least 212 countries worldwide, as far as hardware is concerned. The only other item you will have to be concerned with is the service plan.

The GSM frequencies operate worldwide typically at 900 MHz but more and more the cell phones (telefone celular) are operating at 1800 MHz. There are some GSM phone services in the United States and Canada but they work at 1900 and 850 MHz and therefore are incompatible with the rest of the world. That is why more and more we are starting to see tri-band phones being sold that are compatible with both international and North American GSM frequencies. The Nokia 3220 is a good example as it will handle both the 1800 and 1900 MHz frequency bands.

But what about the international cell phone (telefone celular) service? If you get one of the tri-band phones you can get a SIM card that can be used in multiple countries. These SIM cards are somewhat like pre-paid phone service. You put the card in your GSM-capable phone and have international roaming coverage from wherever the card is valid.

When choosing an international cell phone SIM card for your GSM phone, there are things you should consider when making a decision on which SIM card to buy. First, what is the initial calling credit (how long before you have to recharge)? Of course you should know the rate structure of both the incoming and outgoing calls. Next you should make sure that your phone and SIM card you are purchasing will be valid for the countries you intend to travel.

Since you are not going to be global roaming with your home cell phone (telefone celular) service, you will want to let everyone there know how they can reach you by your new number. You can also change the greeting on the voice mailbox of your regular home cell phone service telling your callers your new access number while you are out of the country.

While you are using SIM cards that will be exchanged or replaced, make sure that you save everything (phone numbers, memos, notes, etc.) into your cell phone (telefone celular) handset and not the SIM card. If you save any information on your SIM card, then the information will be unavailable whenever you exchange for a new card in another country.