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Monday, February 8, 2010
Communication is always a fad and it doesn't cease. Whether you're out of town or just merely hanging around, a call, a beep, a text updates you with what's going on. But there are some deeper issues that communication companies are figuring out or in the process of 'getting there' phenomena. One such manifestation is the controversy of using the unlimited calling plans if it si a wise option or a burden for all.
Here's the news, the fact, which was written by Jennifer Saranow Schultz on her report at Yahoo News last February 5, 2010 which was also provided by New York Times.
Last month, Verizon and AT&T announced that they were on their unlimited cellphone calling plans to $70 a month from $100. But despite the recent price cuts, unlimited calling plans may not be the best cellphone deal for most consumers, according to an analysis from Validas LLC, which provides online cellphone plan recommendations at FixMyCellBill.com. According to Validas’s results, unlimited calling plans are the most cost effective plan option for only 7 percent of mobile subscribers. The results are based on Validas’s database of information about 18,000 phone lines.
To determine if an unlimited calling plan was the best option, Validas matched up last month the usage patterns displayed by each mobile subscriber’s line with the cheapest call plan available to serve that behavior. It analyzed mobile subscriber behavior, like who the user called most, minutes used, text sent, time of day of calls, data usage, downloads and 411 fees. Among other results, of the about 3,240 cellphone users who were already signed up for an unlimited plan, Validas found that the unlimited plans actually weren’t the best deal for 75 percent of them. Instead, it found that downsized options like 900- or 450-minute plans were the most cost-effective options for those consumers. One probable reason the unlimited plans didn’t generally come up on top was that the new deals don’t include free unlimited text messaging or data usage. So they may not be the most cost effective for customers who frequently use their phones to send text or e-mail messages. According to this recent New York Times article, both carriers are betting on making back the money they lost with the price cuts through higher charges for data service. Here’s another reason: With cellphone carriers offering fewer options for big family plans, more people are being sold unlimited plans that are full of minutes that are never used, according to Validas.
Among the online services available to help you figure out if an unlimited calling plan is right for you, will do a free analysis of your cellphone bill and tell you how much you can potentially save. But to find out what plans may be best for you to achieve those savings, you’ll have to pay $5 for a one-time report, or up to $24 for two years of monthly reports. Elsewhere, which first started as an online tool to help individuals find the best cellphone plan based on their usage profiles, will do a free analysis of your cellphone bill or usage patterns and provide plan recommendations. In some cases, BillShrink generates revenue when it refers customers to a new carrier or recommends they renew a contract with their existing one. Samir Kothari, co-founder and vice president for products at BillShrink, said he believed that unlimited calling plans were actually still “a better deal for more people” now than in the past. According to a BillShrink analysis, an unlimited plan was the top recommendation to 12 percent of those who used the site in the past two weeks, compared with 4 percent in August — before the most recent changes to unlimited plans.
What do you think of the unlimited calling plans? Are they a good deal? Why or why not?
Here's the news, the fact, which was written by Jennifer Saranow Schultz on her report at Yahoo News last February 5, 2010 which was also provided by New York Times.
Last month, Verizon and AT&T announced that they were on their unlimited cellphone calling plans to $70 a month from $100. But despite the recent price cuts, unlimited calling plans may not be the best cellphone deal for most consumers, according to an analysis from Validas LLC, which provides online cellphone plan recommendations at FixMyCellBill.com. According to Validas’s results, unlimited calling plans are the most cost effective plan option for only 7 percent of mobile subscribers. The results are based on Validas’s database of information about 18,000 phone lines.
To determine if an unlimited calling plan was the best option, Validas matched up last month the usage patterns displayed by each mobile subscriber’s line with the cheapest call plan available to serve that behavior. It analyzed mobile subscriber behavior, like who the user called most, minutes used, text sent, time of day of calls, data usage, downloads and 411 fees. Among other results, of the about 3,240 cellphone users who were already signed up for an unlimited plan, Validas found that the unlimited plans actually weren’t the best deal for 75 percent of them. Instead, it found that downsized options like 900- or 450-minute plans were the most cost-effective options for those consumers. One probable reason the unlimited plans didn’t generally come up on top was that the new deals don’t include free unlimited text messaging or data usage. So they may not be the most cost effective for customers who frequently use their phones to send text or e-mail messages. According to this recent New York Times article, both carriers are betting on making back the money they lost with the price cuts through higher charges for data service. Here’s another reason: With cellphone carriers offering fewer options for big family plans, more people are being sold unlimited plans that are full of minutes that are never used, according to Validas.
Among the online services available to help you figure out if an unlimited calling plan is right for you, will do a free analysis of your cellphone bill and tell you how much you can potentially save. But to find out what plans may be best for you to achieve those savings, you’ll have to pay $5 for a one-time report, or up to $24 for two years of monthly reports. Elsewhere, which first started as an online tool to help individuals find the best cellphone plan based on their usage profiles, will do a free analysis of your cellphone bill or usage patterns and provide plan recommendations. In some cases, BillShrink generates revenue when it refers customers to a new carrier or recommends they renew a contract with their existing one. Samir Kothari, co-founder and vice president for products at BillShrink, said he believed that unlimited calling plans were actually still “a better deal for more people” now than in the past. According to a BillShrink analysis, an unlimited plan was the top recommendation to 12 percent of those who used the site in the past two weeks, compared with 4 percent in August — before the most recent changes to unlimited plans.
What do you think of the unlimited calling plans? Are they a good deal? Why or why not?
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