What to Consider When Shopping Cell Phone Plans

By Joel Craig, NEWS 9 Contributor

Cell phones have become a necessity that most of us just can't do without. And if you're not using the Internet on your phone yet, there may be deals out there that can really save you money.

My cellular contract is up the end of this month so I've been looking at the various options. The first thing I noticed is the cost of just voice service is going down while the price for data service is going up. Data service is used for things like email and Internet access.

Also some plans are requiring you bundle voice and data. Why? Well as the price of voice only service continues to drop, the cellular carriers have to make up that revenue somewhere.

If you are someone who has to have a Blackberry or iPhone then you're stuck. But if all you need is voice and maybe text service you need to shop around.

If you have what's called "post paid" service, generally you have a contract, but you might now be better off with "pre-paid" service. Pre-paid services are often packaged as a service for credit challenged people, but don't be too quick to judge. Cricket, the low-cost, pre-paid wireless carrier has said it would begin offering the nation's first $30-per-month "unlimited" nationwide talk and text plan. Right now, that's $10 per month cheaper than any other prepaid nationwide unlimited plan available.

The lower cost of Cricket might not last long as carriers battle for customers, someone is probably going to meet or beat it. The prepaid wireless industry is currently about 20 percent of the cell phone market, but its customer base is growing about 5X faster than the post paid business. Plus, since pre-paid customers don't have a contract, you can easily switch to another carrier if someone offers a lower price for the service you want.

Look at how you use your cell phone; check your bill for the minutes you're paying for and may not be using or if you often go over the limit. Changing you cell phone service provider may be very financially advantageous.