One Clear Dot

I have had the same cellular service provider since 1998. That’s going on 10 years. I have seen the company go from having no contracts and no start-up fees, to one-year contracts and finally two-year contracts. I’ve seen the free weekend and evening minutes start at different hours. And all along, they have just stayed in step with the other cellular providers out there.

My current contract is finished. Right now I am still riding on a pretty sweet plan that the retention department concocted in order to keep me from switching to a different provider a couple of years back. All in all, it’s still better than most of the plans available in the marketplace. But, as I do begin to look around, I see that most companies are offering plans that are difficult to differentiate from one another. In fact, the cell phone service marketplace has become so blurry in terms of details and options that most of the providers have resorted to hyping up the coolest, hottest cell phones of any given season in order to try and promote an edge over the competition.

As more Americans are opting to get rid of their home land lines and go 100% cellular in their phone use, it seems like would be the most opportune time for one company or another to stand up and dare to be different. Most of the providers share the same problems – poor reception in some areas, dropped calls, poor customer service, and contracts that are expensive to break. Whether you are looking at Sprint or T-mobile plans, they all seem remarkably similar.

When it comes to those difficult two-year contracts most companies what you sign in blood, new laws are coming down the pike that are forcing all of the major players to add a pro-rating system to their policy so that if you break your contract, you will pay less of a penalty as you get closer to the end of your contract. It seems like a natural progression of things since more people than ever are jumping from plan to plan and company to company now that numbers are portable.

I just want a phone that operates as a phone, so nobody is going to be able to suck me in with the newest gadget or cell phone accessories. Give me a truly unique phone plan for a good price, though, and I am all yours.

Posted on December 21st, 2007 by onecleardot
Filed under: Gadgets - Toys - Technology