Cingular Wireless - There For The Consumer

By Martin Smith

If you are shopping for your first cell phone plan, be aware that Cingular Wireless has some of the most affordable calling plans available. They have plans starting at under $30.00 a month.

Consumer Reports recently rated the basic calling plans from Cingular as some of the most affordable currently offered by cell phone carriers. Cingular ranks third, behind T Mobile and AT&T Wireless. Cingular is rated near the top in coverage provided in cities such as Washington D.C., Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and Dallas, making it a leader despite its relative newness on the cell phone scene.

Cingular has several plans to choose from. One of the most poplar plans they offer is Cingular Region with 600 anytime minutes and 5000 night and weekend minutes. In addition to the mentioned minutes, there is free long distance anywhere in the United States. This is a great plan for people who travel widely within their regional calling area and make a lot of calls.

There is no worry about long distance or roaming charges. This plan is offered by Cingular for under $50.00 a month. Call Waiting, Caller ID, wireless email and three way calling are available. There is a 45 cents per minute charge for calls over the plan limit and the fee for 411 information calls is $1.29 plus airtime. The monthly plan charge does not include conference calling, voice mail, or two way text messaging. Cingular charges and activation fee of $36.00.

You must sign a one year contract and they charge an early termination fee of $240.00 and depending on a credit check, a security deposit may be requested.

Cingular Super Home 900 with Rollover is a frequent user plan at an average cost of $75.00 to $80.00. Also offered by Cingular is a very popular family plan called Cingular Nation GMS. Family Talk 700 with Rollover allows you to have up to four phones sharing minutes with a charge of only $10.00 for each additional line. The average monthly cost for this plan is about $100.00 per month.

Adding to Cingular's popularity is full line of phones with every imaginable feature. You can get phones with web capabilities, text messaging, camera phones, voice mail, ability to send and receive email and an almost unlimited number of ring tones that can be downloaded. Be aware though that time spent doing emails, web surfing and/or downloading ring tones, will cost you air time and money. Make sure you know the true cost of these add ons.

If you are a casual user, who just needs a cell phone for use in emergencies then Cingular has some good basic plans to meet your needs. Cingular offers rollover minutes on most of its plans, allowing to you to carry unused minutes from month to month. Whether you use your cell phone only rarely, or max out your minutes every month Cingular Wireless Cell Phones has a plan for you.

Cingular's Wireless network operates on digital networks TDMA and GSM. TDMA is Time Division Mobile Access. GSM stands for Global System for Mobile Communications. GSM can only operate on other GSM networks, but the DMA network is larger and allows for roaming other TDMA or analog systems. Cingular Wireless is the fourth ranked cell phone carrier in the U.S.

About the author:
About the Author
Martin Smith is a successful freelance writer providing advice for consumers on purchasing a variety of products which includes
Cell phones Plans His numerous articles provide a wonderfully researched resource of interesting and relevant information.


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