Being without a cellphone for the past few weeks was a difficult adjustment. Beforehand, I had got used to checking my email and messages dozens of times a day. Suddenly, having to rely on a pay phone to check my home messages felt like losing the use of my legs.The research I did looking for a new cell phone provided me with some new insight: we pay ridiculous rates for air time in Canada. If you start looking at data plans, the price goes from crazy to ludicrous.
Just for the privilege of a monthly plan, one pays $7.45 / month in fees. Then, one adds at least $20 for a minimum plan (let's say 200 day-time minutes - when else do you use your cell?) and another $5 if one wants voicemail, and more for caller ID. So, with voicemail, that's $37.00 after tax/month.
Looking at monthly costs would only be relevant if we looked at everything in monthly costs. It give us a better idea of how much we're paying, we should look at the costs over a year or for the contract: $444 / year or $1332 for a three year term. No wonder the wireless companies can offer us $100 off a phone if we go with a long contract. If we want to think of it a different way, it's the cost equivalent to taking a hot shower for 40 minutes every single day.
Although wireless plans will start to become more competitive, they are only really worth it if someone gets into long conversations (and needs to for work or family needs) and can predict the call volume. Otherwise, pay-as-you-go plans offer more features and may have much better value.
