Fighting subscriptions III: Communications -- mobile phones

Today Fidelity Observer continues the discussion about cutting subscription costs -- this time, those mobile phone plans that cost most of us at least $360 per year, and some well over $1000/year.

Mobile phone charges are a huge subscription cost for tens of millions of people in this country. A standard mobile phone subscription will set you back at least $30 per month, $360 per year, and you are locked into a one or two year contract. I see that Cingular's cheapest "Plan" is $40/month, and has one plan that goes up to $80/month, or $960/year.

Oh, these costs do not include the cost of a handset, or those extra fees that inevitably show up on our bills. The San Francisco Chronicle this week had a story about users (mostly young people) who run up $100 monthly mobile phone bills with add-ons including games, ringtones, email alerts and text messaging.

Nonetheless, there are mobile phone packages that can save you a lot of money, *if* you don't use them often. We don't. I sometimes call family or friends when I am outside or on the road on business, but it has never totaled more than 60 or 70 minutes in a month -- certainly not worth a $30/month subscription!

Instead, I have a pay-as-you-go (aka "prepaid") plan. I pay $25 for 100 minutes that last three months -- and if I renew before the 90 days is up, any remaining minutes carry over (I have an alarm on my palm pilot that reminds me every 89 days, and as a result now have 250 minutes on my account). I have the convenience of a mobile phone and pay just $100/year. This won't work for people who live on their phones, but if you are an infrequent user, this is a good deal.

Also, there are a lot of people out there who think they need to have the latest and greatest handset or in-ear gadgetry. I have to ask: is the camera, texting ability, and video playback worth it? A phone can't carry out these functions efficiently, and I've noticed that carriers use them to justify higher-priced plans. I am not advocating digging that circa 1993 brick out of your closet, but don't toss 2003-era handset away because it doesn't have Bluetooth. You can still get by with an older model to conduct basic phone services, and save yourself some money in the process.