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The Next Generation of Cell Phone Service Plans
Actually, the good old mobile handset is going to leapfrog the computer in terms of "broadband" services. Some of the data transfer speeds with the new and upcoming cell phone service plans will be up to 2.4 MB per second, making transferring live picture to a phone a child's play. These new service plans are called 3G services. The first generation (1G) is the analog network that is still operational and 2G is the since 1994 operational digital network. There's also something called 2.5G, which translates as network improvements towards the 3G data transfer speeds, but not quite delivering 3G quality (although that hasn't stopped some carriers from marketing 2.5G as 3G). There's also something called 2.75G, all which makes referring to next generation cell phone service plans a bit tricky. Top Companies for Next Generation Cell Phone Services If you'd like to experience the initial phases of next generation cell phone service plans, you can start with GPRS plans (and phones) that offer data transfer speeds of around 19.2-38.4 kbps (old digital networks transfer data at around 9.6-14.4 kbps). Companies that offer GPRS services are AT&T Wireless, Cingular and T-Mobile. In order to provide GPRS, the cell phone company has to have GSM network, and these three have it. As these are advanced networks, availability is limited. AT&T and Cingular will, as the next step in providing better cell phone service plans, start building a faster network called WCDMA, but concrete cell phone service plans on that front are expected no sooner than 2005. In opposition to GPRS, you could try cell phone plans developed around a technology called CDMA2000 1xRTT, which has theoretical data transfer speeds of around 144 kbps. Companies that offer CDMA2000 1xRTT technology are Sprint, Verizon, U.S. Cellular and ALLTEL. Not all these companies have commercially available plans, but they already have the technology and capability. Prices for Next Generation Cell Phone Services The next generation of cell phones are always connected to the data transfer network, so there are no "by the minute" charges for data transfers. Instead, you'll pay a monthly access fee plus fees based on how much data ("packets") you'll transfer each month. Prices are high in the beginning, as they were with SMS messages in the beginning. GPRS fees have been structured so that for a fixed monthly fee you'll get a certain amount of data megabits included in the package (just like anytime minutes are with voice plans), and for anything that goes above that amount, you'll pay by-the-kilobit. Expect plans to start around $29.99 a month, for which you'll likely get around 5 MB of included transfer capacity within the cell phone service plan. Each additional KB will cost around 3 to 7 cents per KB. Pricing does vary greatly, so always check details in advance. |