Before you decide to buy a cell phone, the first thing you have to consider is the type of service that will suit your need. There are two kinds of service being offered, the prepaid and the post paid or the traditional plan. If you don't like the hassle of submitting documents and undergoing credit check then, prepaid it is for you. You just need to pay outright and immediately you have your phone. Some cell phone companies even offer free cellular phone unit when you get a prepaid cell phone service from them.

However, when you want a postpaid cell phone plan, you may need to choose from a by minute charging or by the second charging. Both charging process have positive and negative points. You need to assess your usage frequency and requirements before you decide on a cell phone plan. You may want to research on the capacity of the network, like if they have enough towers to reach you wherever you are. Also the tranditional plan requires you to sign a contract with the service provider.

There are different cell phone plans for family and national use. There are also cell phone plans for regional use. All of these have their own benefits although there are also their disadvantages.

Family plans - this plan is advantageous for family use and small businesses. There is free access for emergencies. In addition, it is cheaper to call the other cell phones included in one billing. There are also discounts for the airtime usage of family members.

National plans - includes free long-distance charges. Another advantage is that there are no roaming charges for this cell phone plan.

The regional plan - may require you to pay long-distance charges but the airtime rates may be cheaper.

Cell phone plans may be beneficial to you if you can acquire the ones that will suit your need.

The manner of usage is an essential requirement, if you do not need it as much and just for emergencies, prepaid cell phone plan could suit you well than traditional plans.

Prepaid cell phone plans are often preferred; however, for travelers the traditional plan with no roaming charges and no long-distance charges might be best.