For a college student, a cell phone is one of those necessary expenses. Unless you are lucky enough to still have a line on your your parents’ family plan, you’re stuck balancing a phone bill in your monthly budget (of gas, food and bar tabs) like the rest of us.
If you are neither this lucky nor willing to live on a diet of ramen and cheap beer, it’s important to look at how much your cell phone bill is really costing you—and maybe consider switching carriers.
Consider the typical college-aged cell phone user: texts all day, checks Facebook almost as often, occasionally calls mom. For most of us, a top-of-the-line phone (priced at $199.99 with a two-year contract), bare-minimum voice plan (450 minutes) with adequate data and unlimited texting is ideal.
There are those remaining few of the dwindling population that still prefer talking over texting, so unlimited voice is still a requirement for some, but I digress.
Similar plans offered by The Big Four — AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile all vary in price. Reputation and coverage are not to be factored into this comparison. Some of us students are willing to take a few dropped calls if it means being able to afford a good beer (or top-shelf vodka, if that’s your thing).
It’s important to consider the cost of the phone as well as the monthly bill when making your choice. And don’t forget about the surcharges and fees, as well as the state cell phone tax (yes, that does exist) which can add an estimated 15 percent (give or take) to your bill each month.
A new Verizon customer would likely pick the 16GB Apple iPhone 4, priced at $211 including taxes. Their monthly 450-minute voice plan with unlimited texting costs $60, and it’s an additional $30 for a 2GB data plan. You would want to insure your precious iPhone, which would cost you an additional $11 per month with Verizon.
Verizon’s customers pay about $116.5 per month, or about $2999 total during the two-year contract. Unlimited voice adds up to about $150 monthly, or $3286 total.
If you were to choose AT&T, you would probably pick the 16GB Apple iPhone 4 as well. This carrier offers 450 minutes (with rollover minues) per month, for $40. For an additional $21, you can add unlimited texting and 2GB of data for $25. AT&T full mobile coverage insurance will run you an additional $5 per month.
As an AT&T customer, you would expect to pay about $103.50 including fees per month, or about $2695 for the entire cost of the two-year contract and the phone. For unlimited voice, $146 monthly or $3715 for the contract in its entirety.
A Sprint customer might be interested in their Samsung Galaxy S II, Epic 4G Touch, though there isn’t just one preferred phone that they offer. One important thing to note is that Sprint’s plans are bundled differently than the other carriers’. The Everything Data plan costs $69.99 per month, and includes 450 minutes, unlimited texting and unlimited data (more than 2GB). Phone insurance will cost $9. Sprint, however, does add an extra $10 required data charge for their Smartphones, and a one time activation fee of $36.
With Sprint, you would end up paying about $101 monthly, or about $2676 total during your contract. They offer an unlimited voice plan for about $136 monthly, or $3511 total.
And this leaves us with our cheapest option.
T-Mobile’s flagship phone is the HTC Sensation 4G, priced at $249.99. They offer a $50 mail-in rebate, which lowers the cost of the phone to the same as the others. For 500 minutes plus unlimited texting, it costs $40. They offer a 2GB data plan as well for $30 and insurance for $8. T-Mobile also charges a one-time activation fee of $35.
Your monthly bill with T-Mobile would be about $90 per month, or $2460 total, including the extra $50 that you pay up front for the phone and the activation fee. Unlimited voice would cost about $101 monthly and $2724 total. Don’t forget to claim your $50 rebate!
One important thing to keep in mind, in addition to everything else, are the potential discounts you can inquire about with your phone carrier. Sprint, for example, offers a 10 percent discount for AAA insurance members, which knocks a few dollars off your monthly bill.
For the financially responsible student, T-Mobile is the clear winner in the end. Unlimited voice and texting, an activation fee and a potentially forgotten mail-in rebate is still cheaper than an iPhone 4 and 450 minutes from Verizon.
While they might not boast the stellar coverage of some of the other contenders, T-Mobile offers a high-quality Smartphone and the ability to text and Facebook or Twitter to your heart’s desire at a very fair price.
So you can have your good beer and tweet it, too.
