Smart Ways to Save on Smart-Phone Plans: We help you pick a plan that matches your usage patterns

摘要

WHEN IT COMES TO PICKING the best value in a cell-phone plan, the major wireless carriers aren't doing you any favors. Packages and pricing for voice minutes, text messages and data change frequently and differ from carrier to carrier, making plan comparisons tricky. What's driving the latest generation of opaque plans is the craving of consumers and their increasingly sophisticated phones for data. In response, carriers are revising pricing models to accommodate the growth and increase profits. "Data is a real crime scene," says Dylan Breslin-Barnhart, vice-president of communications for Validas, which analyzes cell-phone bills for businesses and plans to offer a bill-analyzing application, VERA, to consumers this fall. Validas's research shows that average data usage among smart-phone users increased by 35% in 2011. At the same time, consumers are using their phones less for talking.