Pros And Cons Of Prepaid Cell Phones

In modern times, connectivity is a lifeline. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a student, a businessman, a homemaker, an executive or even a priest, communicating your thoughts and keeping in touch with the world is very important. Today, the world in no longer stagnant and neither is technology. So, it’s only natural that in these times, where each second is important and communication vital, cell phones become the weapon of choice. It would be a waste of time to preach the importance of cell phones to anyone. Cell phones are used by one and all and everyone has their own theory of importance attached to them. Cell phone services can be either prepaid or postpaid. However, in recent times prepaid has largely overtaken its billing sibling, in the terms of customer base. Despite the fact that postpaid users receive better facilities and customer service from operators, the trend reveals that there has been a constant increase in prepaid customers. Explore the advantages and disadvantages of prepaid cell phones, before you choose your next connection!

This is an interesting feature for those who don’t want to be liable to contracts that you need to sign with some postpaid services or be stuck with fixed plans for a long time. Also, you don’t have to worry about getting mobile bills, at times when you are cash strapped. Moreover, you don’t have to pay any fixed fee or charges, as you only pay for what you use. 
 

In most cases, you spend a lot of time in finding the right postpaid plan for yourself, only to be denied of the services, in lieu of your low credit score. This is one problem which is absent in prepaid connection. Companies do not run unnecessary credit checks or force contractual agreements on you. Most of the companies let you choose a connection and use the service as long as you keep paying for the units you use without hassles.

 

This is an added advantage for people who rarely use phones and students. Youngsters benefit from the fact that they can get the prepaid connections and flexibility of plans at minimal pay. The low limit capability encourages parents to get prepaid phones for kids. Moreover, for people who rarely use their cell phones, this prevents unnecessary hassles. Why pay fixed charges for monthly postpaid plans when you can have a year-long prepaid plan in which you pay according to your usage?

Your cell phone spending decreases substantially, as you plan your usage in advance and keep necessary limits on your usage. This is best for people who tend to over use the freedom of cell phones and get shell shocked by the phone bills at the end of the month. Moreover, operators across the world are coming up with cheaper and flexible plans for prepaid users. There are also no hidden fees and all taxes are collected from the user in advance. As such, the users have an account how much call units are at the disposal.

Prepaid users need to pay more than their postpaid counterparts, in terms of call rates. Each minute is likely to cost slightly more in prepaid plans. For those of you who are you are heavy talkers, prepaid service may not be for you as you would have to shell out more for the minutes you talk than those who have postpaid connections.

Prepaid plans still have to travel a long distance in terms of phone models provided. You are very unlikely to find any latest and power packed phones in the prepaid lineup.

One of the biggest disadvantages that glare on the face of prepaid users is the need for monitoring the balance after every call or at the end of each day. In order to ensure that you never run out of prepaid credit in urgent scenarios, you have to keep a tab on the minutes or amount left with you. There may be times when your call would get disconnected, while you are in the middle of important conversations just because you went out of minutes or cash in your prepaid device. 

Prepaid plans don’t come bundled with features that are normally included in postpaid plans like internet and data support .You may have to shell out extra bucks for the same, if you plan to use such services from your prepaid devices.

As most of the prepaid operators are newcomers in the field, their networks may not be good enough to handle traffic and you may also lose reception at very odd places. So, it is advisable to check the service quality, before choosing an operator for your connection.

No matter which operator you choose, customer service for a prepaid customer will never be as it is for a postpaid customer, the simple reason being the revenue generation. The companies treat postpaid customers as the major revenue source, which leads to the disparity. However, this does not mean that the services will be rubbish, but you are sure to find a notable difference between the two.