Mobile Rate plans - Emergency plan

Mobile Rate plans
In order to balance their customers’ needs with their own need to be profitable, wireless carriers have designed numerous rate plans for light users, heavy users, and corporate users. Neglecting to fine-tune their rate plans may make the difference between a slim profit margin and no profit at all. For these reasons, wireless phone rate plans change many times each year.

For consumer and corporate users alike, it is difficult to keep up with the plans and ensure each phone is on the most cost-effective rate plan. A business that diligently manages its wireless billing each month will regularly pay 20% less than a similar company that rarely examines its cellular billing.

Although wireless telephone rate plans regularly change, the plans’ designs remain consistent. The following section explains the most common rate plans. Table 1 shows the four basic types: emergency plans, individual plans, small group plans, and corporate plans. These plans are billed monthly, but many of them are available as prepaid wireless plans.


Table 1: Typical Rate Plans Offered in the Chicago Market

Emergency plan
A typical emergency plan costs $15 to $20 per month for access, includes only 10 minutes of free calling, and has a high per-minute rate for additional minutes. Additional minutes may cost as much as $0.95 each. This plan is designed for people who will only use the phone in the event of an emergency. It is ideal for workers who will only use the phone for one or two calls a month, such as security guards.

Many emergency-rate-plan customers put the phone in the trunk of their cars to be used only in case of a flat tire or other emergency. They can save money by canceling the monthly service, but keeping the phone. Any mobile phone will dial 911, even if the phone is not activated with a carrier.

If a caller uses the phone more than 10 to 30 minutes each month, he should change to an individual rate plan to avoid the high per-minute rates of the emergency plans. It is not unusual for an employee to grab a back-up cellular phone without changing the rate plan. In auditing the bills of large companies, I have seen employees grab a back-up phone and use it without changing the rate plan. All the minutes are then billed at very high rates. The company could have saved more than $100 per month by upgrading to a better rate plan.