When iPhone was first released, only one cellular service provider was available in the U.S.: AT&T. The situation was similar in other countries —only one cellular service provider supported iPhone. With subsequent releases, many carriers now support iPhone and that’s made the situation both more convenient and more confusing for the consumer. Verizon and Sprint joined AT&T in offering cellular service contracts that include iPhones. In Europe, Vodafone is popular, although many countries also have country-specific carriers with competitive pricing.
Unlocked iPhones, which are iPhones you purchase outright without a service contract, work with carriers who use the GSM standard (read further). In the U.S., AT&T, T-Mobile, and 30 or so regional carriers use GSM, as do most of the carriers outside the U.S. A customer in good standing can request that his CDMA carrier unlock his iPhone so it can access the GSM networks overseas, but nonetheless remains tied to the national and roaming costs associated with the cellular service contract.
GSM (Global System for Mobile) and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) are the telecommunications standards used for cellular networks. GSM, as its name implies, is the worldwide standard, whereas CDMA is limited to America and parts of Asia. CDMA offers slightly better data transfer, although GSM is steadily improving. The GSM standard stores your phone number and account information on a SIM card, whereas in the CDMA standard, the phone number and account information is programmed in the phone itself. Some CDMA networks require a SIM in order to connect to a GSM network outside the U.S. Sprint offers one so you can access the GSM network used by Sprint’s partners in Europe. iPhones come with either GSM (with an AT&T contract or unlocked) or CDMA (Verizon or Sprint contracts).
Rates and offers change frequently and we’re not in a position to advise you as to which carrier to choose. Here are a few things to consider so you can compare plans from different carriers and make an informed decision:
+ How much time do you spend on the phone? Do you make many calls or just check in now and then? Three hundred and sixty minutes is 12 minutes a day, whereas 1,000 minutes is just over a half hour a day. If
you’re thinking about replacing your landline with a cell phone, 1,000 minutes may not be enough.
you’re thinking about replacing your landline with a cell phone, 1,000 minutes may not be enough.
+ When do you use your phone? Some plans offer lower nighttime and weekend rates. If you spend your weekdays at your office, you probably won’t be using your cell phone much anyway.
+ Who do you call? Some plans offer a you-and-me or family discount for one number or a group of numbers that you call more than any other.
+ Where do you use your phone? If you travel around the country, you probably want a call plan with nationwide coverage. If you’re a homebody, a regional plan is probably just fine.
+ Do you travel overseas? If you do, shop around for the best roaming rate or, if you frequently go to the same country, consider getting a local, rechargeable SIM card and using that in your iPhone when you’re out of the U.S.
+ Do you send text messages? Text messages may be billed at a per-message rate or your plan may include a limited number and you pay a per message rate if you exceed the limited number. iMessage lets you sendtext messages for free to other iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users.
+ How much cellular data usage do you need? Wi-Fi is widespread in the U.S. Even the smallest one-café town seems to offer free Wi-Fi if you buy a cup of coffee, which makes cellular data less necessary. Most plans these days offer unlimited Internet access, although 20MB is the file size limit for downloading over a cellular network.
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