Have you been shocked by your cell phone bill lately? One in five people got an unexpectedly high bill in the past year, according to Consumer Report’s just released cell phone survey. Were you texting more than your plan allowed? If you recently upgraded to a Smartphone, you may have gone over your data usage allowance. How can you avoid cell phone bill shock?

Cell Phone Service Certainly Isn’t Cheap

Shop around for service providers. Next time you are about to renew your contract with your current cell phone service provider, try checking out the competition. According to Christine Park, KFSN Fresno, Sprint and Verizon tied as top cell phone service providers with a contract. That being said, Verizon is one of the most expensive, but in my opinion, provides the best area coverage. Sprint is more affordable, has lots of options, but reception can be kind of sketchy. Most of the people I know who have Sprint like the service as long as they live in a city. Rural areas don’t get such good reception. With Verizon, it’s all about the network, but you pay for it. AT&T comes in last in all areas of service, including customer service.

Consider a contract free service. Consumer Cellular came out on top as number one according to Christine Park. I checked them out and they offer a no-contract service for a fairly reasonable rate. They don’t offer many phones, even if you pay for the phone, but at least they seem to be available in my rural area. If you want a better selection of phones, T-mobile has expanded its selection of phones available to non-contract subscribers and even includes a couple of Smartphones. Their service reception isn’t the greatest in rural areas, but again, for a city dweller, it’s not a problem. Boost Mobile, Cricket, and MetroPCS also offer flat rate, no-contract plans, but are only available in some areas.

No-contract service plans aren’t for “power users.” No-contract plans are best suited for people who only make occasional calls and text but don’t surf the web or use their phone for email. Pay-as-you-go plans are also good for a first phone for your teen since many plans just stop if the minutes are used up. Be sure to check however, since some contract-free plans charge as much as 25 cents per minute for overages.

What’s the bottom line? Shop around. Compare services as well as call reception. Consider your communication needs. If you are a power user, just bite the bullet and get a good plan. In the long run you will save money. Keep in mind that no-contract plans generally charge more money for the phone itself. Compare how much you will save by getting the phone free or at a discount with a contact vs. what you will pay in service fees.

Last month Verizon announced its plan to offer 4 G wireless service to Seattle by the end of the year. 4 G is a new-technology market already offered in Seattle by Sprint and T-Mobile, so naturally Verizon wants to join in the race. AT&T Mobility, having exclusive rights to the iPhone at this time (which is NOT 4 G), hasn’t announced plans to join the 4 G race in 2011. If they do join in the fray, can we assume then that AT&T will be pushing for 4 G iPhone?

Verizon Targeting Seattle for 4 G Wireless Service

4 G wireless technology allows users to have download speeds and network capacity to handle even the newest services on their mobile devices. These services include live TV, high definition movies in real time, video conferencing, etc. 4 G (4th generation) is being offered by 2 competing companies in the Seattle area, LTE and WiMax. LTE is supported by Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T, while WiMax is supported by Sprint and Clearwire, a Kirkland based company.

Typically the majority of Smartphones utilize the 3 G network, providing roughly 1.5 to 2.5 megabits of data per second. The new 4 G network generally delivers more than 10 megabits per second (mbs) at the top end range. To view live HD movies with a smooth, uninterrupted viewing most experts agree that between 3.5 and 4.5 mbs is needed. You can see why consumers are clamoring for the 4 G service.

Verizon coverage will be fairly inclusive in the Seattle area. Its anticipated coverage will be roughly from Lynnwood on the north to Fife in the south; the Seattle waterfront on the west and Redmond and Issaquah to the east. Coverage will also be available in Auburn, Bellevue, Bothell, Burien, Covington, Des Moines, Edmonds, Federal Way, Kenmore, Kent, Kirkland, Mercer Island, Mill Creek, Renton, Sammamish, South Everett, Tukwila, and Woodinville. Sea-Tac (Seattle-Tacoma International Airport) will also be included in the coverage. Nationwide, the coverage will extend to 38 major cities and 60 commercial airports.

Verizon will be initially offering 4 G for only USB modems and air card devices for laptops. Verizon plans to offer the 4 G wireless service for 4G Smartphones sometime in 2011, but hasn’t announced a specific date. Sprint has been offering 4 G for Smartphones since Fall 2009, and T-Mobile since June 2010. Verizon is a bit behind in the race, and with only USB modems and air cards in the immediate plans, it doesn’t seem like Verizon is too serious about the competition.  As I said earlier, AT&T has not announced plans to offer the 4 G wireless in Seattle, but it has been rebuilding its Seattle-area infrastructure and updating its software. (Hmmm….) With Verizon coming into the market by the end of the year, AT&T would be the only major player not playing.

Your 3 G cell phone will not be obsolete, yet. LTE and WiMax have assured us that the 4 G network is compatible with phones only capable of 3 G service, and that 4G phones will be backward-compatible when their customers stray into 3G-only signal areas. I know this is a major relief to those people who hate to upgrade their cell phones.

Are you excited by the new 4 G technology? Will you be watching streaming video on your phone? I appreciate the video I can watch on my Droid X on the 3 G service, but having an air card for my laptop that streams at the higher speed would be nice. Of course I live in rural northern California, so it will be a long wait for 4 G. We still have dial up Internet service in some areas.

HTC has leaked details about 2 new Smartphones. One will be a mid-priced Smartphone with a physical keyboard and the other will be an entry level Smartphone. Both phones will be offered by T-Mobile and will run on the Android 2.2 OS.

HTC Leaks 2 New Droid Phones

The HTC Lexikon is rumored to have a 3.8 inch screen with a slide out keyboard. According to the rumors, the Lexikon will run Android OS 2.2 (Froyo) on an 800 MHz processor and have a 5 megapixel camera. The HTC Sense 1.6 will overlay the standard user interface.

The second model, the HTC Bee, will be a low cost Smartphone. Reports leaked have the Bee sporting a 3.2-inch 320 x 240 (QVGA) display, but not much else is known about the Bee. It may look like the HTC Aria, which also has a 3.2 inch screen. The Bee will also use the HTC Sense interface and run on the Android 2.2 OS.

Smartphones are taking over the industry! With more and more Android models showing up in the market place, it is safe to say that the Droid is here to stay. I personally have the Droid X and love the easy to use interface with Google. With more and more apps available for download, it is really like having a computer in my pocket. Just last night I had to log into amazon.com via my Droid X to change the credit card info for my Amazon Kindle purchases. If I hadn’t had the Droid X, I would have had no book to read while I waited for my appointment. The convenience of having the web browsing on my phone made me appreciate all the new technology I have come to enjoy. What about you? Are you a Smartphone owner or just a bread and butter cell phone user?

T-Mobile is leasing property from a church in Lake Worth, FL and combining a cell phone tower with a cross. Not only will there be better cell phone reception in the area, but some might speculate you can talk to God easier. The church is thrilled since the lease agreement with T-Mobile provides the Epiphany Lutheran Church with a small source of monthly income.

Cell Phone to God

Nextel has long been erecting cell phone towers disguised as trees native to the local areas. Perhaps this is yet another way to disguise a tower. And who could object to a Lutheran cross?

Hey God! Can you hear me now?